Johns: The Giant warning facing the NRL in Perth

With the NRL set to welcome the Perth Bears as the competition’s 18th side, Matty Johns has issued a warning to the league about its potential success in capturing the hearts and minds of Western Australia.

Throughout the last three years, the NRL has begun to accelerate the number of teams added to the competition.

So far, the NRL has added sides within Rugby League's heartland with the Dolphins in 2023, alongside the planned expansion of the PNG Chiefs in 2028.

Alongside those two, they are attempting to expand the league from the eastern seaboard with the Perth Bears in 2027.

But as seen in the AFL over the last decade with the GWS Giants, expansion into areas where Aussie Rules is not the most popular code has proven difficult.

During the week, SEN’s Gerard Healy wrote an editorial stating there were only 97 boys in the U13s registered in the Western Sydney region despite significant investment made by the AFL in development.

Since then, the AFL’s COO Tom Harley dismissed Healy’s claim as a ‘historic figure’.

But the editorial has prompted plenty of discussion as to whether the Giants have made an impact within the region.

But for Johns, he believes that GWS’s struggles should serve as a warning for the NRL and the Perth Bears.

With their impending entry into the NRL, they face a similar challenge to the Giants in playing in an area where the rival code is far more popular.

And given other challenges such as a hostile media landscape, it could take some time before we see the Bears gain popularity.

“It serves as a warning to the Perth Bears,” he told SEN’s Morning Glory with Matty Johns.

“You look at Perth over there; they are rusted on hardcore AFL fans.

“The media are full-on AFL. A lot of the newspapers over there won't even report on the Perth Bears; whatever they say is derogatory.

“So, it's a real warning for the NRL.”

Last year, NRL WA CEO John Sackson said that the Bears were capable of getting 30,000 members in their first season from Western Australia alone.

The Bears will enter the competition in 2027.