With Peter V’landys opening up on his ambition to expand the NRL to 20 teams over the next decade, the return of the North Sydney Bears now seems closer than ever.
The Bears have formally been out of the NRL since the 1999 merger with the Northern Eagles before being bought out in 2003 and remaining as an NSW Cup side since.
North Sydney has fought hard to make their way back to the NRL in recent years, forming a partnership with Cricket NSW to revamp their home ground at North Sydney Oval to prepare for a bid to become the NRL’s 18th side.
With expansion firmly on the horizon, Bears chairman Daniel Dickson stated his confidence that his club would be ready when the NRL begins the process of adding a new team to the competition.
“To be honest, we’ve been waiting and working with the NRL, they’re the ones that will make the decision on where the team will go,” Dickson said on SEN 1170 Mornings.
“I was probably as surprised as anyone that 18 and 19 teams were spoken about as well, but at the same time expansion in general is exciting.
“We’ve done all the work we needed to do, we’re just sitting and wait so when they say, ‘let’s go’, we’re going to be in the best possible position."
Dickson admitted the club has some non-negotiables if the NRL was to move them from North Sydney, including keeping the badge and traditional red and black colour scheme.
“Let’s look at what the NRL needs, forget what we need at the moment, if the NRL doesn’t get what they need we’re nowhere,” Dickson added.
“We know that we’ve got some pretty passionate fans, we’re a foundation club, 115 years of history and heritage there, (there’s) been over 100 legends for the club.
“For us, it’s not just about, ‘We’ll go anywhere’, we do have some non-negotiables and why would you use a club like the Bears and change the colours and the logos?
“What I think it is, it’s more about saying, ‘we’re agile enough to know that it won’t just be placed in North Sydney’.
“It’s not changing the course for us but it’s not for us to decide where we go, all we’re saying is we are in a position where can be more on the road and we’ll find a right place where the NRL needs us to be.”
The Bears are set to prepare a foundation squad for their potential return to the NRL in 2025 with their partnership with the Sydney Roosters coming to an end this year, leaving them a lone entity in the NSW Cup competition.