Bears back in the NRL?

Peter Cassidy | 05/12/08 | 0

AUDIO - Central Coast Bears? We catch up with Greg Florimo

The North Sydney Bears have emerged from hibernation to launch a bold campaign aimed at an NRL return.

The proposal - headed by chief executive Greg Florimo - would see the foundation club reappear on the Central Coast.

Florimo yesterday met with Gold Coast boss Michael Searle to discuss the Titans' successful bid for an NRL berth in 2007, and is expected to meet with NRL CEO David Gallop before the end of the year.

The Bears were forced into a merger with the Manly Sea Eagles in 1999 but the joint venture failed and left the club's die-hard supporters without an NRL presence.

"We're serious about this," Florimo told Fairfax.

"We've been nine years in the reserve grade competition and we've managed to keep the club alive so we're fine with that but we've obviously always had the thought that we would get back into the NRL one day.

"We've got a bid committee together that is still in formation at the moment but one of the key elements, we think, in putting together a comprehensive bid is to find out exactly what the Titans did right and try to emulate that."

Florimo is well aware the club would not survive on the Central Coast without a branding overhaul.

"To have a club come up here on the bones of their arse and as a reaction to some poor business dealings is not going to be accepted by the people of the Central Coast," he said.

"For this to be successful it needs to be defined as a Central Coast team.

"We think there's enough money on the Central Coast to sustain a team as long as everyone gets behind it.

"When the Gold Coast got in, there was no invitation for applications, they just got a groundswell of community support behind them and forced the issue. We're taking a similar tack, and hopefully the NRL will see the value of it."

The Central Coast Bears were one of the three bids put forward for entry to the NRL in 2004 - the Titans ultimately getting the nod.

The major hurdle facing the consortium then was the lack of an NRL-ready stadium.

With Blue Tongue Stadium now a recognised NRL venue, Florimo says he can see great benefits for the game should the Central Coast gain inclusion.

"We just see a bit of an opportunity at the moment considering the NRL broadcasting rights are up for renewal in the next few years, and we figure that it would be great to have a truly national game and as many potential pay-TV customers as possible so, with that in mind, we figured we would have another shot," he said.

We're serious about this... North Sydney chief executive Greg Florimo