Think of two coaching greats in the NRL, and who do you think of? Do you think of Jack Gibson, and his premiership successes with both the Roosters and the Eels, or do you think of the supercoach Wayne Bennett, and the last man to lead NSW to victory in Origin, in Phil Gould.
Well, if you were thinking of the last two, then you’d be bang on the money. For the Central Coast Bears, gaining inception into the league would mean the world to them, and they have a plan to ensure that they have Wayne Bennett and Phil Gould in their corner when they mount their final proposal to the NRL.
Both Bennett and Gould have been backing the Bears bid since it first arose, as it not only brings back the rich history of the former NRL team, the North Sydney Bears, but it also allows a former rugby league heartland in the Central Coast, to have the chance to become a force in regards to junior breeding grounds.
Greg Florimo, the Bears Chief Executive has said that whilst the final proposal is not yet 100% finalised, he is pleased that both Gould and Bennett have gotten behind the team and is supporting them in their bid.
“We’ve underlined the key stakeholders or certainly the key commentators in the game to ask for their support and I think they’ll carry a lot of weight in their thinking and the (imminent) independent commission’s thinking,” said Florimo, who at this stage is aiming to lodge the proposal in late March.
“The actual presentation and how the bid looks when we go to the NRL is obviously still being engineered and we’ve engaged a company to do that.
“It’s about working out exactly what strengths we have to portray and how best to deliver that.
“If that means we’ve got Phil Gould and Wayne Bennett in the room when we present, well that might be the case, but I’m not sure if that’s the actual tact we’ll follow at the moment.”
The Bears have also got the ball rolling early, with Mortgage House agreeing to a deal in principle for the club’s ownership, believed to be worth $10 million.
Florimo also said that in the short period of time that they have been working on the bid, they have already amassed 5000 members, 70% of which are local Central Coast residents.
A decision on expansion in the NRL will be made later this year.
“We’ve met with Graham Annesley a couple of times in the past few months and all along he’s stated that the Bears is the most advanced,” he said.
“And that’s given we have a large membership base now, more than 5000 members and there’s a number of other elements of our bid that perhaps aren’t there in the other bids, i.e the stadium.
“He’s made it clear to us that we’re the most advanced of the bids.”
At the NRL ceo’s conference at the end of last year, the majority of club bosses indicated they were more supportive of expansion to Perth and central Queensland than they were to the Central Coast.
Florimo also denies that the Bears side will pose any territorial threats to the juniors of other teams in and around the Sydney area.
“I think there’s enough value on the coast and on the north shore to sustain a team so it doesn’t impact on other clubs, it’s a massive franchise area,” he said.