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NRL hopeful that Bears bid may claw its way back to the table
Nicholas Quinlan • April 11th, 2025 12:52 pm
The NRL’s bid to getting a team in Western Australia for the 2027 season appears to be all but dashed.
But the league is still hopeful that there will be an NRL team based in Perth eventually.
This comes after talks between the NRL and the Western Australian Government stalled this week after there was a difference between the two regarding the economic investment that WA and its consortium would invest into the team.
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio joined Andrew Voss and Matty Russell on SEN 1170 Breakfast to discuss the latest surrounding the bid, noting that the NRL will try and keep negotiations going.
“I don’t think there’s any chance the NRL will give up just yet,” Riccio said.
“They are absolutely there in the attempts to pursue this bid.
“It’s just not now, it’s on the back burner and it’s political and we don’t have time to get into the politics.
“But it’s on the backburner, there’s no doubt about that and it’s a real shame.”
The NRL and WA Government have been building a relationship across the years which was seen as building towards an NRL team with Riccio acknowledging that this week’s double header was viewed as a way of announcing a Perth-based team.
Games have been played at Optus Stadium in 2018 and 2023 with two games also being played next week.
State of Origin games have also been held at the venue in 2019, 2022 and will also be held this year for Game II.
The competition also hosted an NRL Nine’s competition in Perth back in 2020 showing the amount of investment the NRL and WA have had in building a relationship to attempt to reach a crescendo of the 18th licence.
“The double header in Perth was designed in the draw to announce the new franchise,” Riccio said.
“And it hasn’t unfolded that way.”
As mentioned previously, this round will feature two games in Perth being played at Optus Stadium.
Cronulla will play Manly in the first game of the double header at 3pm (12pm Perth time) while South Sydney will play against North Queensland at 5:30pm (2:30pm Perth time).
