Western Bears bid to join the NRL has been rejected

Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V’landys has rejected the Western Bears’ bid to join the NRL as the competition’s 18th team, leaving the three-year expansion project up in the air again.

Reports from The Daily Telegraph suggest the NRL was unhappy with the Perth consortium’s finances and is now investigating operating its own Western Australia franchise.

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The book’s not closed entirely, but V’landys has made it clear the WA-backed bid can be considered unsuccessful from the time being after the group’s bid document failed to meet several financial requirements. The expansion group is now rushing into emergency meetings to try and revive the expansion push this week.

“The bid the consortium has put in has been rejected. We will still deal with the Western Australian government to try and resuscitate the bid,” V’landys said told the Telegraph on Tuesday.

🚨🏉 The #NRL has today rejected the Western Bears expansion proposal. @NRL informed Western Australian government they won’t work with the consortium behind the bid — “low-ball” finances understood to be one of the biggest sticking points pic.twitter.com/jc0tTnFA7e

— The Sporting Base – NRL (@BaseNrl) October 8, 2024

It’s understood the NRL still wants North Sydney connected to any new bid. WA Government officials were reportedly informed about that ruling as well as the consortium’s failed bid during the grand final match.

“The bid they put in was significantly short,” the ARLC boss continued. “No bid team can take the expansion process for granted. I have made this clear from day one. We will only expand if there is a firm business case and at the moment Perth’s business case doesn’t stack up. If we can’t stack it up I can’t take it to the members for consideration.

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“I will have more talks with the WA government, but not necessarily the current consortium.”