The Bears are set to win cap concessions at last. But there’s a bigger problem brewing |
The Bears are set to win cap concessions at last. But there’s a bigger problem brewing
May 10, 2026 — 3:30am
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The Perth Bears are close to two things: winning a significant salary cap concession, and a flash point for head coach Mal Meninga as tensions grow over his involvement with the club.
First, the good news. A meeting between Bears board members James Bracey and Daniel Dickson and NRL supremo Peter V’landys is poised to put the Bears in a stronger position in their quest to sign quality players.
The Rugby League Players’ Association, led by Clint Newton, has been calling on NRL bosses to help the expansion club attract players to Perth and there are now serious discussions being held on how that can happen.
Bracey, a sports presenter for Nine (the publisher of this masthead), went cap in hand to V’landys last Friday after a week of watching the PNG Chiefs revel in positive publicity after signing Jarome Luai.
They met on Monday afternoon, a few hours before Bracey’s public stoush with Paul Gallen on 100% Footy over claims by the ex-Sharks captain that the Bears are not promoting their franchise enough. V’landys took the point of Bracey, Dickson and the Newton, and agreed something has to be done. The idea is to tap into the dollars of Perth’s business community, which if successful could make the Bears a serious player in their attempts to land a marquee player or two.
But of greater concern to the Bears will be our revelations of tension between Meninga and assistant coach Ben Gardiner. A polo shirt worn by Gardiner in TV and filmed radio interviews gives a deeper insight into problems surrounding Meninga.
Gardiner, who was part of the Panthers coaching team that won premierships in 2023-24, is also the head coach of the Samoan national team. He organised the media appearances off his own bat to raise awareness and sponsorship for Samoa. However, he is on the Bears payroll and was told by Bears officials that they didn’t want him doing media.
Gardiner and Meninga are not seeing eye to eye because Gardiner is seen as a threat. His failure to wear a Bears polo shirt is a sign of a bigger issue at the club. And the problems are real around Meninga.
The reason Gardiner wasn’t wearing Bears colours during interviews has been difficult to extract from the club, but it is thought to be down to an edict from within the organisation. The idea is to limit Gardiner’s media exposure because he is an assistant.
In other words, Gardiner needs to stay in his lane and not tread on Mal’s toes.
Gardiner declined to comment.
Meninga is on a $1 million per season deal, yet continues to live in Canberra. That is infuriating the NRL. HQ is questioning his choices in that regard. His lack of visibility in recent months is also putting noses out of joint.
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Meninga has not coached in the NRL for two decades, and would be aware of the view that Gardiner, who has been named to succeed Meninga in 2029, will be pulling most of the strings when it comes to coaching the Bears.
This all feeds into the narrative out of Perth that Meninga is becoming........