The boss of a news organisation that has been one of the biggest critics of the NRL’s expansion into Western Australia has been appointed as the inaugural chief executive of the Perth Bears.
Anthony De Ceglie, director of news and current affairs at 7News and editor-in-chief at Seven West Media, has been tasked with overseeing the introduction of the NRL’s 18th franchise.
Perth Bears boss Anthony De Ceglie.Credit: Peter Rae
On the day of the official announcement of the Perth Bears, The West Australian, owned by Seven West Media ran a front-page headline, “Bad News Bears”. Seven is the current free-to-air broadcaster of the NRL’s chief winter rival, the AFL.
De Ceglie is arguably the closest executive at Seven to its chair and majority shareholder Kerry Stokes. He oversees the West, which has repeatedly criticised the state’s support of the expansion team.
“Rugby League is just not a thing in WA. It is a complete non-event. There is no significant, profitable fan base in this town, and nor is there ever likely to be one,” the West’s editor-in-chief Chris Dore told the ABC’s Media Watch earlier this week, adding that the sums behind the move “don’t add up”.
Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman, Peter V’landys praised the appointment of De Ceglie as an important step forward for the code in Western Australia.
“To succeed in Perth, you need a well-connected local who knows how to get things done and has a can-do attitude,” V’landys said.
“Anthony is a brilliant operator with a proven track record and a genuine Western Australian, and I am excited about what he can do for us as we grow rugby league in the WA market.”
The Perth Bears will enter the NRL competition in 2027, with De Ceglie joining the organisation at its inception in the coming months while Seven searches for a replacement, which is likely to come from within the company.
At the Bears’ launch event last week in Perth, V’Landys said recent coverage of the expansion team had been “a bit biased”, focusing in particular on Seven’s partnership with the AFL.
“Well, I think the media coverage has been a bit biased, in the sense that the main newspaper here is owned by Seven West Media that has the AFL rights, let’s be quite frank,” V’landys said.
“They don’t want us to be here because they realise we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to take some of their lunch. And we eat a lot, so we’ll be taking a fair bit of their lunch.”
De Ceglie, originally from West Australia, was lured back to Seven West Media by Kerry Stokes in 2019 after several years at News Corp’s Sydney-based tabloid The Daily Telegraph, where he was deputy editor under Dore. Last year, he was elevated into the new company-wide news role after the exit of a number of high-ranking executives.
More to come
