[14], North Sydney remained loyal to the Australian Rugby League during the Super League war of the mid-1990s. Its a bad merge. Seriously, brad Fittler and matty johns are past the point of no return. But the region continued to grow. Irvine held the record for most first grade tries for one club (171) and overall (212). In 1964, the club moved to new premises, its current location, in Abbott Street, Cammeray. The Northern Eagles ultimately didnt represent anyone from Milsons Point to North Turramurra, from west Willoughby to east Epping. The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. In 2019 the Australian Rugby League Commission cobbled together a white paper of sorts, a plan to prop up under-performing Sydney NRL clubs with revenue that would apparently flow from broadcasters once the club had relocated to a new place where people watch telly. 2012 saw North Sydney make the semi finals, missing out on the minor premiership by points differential to Canterbury-Bankstown. The Roosters 200,000. Its not all about numbers, of course. Florimo then went on to say "I don't see too many other options presenting themselves, The energy and finance that we put into the Central Coast bid really didn't come to fruition so we're going hard to the plate on this". Sheesh Teddy you want to move the Roosters to the "Eastern Seabed".The gimps have to breath now and again mate.Bloody hard to knock on or flick pass 100 fathoms below the surface. with other sports fans, Please enter your credit or debit card details below. [38] Madness, of course. Heart and soul of the North Sydney Bears Greg Florimo has weighed in on the proposal to re-merge Manly and the Bears. Penrith (590,000) is about the same. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. You are using an out of date browser. But Jeez that's two million eyeballs. If you wish to change or create a new subscription, please call 1800 070 535 Monday to Friday 7.30am 6.00pm & 7.00am-11.30am AEST on both Saturdays & Sundays. A total of sixty nine players played for the club. [4] Many good players such as Andy Morton, Jimmy Devereaux and Sid Deane were lost to English clubs in the years after making the semi-finals in the season of 1908. Going with the Flo. And the Bears didnt get a licence when using the press is what they shouldve done along with all the other weapons in their armoury to shift public opinion to the Bears. The North Sydney Bears would be back and there would be, give us your best Rabbits Warren, deadset jubilation. Since the North Sydney Bears were banished from the NRL after the ill-fated merger with Manly (forming the Northern Eagles) in 2002, the Upper and Lower North Shore and Northern Suburbs have gone . But theyd be into, the Northern Sydney Bear people, all six hundred thousand of em, or whatever percentage the NRL could plane off and declare allegiance, and consume the club and love it one way or many. For all the people saying the CEO and Commissioners need to be "RL people", just remember; A solution that may work is a Bears and seaeagles in nsw Cup remain as sepeate identities and a new club takes the license, based at Gosford but with couple of games in manly/NS. Bears are now officially the feeder club for the Roosters for the next 5 years starting 2019. Weve been burnt before, but were still here, and still hoping. Theres thousands and thousands of Bears fans out there and bringing them all together would make a big statement, Mullan said. [36], In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Canterbury Cup NSW, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield competitions were cancelled. People follow footy teams largely because the team represents them, their patch, their people. The winner of the match was to play minor premiers Manly in The Grand final. JavaScript is disabled. Same-same. Its more than watch footy in the catchments serving Roosters, Rabbitohs, Dragons, Sharks, Sea Eagles and Bulldogs. Prominent rugby league personalities who have publicly backed the club include Phil Gould, Andrew Johns and Peter Sterling while support has also come from as high up as Federal Treasurer and North Sydney MP Joe Hockey. Norths won the game 28-18.[21]. [59], After the Northern Eagles went defunct, the North Sydney Bears have continued to field teams in several grades of the NSW rugby league competitions, and were behind the failed Central Coast Bears bid in the mid-2000's. Its a bad merge. Whos fearful? But only like the two Koreas. Cronulla has 220,000. At a private event some years ago, a former senior administrator in the NRL laughed in the face of a Bears official explicating the case for a return on the Central Coast in a ground the club built, underwritten by John Singleton, coached by Wayne Bennett. Each payment, once made, is non-refundable, subject to law. For two wilderness-riven decades, Bears hopefuls have been scoffed at, cast as hopeless, foolish tragics, and blind to the realities of economic rationalism in the 21st century. Nobody would win, not even TV. Given the nrl bears are gone and never coming back surely they have the most to gain? But once your delivery is activated, youll get the next edition, hot off the press. [12], On 14 July 1994, the club was fined $87,000 for breaching the salary cap. The 1990s was a decade of hope for the North Sydney Bears and while it ultimately ended in tears they almost claimed rugby league's ultimate glory along the way. On 8 November 2022, the Sydney Roosters announced that they would be ending their partnership deal with North Sydney at the end of the 2023 season. However, independent research shows the club still has 220,000 avid followers, a huge supporter . You must log in or register to reply here. After this, the Northern Eagles' licence then reverted to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, leaving the foundation club out of the top flight of rugby league in Australia after more than 90 years. Penrith (590,000) is about the same. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. 25-12 against Parramatta and 23-2 the following week against Canterbury. You can read him at his, How to play NRL fantasy: Our top tips for picking the best team to beat your mates, Round 1 team lists Late Mail: Titans star tears ACL, Thompson set to miss season, Roosters duo out, Hynes hobbled. 13.3K followers. Manly Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears must merge into a 'behemoth' club, says Brad Fittler Michael Di Lonardo 3 min read First it was the Gold Coast Bears. But only like the two Koreas. They both have a point, but how its executed is important. He recently told The Daily Telegraph: Wherever I go every third person asks me when are you bringing back the Bears?., Speaking specifically about the proposed 18th team in the NRL, Vlandys went on to say: One thing Ive learned in rugby league is that the Bears have an extremely popular brand. Bring back the bears, throw manly under a bus. The record attendance for the club at Brookvale Oval was 14,521 against Cronulla on 21 July 2002. Its why people follow footy teams. To upgrade, call 1300 MY NEWS (696 397), As a Full Digital Access or Paper Delivery + Full Digital Access Member youll get unlimited digital access to every story online, insight and analysis from our expert journalists PLUS enjoy freebies, discounts and benefits with our +Rewards loyalty program. See www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscriptionterms for full details. Hard-nosed? It's a rainy Friday evening in Sydney, and the temperature on the big screen at North Sydney Oval reads 14 degrees. Thats a nudge over 5 per cent of the population. Peter V'landys is often asked when the NRL will bring back the Bears. The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles name and colours returned to the NRL in 2003.[1][2]. I had a yarn once with an academic, Hunter Fujak, of University Technology Sydney. Bring back the Bears. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by the merger of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the North Sydney Bears in 2000. Bring Back The Bears! Relocating rugby league clubs disenchants new fans and disenfranchises existing ones. However, poor on-field performances and factional fighting led to the collapse of the Northern Eagles in 2002, after only three years. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox! [2] Until the end of season 2009, Souths were coached by the Bears' record-breaking top points scorer, Jason Taylor. And you'd only need one in 20 of these people to buy a jumper, go to a game, whack a sticker on the back of their Pajero and boom, they've brought back the North Sydney Bears. New customers only. Ill never forget the first time the Bears caused me pain. The proposed team would play 11 games in Gosford and one game at North Sydney Oval (obviously against Manly as part of a heritage or rivalry round). Speaking to Sporting News Australia, Manly tragic Peter Zorba Peters proudly rubbished Fittlers recommendation with a warning for the Bears. [43], The Central Coast Bears have 7,200 financial members with new members joining weekly. [44] They were aiming for 5,000 by March 2011, when the official bid was due to be handed in to the NRL but passed that mark in 2010. From then on, you can then use Sign In with Google to access your subscription and Google will do the billing for the subscription and process your payments. North Sydney chose to join the temporary Presidents Cup competition which involved teams from country New South Wales and the Ron Massey Cup. Unprecedented goodwill. Each payment, once made, is non-refundable, subject to law. The Bears are prepared to move anywhere as part of their bid to become the NRL's 18th team but there are some "non-negotiables" they won't budge on. North Sydney chairman Perry Lopez said of the deal "We are the North Sydney Bears, were not South Sydney," The decision is based on whats best for our club. The Dragons have 260,000 (not counting the Illawarra). The Dragons have 260,000 (not counting the Illawarra). Consider: six hundred thousand people live from Kirribilli to Hornsby Heights, from the Roseville Bridge to north-west Ryde. And it was bye-bye Bears to purgatory. . The loss was evidently too much for me, and I began to cry. North Sydney would eventually reach the preliminary final in the competition but were defeated by Glebe 26-6. The following year North Sydney came 2nd in the regular season, but were defeated 47-7 by St George, and then lost to South Sydney 14-9 the following week.[8][9][10]. You must log in or register to reply here. 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