Bears want back into the NRL

[Woodsie]

Love their smarts .. when the NRL and the Dolphins have spent much time talking about the vital importance of local tribalism and representing a geographical area .. out come the perennial numbnuts, wanting to be the 18th team and say ... we have a great plan, we will remove all geographic references and simply call ourselves the Bears .. and to make any old Norths fans really really happy .. we will take all our home games to the bush so they can watch us on the telly ...

Fair dinkum .. if brains were dynamite they wouldn't .......

 

[The Who]

Did you know that North Sydney's distinctive red and black hoops on its jerseys earned the team the politically incorrect moniker of 'The Bloodstained Niggers' in the early days?
They became known as 'The Shoremen' (which is the same of their rugby union team). My father was a NS supporters and he told me that they then became the North Sydney Kangaroos, but I have been unable to verify this. I know they had a lot of Australian representative players in the 1920s.
What is indisputable is that in the 1950's they changed their name to The Bears as part of a sponsorship arrangement with the 'Big Bear Supermarket' which is still operating at Neutral Bay, albeit in a much reduced capacity from the original concept.

 

[tookey]

There are no bear species in Australia. Best to keep it that way.

Koala bears not extinct yet

 

[MissKate]

I would have the Adelaide Rams back before norths, we don’t need a repeat of the souffs return. All the entitlement and hard luck stories are nauseating

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Love their smarts .. when the NRL and the Dolphins have spent much time talking about the vital importance of local tribalism and representing a geographical area .. out come the perennial numbnuts, wanting to be the 18th team and say ... we have a great plan, we will remove all geographic references and simply call ourselves the Bears .. and to make any old Norths fans really really happy .. we will take all our home games to the bush so they can watch us on the telly ...

Fair dinkum .. if brains were dynamite they wouldn't .......

Circumstances are a little different, e.g. Norths would be standalone, however Wests’ Tigers experience of playing out of three (or is it four?) different homegrounds, with their training setup at another ground, should serve as a warning.

It’s hard to establish and maintain an identity if your prospective fans aren’t sure who you’re supposed to be representing. And in the Tigers’ case, they play all their home games in Sydney, not all across the state.

As for bringing NSO up to NRL standard, unless NS Council want to rectangularise the ground and potentially knock down at least some of those faux-late Victorian grandstands that they went to so much trouble building/relocating in the 1980s, then I cannot see it happening. Not to mention its status as a primary alternative to the SCG for various cricket matches in its current layout.

No doubt Council know that too.

 

[Raven Mad Manly Fan]

There are no bear species in Australia. Best to keep it that way.

What about drop-bears?

 

[MadMarcus]

souffs showed them the way back into the comp. legal challenge that criteria NRL set was illegal. why they didnt use some of the coin they kept bragging about to
mount a legal challenge after the precedent has been set
pay there players

They were insolvent

 

[Tragic Eagle]

That train left the station years ago.

 

[nightster]

Koala bears not extinct yet

not a bear ... a marsupial

 

[MadMarcus]

Teddy Bears

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Only three words I can think of

“ **** the Bears”

 

[tookey]

not a bear ... a marsupial

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

That train left the station years ago.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

The next licence will either be

Perth ( for the broadcasters )

Western Brisbane ( all ready to go anyway)

Not sure the NRL needs a 19th or 20th in my lifetime.

 

[Woodsie]

Circumstances are a little different, e.g. Norths would be standalone, however Wests’ Tigers experience of playing out of three (or is it four?) different homegrounds, with their training setup at another ground, should serve as a warning.

It’s hard to establish and maintain an identity if your prospective fans aren’t sure who you’re supposed to be representing. And in the Tigers’ case, they play all their home games in Sydney, not all across the state.

As for bringing NSO up to NRL standard, unless NS Council want to rectangularise the ground and potentially knock down at least some of those faux-late Victorian grandstands that they went to so much trouble building/relocating in the 1980s, then I cannot see it happening. Not to mention its status as a primary alternative to the SCG for various cricket matches in its current layout.

No doubt Council know that too.

having no geographical location is a part of their bid .. they will play 4 games at NS Oval and take all other home games to the bush .. and will simply be known as the "Bears" .. as I said, this brilliance one week after the NRL stressed to the Dolphins the importance of tribalism, and being associated with a region .. the dim-wittedness of heralding this plan as unique and "never been done" is staggering ..

 

[The Who]

having no geographical location is a part of their bid .. they will play 4 games at NS Oval and take all other home games to the bush .. and will simply be known as the "Bears" .. as I said, this brilliance one week after the NRL stressed to the Dolphins the importance of tribalism, and being associated with a region .. the dim-wittedness of heralding this plan as unique and "never been done" is staggering ..

Because North Sydney is close enough to the new Moore Park football stadium this would be an option if they needed a larger ground than the beautiful North Sydney Oval. Even though I like the Bears (having played cricket and rugby for North Sydney) I think their only hope of returning to the NRL would be in a jv with an international region, such as the South Island of NZ (which is where, sadly, I think Manly should have continued its relationship).

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

having no geographical location is a part of their bid .. they will play 4 games at NS Oval and take all other home games to the bush .. and will simply be known as the "Bears" .. as I said, this brilliance one week after the NRL stressed to the Dolphins the importance of tribalism, and being associated with a region .. the dim-wittedness of heralding this plan as unique and "never been done" is staggering ..

Yes Woodsie, I agree with you. Hence my previous post.

 

[Budgie]

You have to admire their never give in attitude: Bears reveal bold bid to come out of hibernation as NRL’s 18th team

They have 2 chances of this happening - buckleys & none.

Sure, of course the Bears want back into the NRL, just as I want to be thirty again. Taking bets to see who gets there first.

 

[Peter C]

The Bears talk about having something like 220,000 supporters waiting for their return, is this the collective total of all of those fans who have attended games since 1908, and most have since passed away ?
Just like barnacles clinging to the hull of a ship, The Bears cling in hope of being readmitted to the NRL.

 

[lsz]

I wonder what actual value there is in the brand?

It has been pretty much dead since 2001 so has lost at least a generation of supporters (which was on a decline since before then)

Even if they were successful they would be a transient brand which would struggle to attract long term support