The board of the Perth Bears has brought in a consultant with expertise in building stronger cultures as the NRL-owned expansion club grapples with internal issues that have threatened to undermine their entry to the competition next year.
While fellow expansion team PNG Chiefs are toasting the landmark acquisition of four-time premiership winner Jarome Luai, there has been turmoil at the Bears.
The trouble in the west was highlighted by the resignation last week of the franchise’s inaugural general manager of football David Sharpe, a close ally of head coach Mal Meninga, following a fallout with Bears chief executive Anthony De Ceglie.
It has since emerged that the Perth board has commissioned psychologist Peta Slocombe and her advisory Performance Story to work with the Bears’ football department as well as executives.
Bears chairman Ben Morton said the board had endorsed a program led by Slocombe in December “to assist our now formed executive leadership team to get to know themselves, each other and to grow into a high-performance team”.
“Given that the football department leadership is now in place this same support and development is now [to] be applied to that team and relevant staff are engaging in this professional and team development program,” Morton said in a statement issued by the Bears.
“This won’t be limited to the football department. As new staff join other teams we will offer the same assistance and support to remaining teams as they are established.
“The Perth Bears board will receive updates on progress and advice on how our board can further help support and develop our leadership teams, particularly in this start-up environment.”
He said the board took its role “to set and ensure the application of the values and culture of our new club seriously” and had made proactive decisions last year on that front.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, the program involves personality assessments and confidential discussions with employees.
While Sharpe has departed, Slocombe’s involvement at the Bears may also give the board a clearer picture about any continuing sources of tension at the club.
Morton said she was experienced in “helping teams perform and understands the board environment, executives and sport”.
The issues which surfaced at the nascent Bears this month have been in stark contrast to the landscape at the Chiefs, who will join the league a year after them and have presented a unified public front after capturing Luai as their headline first signing.
There has been speculation about Meninga’s own future at the Bears following the exit of Sharpe, the former Sport Integrity Australia boss, but the 65-year-old has maintained privately he is committed to the task.
The loss of his long-time friend as his consigliere at the start-up club was a significant blow, though, for the legendary figure.
Meninga had earlier been unsuccessful in having his friend Ezra Howe become the club’s first recruitment manager after Howe was accused by his former team, Gold Coast Titans, of breaching NRL anti-tampering rules.
Dane Campbell, who has had recruitment positions at the Broncos, Storm and Cowboys, was eventually appointed to set up the Bears’ roster, joining a football department staff including Samoa coach Ben Gardiner as an assistant to Meninga and ex-Wigan and St Helens head coach Ian Millward as elite pathways manager.
The Bears have announced 16 player signings, among them Melbourne’s Tyran Wishart and Nick Meaney, Penrith grand final winners Scott Sorensen and Liam Henry and former Canterbury halfback Toby Sexton, but are yet to secure a name of the stature of Luai.
“Our board is delighted with the Perth Bears progress,” Morton said. “Under the leadership of our CEO Anthony De Ceglie and head coach Mal Meninga we have developed our strategy and values, delivered significant commercial partnerships, launched our branding and initial merchandise products, secured a home for the Perth Bears, launched the Bears Track Academy and most importantly recruited players who will be ready to compete and win games in 2027.
“What has already been achieved has been achieved in a high-pressure environment, in a short time, with many of our staff operating remotely across five states and territories, and by people that have never known or worked together before.”
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.