As all of the rugby league world looks to Vegas this weekend, we are proud to have the Bears represented too. In a club first, the North Sydney Bears have partnered with the Boston Thirteens in a move that will see the team play in the NRL Vegas 9’s tournament as the Boston Bears. Wearing our iconic red & black hoops and featuring a bespoke version of the Bears shield logo on the chest, with the addition of the text “Boston”, the team is set to make headlines.
All teams are back at the summer home of the Bears, Hills Grammar School, this Saturday. Our male teams take on the Sydney Roosters and our female teams go up against the Bulldogs. Big games for the half way mark of the junior representative season. Our Knock-On Effect NSW Cup team has no games now until round1, Bears v Dragons in Wollongong on Sunday 10th March. All focus for our senior team is now on refining the playing team and preparing mentally for a big season ahead. Get on down to Hills Grammar this Saturday to cheer on your junior Bears!
Coming back for their fourth year as a sponsor, we welcome Chris Haslehurst and the team at CIP back on board for 2024. Our Knock-On Effect NSW Cup team are proud to wear the CIP logo on both sleeves as they run out for every game this season, both home and away. The logo also features on the sleeves of both our male junior reps teams, Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball Cup.
Round 3 didn’t produce the results we were looking for in our Junior Representative teams and highlighted some areas of growth required. We go again this weekend with our teams split across two days. On Saturday our U16 Academy team take on fellow foundation club, Balmain Tigers, while our two female junior reps teams play the Wests Tigers on home soil at Leichhardt Oval. The Tigers teams are notoriously tough, and the teams are preparing for a good, strong clash.
Weisner continues to adjust and bolster the team and recently signed three new players. Trey Peni swaps his stripes to come across to the Bears from the Wests Tigers. Peni has come through the Wests Tigers pathway program having played Harold Matts, SG Ball and Jersey Flegg in the orange and black. He was also called up to play in the Tigers 2023 NRL preseason challenge, scoring the first try for the team.
This Saturday we return to the summer home of the Bears, Hills Grammar, to host all five of our Junior Representative and Academy games. Our local U16s Academy get the day rolling with a 9.15am kick off against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Followed by Lisa Fiaola Cup and Tarsha Gale Cup taking on the Illawarra Steelers at 10.30am and 11.45am respectively. Harold Matthews Cup play the Dragons at 1pm and we finish off the day with our SG Ball Cup team also taking on the Dragons at 2.15pm.
As our SG Ball Cup team heads across the Tasman to take on the Warriors this weekend, our other four junior representative and academy teams have a Bye round. For many of the SG Ball players, this will be the first time they have played footy at a high level internationally and is a great experience for the boys. At this stage, it isn’t until U19’s representatives that our teams get to travel to take on the Kiwis on their home soil. Good luck to the Bears who get to represent the mighty red & black this Sunday!
This month our KOE NSW Cup Head Coach, Pat Weisner, joined the Melbourne Storm NRL camp in Geelong alongside two of our Cup players, Jake Toby and Tui Katoa, and local junior and Bears Harold Matthews Cup player, Ben Stringer. Weisner spent the week engulfed in all things footy, canvassing for information, techniques and tactics that can be implemented back at the Bears. When he returned to Sydney, we caught up with our main man to find out some of his learnings and to see how the red & black are tracking five weeks out from comp kick off.
Footy returns this Saturday and we have a massive action-packed day on the cards with 5 big games! We kick off the day with our inaugural Lisa Fiaola Cup (U17s Female) team running out for the first time in competition. This team consists from junior league players for across the North Sydney District and is testament to the growth of the female game in the local area. Tarsha Gale Cup and Lisa Fiaola Cup will be taking on the Sydney Roosters while our Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball team will be playing the Melbourne Storm. We end the day with our KOE NSW Cup team playing their first trial game against Souths, see more info below.
The first test for our 2024 Knock-On Effect NSW Cup squad begins on Saturday 3rd February when we take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Hills Grammar. We have four trial games scheduled this season which is more than previous seasons and a great chance to prepare the entire squad for round 1. Every player in our 35-man squad will get decent game time in the trials, although not necessarily playing every game. “Every player can expect a good hit-out that’s more realistic in terms of fatigue and conditioning.” commented Head Coach Pat Weisner.
Q & A – Meet our Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Analyst and Assistant Coach, Joel Scrivener.
Announcing our 2024 Harold Matthews Cup (Male U17s) final squad and leadership group. Congratulations to all selected and we look forward to watching you represent the red & black when the competition kicks off on Saturday 3rd February with home games at Hills Grammar.
Announcing our 2024 SG Ball Cup (Male U19s) final squad and leadership group. Congratulations to all selected and we look forward to watching you represent the red & black when the competition kicks off on Saturday 3rd February with home games at Hills Grammar.
As the rugby league world heads over to Las Vegas for the 2024 NRL Season Opening, we want to be there too. We are calling on any Bears members who are making the grand trip to Vegas to champion the red & black with a specially made, limited edition Bears Training Top. Wear the Bear in Vegas!
This month we have three Bears contracted players who have earned their spot to train alongside Melbourne Storm. Jake Toby (left) and Tui Katoa (right) have joined the Storm’s famous Geelong NRL summer camp. This camp is known for its intensive regime that primes the players for the season ahead. These opportunities with our pathway partner, Melbourne Storm, allows the Bears to attract the highest level of player to the club and gives the selected players valuable NRL experience that they then bring back to the red & black.
After a defining 2023 season for the Bears, it is no surprise that our star halfback Jesse Marschke has caught the eye of NRL recruiters. Marschke played an integral part in our Knock-On Effect NSW Cup leading the team all the way to the 2023 Grand Final. First coming to the Bears in 2021 and having played 44 games in the red & black, the North Sydney Bears are pleased for Jesse to have the opportunity to now progress on to a full time NRL contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The North Sydney Bears are saddened to hear the news former player #616, Peter Harrison, passed away last week after a battle with cancer. Peter was 82.
Joining our 2024 Tarsha Gale and Lisa Fiaola Cup squads this season are eight remarkable young women who have jumped at the opportunity to train with the Bears. These ladies have relocated from Townsville, where they have been attending boarding school, to join our female junior representative teams for the summer period. Nyeema Tuua is part of our Lisa Fiaola Cup (U17s) team and Bronte Morrison, Charlize Barrett, Lalita Kris, Latisha Kaitap, April Major, Lynette Bosuen and Ebony Sotheren-Hatton bolstering our Tarsha Gale Cup (U19s) squad. The group of talented indigenous players originate from across Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory, with some coming from as far as Moa Island in the Torres Strait Island archipelago.
This week we announce two powerhouse prop signings for the 2024 season. Welcome back BT and KDL!
