{"id":859,"date":"2026-04-29T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/859\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:00:18","slug":"nrl-2026-perth-bears-disadvantages-on-recruitment-front-compared-to-png-chiefs-failed-to-sign-star-players-solutions-nrl360-rugby-league-news-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/859\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Perth Bears disadvantages on recruitment front compared to PNG Chiefs, failed to sign star players, solutions, NRL360, rugby league news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jarome Luai\u2019s PNG bombshell<\/a> has shone a spotlight on the Perth Bears\u2019 disadvantages as they also set about building their inaugural roster.<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

The big drawcard the Chiefs can offer that other teams cannot is tax-free salaries, and third party deals.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s helped PNG land a massive name in Jarome Luai ahead of their entry into the NRL in 2028, with more big names expected to follow.<\/p>\n

For the Bears and coach Mal Meninga, it\u2019s been a tougher slog as they prepare to enter the competition next year.<\/p>\n

While they\u2019ve so far constructed a squad consisting many proven first grade players, they haven\u2019t been able to land a marquee star like the Chiefs already have.<\/p>\n

Foxsports.com.au\u2019s Paul Crawley believes the Bears are being left behind and won\u2019t be able to match the Chiefs on the recruiting front even though the two teams will enter the comp just a year apart.<\/p>\n

Luai Lure: Who could be next for PNG? | 02:47<\/p>\n

MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n

\u2018RIDICULOUS MONEY\u2019: Tigers bombshell as Luai signs with PNG in huge coup<\/a><\/p>\n

LUAI: Inside irresistible pitch for star as three players named as next targets<\/a><\/p>\n

TALKING PTS: Why Dogs can only blame themselves; career truth facing Bellamy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018TAKING IT HOME\u2019: Wild story about Storm legend\u2019s amputated leg \u2026 and BBQ prank<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe poor old Perth Bears are up against it. It\u2019s deadset not a fair fight the fact they get absolutely no help from a salary cap perspective or anything else,\u201d Crawley said on NRL 360.<\/p>\n

\u201cPapua New Guinea is a three-hour flight from Brisbane, four hours from Sydney whereas Perth is five or six hours from Sydney. It\u2019s just as far away if not further for all the families that are going to go over there. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey (Chiefs players) are also getting tax-free money. Not just on their salary but on third party deals.<\/p>\n

\u201c(General manager) Michael Chammas and (head coach) Willie Peters are doing an exceptional job to get this out there and get Jarome\u2019s signature but from a Perth perspective, it\u2019s no wonder they\u2019re struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

NRL legend Gorden Tallis countered that there are other clubs who traditionally struggle to recruit for various reasons, including Canberra Raiders and the competition\u2019s newest team, the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta pointed out, however, that the Bears and Chiefs were having to compete with each other because they were joining the competition only a year apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bears and Chiefs are pretty much going toe-to-toe,\u2019 Anasta said.<\/p>\n

The Bears have 17 players confirmed for next season with a couple more yet to be officially announced but they\u2019ve struck out on a number of superstars including Jayden Campbell, Cam Munster and Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jarome Luai\u2019s PNG bombshell has shone a spotlight on the Perth Bears\u2019 disadvantages as they also set about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[359,23,133,99,366,363,371,369,368,356,358,365,375,372,373,357,355,370,120,354,361,367,374,335,376,212,360,364,247,362,353],"class_list":{"0":"post-859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-perth","8":"tag-added-expansion-side","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","11":"tag-brisbane","12":"tag-chiefs-players","13":"tag-dave-riccio","14":"tag-fellow-expansion-team","15":"tag-fox-league","16":"tag-getty-images-inc","17":"tag-head-coach","18":"tag-inaugural-head-coach","19":"tag-jarome-luai","20":"tag-jayden-campbell","21":"tag-mal-meninga","22":"tag-melanesia","23":"tag-michael-chammas","24":"tag-new-south-wales","25":"tag-nrl-press","26":"tag-oceania","27":"tag-papua-new-guinea","28":"tag-party-deals","29":"tag-paul-crawley","30":"tag-paul-kane","31":"tag-perth","32":"tag-press-conference","33":"tag-queensland","34":"tag-south-sydney-rabbitohs","35":"tag-star-players","36":"tag-sydney","37":"tag-wayne-bennett","38":"tag-western-australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859","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=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}