![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b2cbf246fcabb0bef6da120ca5672b96.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe NRL’s newest side, the Perth Bears, have unveiled their inaugural playing jersey on the same day they were granted salary cap concessions ahead of their entry to the competition in 2027.<\/p>\n
In an event coordinated between Perth and North Sydney, where the unveiling was live-streamed, the Bears revealed the jersey by dropping the design from the famous WACA Ground light towers.<\/p>\n
The design, which features red hoops on a black background, pays homage the North Sydney Bears, which left the NRL at the end of the 1999 season and currently play in the NSW Cup competition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Peter V’landys (second from left) announced the concessions alongside WA Premier Roger Cook (speaking), Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie, and Perth coach Mal Meninga (left). (ABC News: Tom Wildie)<\/p>\n
The unveiling of the jersey marks a major step towards the Bears’ entry into the NRL, which club chief executive Anthony De Ceglie said was on track to have 35,000 members by the beginning of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n
Salary boost<\/p>\n
In a big boost to the club, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys announced the Bears would be granted a concession for signing a marquee player.<\/p>\n
“They will be given a 20 per cent dispensation for any player above a million dollars [salary],” V’landys said.<\/p>\n
“If the player is worth $1.5 million, they can pay another 20 per cent from a sponsor and that won’t be counted in the salary cap.<\/p>\n
“So that gives them the opportunity to get somebody because they’ve got a 20 per cent bonus for that player from the sponsor.”![\"Mal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0d57c36b237f4fb10df9da1079fbd108.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The Perth Bears will play in the 2027 NRL season. (ABC News: Tom Wildie)<\/p>\n
Additionally, the Bears will have first rights to any player who wants to leave their club but is under contract for 2027.<\/p>\n
“You may have a marquee player that’s not happy in a particular club and the club and the player want to separate. That player can only go to Perth in the first instance,” V’landys said.<\/p>\n
“There will be some good players that will come up and be given the opportunity to play in Perth.”<\/p>\n
The concessions will help the Bears land a high-profile player, which has so far being lacking in their signings.<\/p>\n
Meninga happy with progress<\/p>\n
Bears inaugural coach Mal Meninga says he is “really happy” with the club’s progress to date and talked down the need for a marquee player.<\/p>\n
“We’ve worked within the conditions of obviously our entry into the NRL and you know \u2026 let me be frank with this \u2026 I’m really excited about the roster we’ve built,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You look through the team, we’ve got some high-profile players already.<\/p>\n
“We’ve certainly got players of the future, there’s no doubt.<\/p>\n
“I really appreciate Peter and the club’s great concessions, but I’m really happy with where we are at the moment.”<\/p>\n
Bellamy excited<\/p>\n
Veteran Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy said the arrival of the Bears was exciting for the league.<\/p>\n
And he said the club was in good hands with coach Mal Meninga steering the ship.<\/p>\n
“I worked with Mal, I played with Mal and I know the amount of work that he puts in and the amount of work he will put into the coaching,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure it will be a very successful venture.”<\/p>\n
The Storm has already seen two of their players, Nick Meaney and Tyran Wishart, sign on with the Bears, but the coach was magnanimous about their departure.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3ead0442cd76123f4cd4503e82a5ff4b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Tyran Wishart of the Storm will line up for the Bears next season. (AAP: Morgan Hancock)<\/p>\n
“They’re very excited to be coming over here,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They’re obviously doing what they think’s best for them and best for their families.<\/p>\n
“They’re still doing a great job for us.<\/p>\n
“That’s just the way the game is.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL’s newest side, the Perth Bears, have unveiled their inaugural playing jersey on the same day they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[15027,372,9959,335,12377,463,5707,261,464,5706],"class_list":["post-67078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-anthony-de-ceglie","tag-mal-meninga","tag-north-sydney-bears","tag-perth","tag-perth-bears","tag-perth-news","tag-perth-sport","tag-sport","tag-wa-news","tag-wa-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}