Like a lot of footy fans, I’m worried about the narrative around the Perth Bears at the minute.

It feels like the script is being written by people who don’t understand the soul of the club or the city. I was in the thick of it back then — coaching Harold Matthews and Jersey Flegg at the Bears. I was there the day Manly turned up at the offices and we became the Northern Eagles. I saw what it did to the place.

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

On November 1, the “Battle for the West” stops being a concept and starts being a football team. While the Sydney press is busy squinting at flight maps and the PNG Chiefs are counting their tax-free dollars, Mal Meninga will blow a whistle in Perth and change the script.

The Chiefs have grabbed a good one out of the blocks with Jarome Luai, but that’s the nature of the beast when you can offer a tax-free fish. Even the Dolphins couldn’t land those names early; they had to build their catch over time. The Bears might have been given the short straw by the pundits, but they have one thing that levels the field.

They have an Immortal.

The hype is all north right now, but it ignores some of the realities. In Port Moresby, you’re training in 90 per cent humidity — that’s a survival test. It creates problems around maintaining weight, exhaustion, and even simple things like infections that can sideline a player in that heat. Meanwhile, the Sydney media focus stays on the airport lounge. They talk about the journey like it’s a holiday trek, but they rarely mention what Perth actually offers. It’s a world-class city with a lifestyle that rivals anything in the game. You won’t hear Mal complaining about the travel. Things out of his control won’t get a second of his time — he’ll be too busy building the “Why” in the West.

Mal Meninga, inaugural head coach of the Perth Bears.Source: Getty Images

The Sydney press is handing the Chiefs a rails run because of one big signature, while labelling Perth a “basket case” because a few suits have changed seats.

They’re missing the point. I’ve sat in a room and listened to Mal address a team. He has a presence that you can’t coach, and you can’t fake. When the media treats Perth like an inconvenience, he’ll use that to drive the players into a classic “Us vs Them” battle. He knows the “why” for today’s player is the secret sauce of effort.

Of course, Mal wants a marquee player. Every coach does. But with the start date looming, he’s playing the hand he’s been dealt, and that means building the foundations first. He is recruiting men that are ready for a fight, because he has to. You can see the blueprint in the blokes already on the bus. He’s gone for the hard heads like Scott Sorensen and Liam Henry— players who know that winning the collision is the only way to play. He’s brought in Tyran Wishart, Nick Meaney, and Josh Curran. These are men who understand inside pressure and winning the ruck. Add in Siosifa Talakai and the boys from the Super League like Harry Newman and James McDonnell, and you see a squad being built to bend the line and scrap for every inch.

READ MORE NRL

TALKING POINTS: ‘Something not right’ after shock Dogs call; only fix for Storm’s stunning downfall

LATE MAIL: Star Raider ruled out; Broncos sweat on Reynolds after injury scare

SEA EAGLES: Foran was ‘thrown in deep end’ in a ‘PR stunt’. He could be Manly’s saviour, but the ‘real test’ is here

‘They are concerned now!’ Pull to PNG | 02:46

Building the “Why” is everything. It starts with family, but Mal will build that family to include the entire club. These players are living together, thousands of kilometres away from home. In that isolation, they have to deliver for each other first. If you aren’t playing for the bloke beside you when you’re winning the collision in a WA pre-season, you aren’t playing for anything.

Then there are the fans. You have the new WA fans — proud and sick of being ignored. Then you have the old Bears fans—the people I saw hurting back in ‘99 who have waited 27 years for a team to commit to them. They aren’t just playing for points; they are playing for the people who refused to give up on the red and black.

The flight time is a hurdle, but the AFL has been doing that journey for years. It isn’t like you or me turning up at the terminal in our shorts and thongs, hunting for our gate. It’s sorted. Between the recovery protocols and professional preparation, the WA clubs have the travel down to a routine. Mal won’t be reinventing the wheel; he’ll be using a proven system. He knows that if his blokes treat the travel like professionals, and the opposition treats it like a chore, the game is already shifting in his favour before they even leave the tarmac.

We heard the stories on NRL 360 — players already whinging about the flight length before they even left Sydney. That is exactly what Mal will be banking on. While the Sydney teams are standing at the airport looking jaded and searching for an excuse, Mal will be waiting for them.

If the opposition thinks the travel is too hard, they’ve already given the Bears a start. He will turn Perth into a graveyard for teams with soft mentalities. You come over thinking about the six-hour flight? You’ve already lost. Mal knows how to orchestrate the ambush. He’ll be banking on why and effort. If you steal a couple of wins on the road and protect your patch in the West, suddenly you aren’t just a “surprise packet” — you’re on the edge of the finals. On November 1, the talk ends and the footy begins. Stand aside.

Michael Crawley has worked as an assistant coach at the Raiders, Knights and Cowboys as well as a coaching consultant with the Dragons.