Mal Meninga has been officially announced as coach of the Perth Bears

The 13th Immortal will lead the NRL’s newest team - his first coaching role at club level since 2001 when he left the Raiders.

The decision was announced on Friday morning at NRL headquarters.

The team is expected to playing in the competition by 2027 meaning that Meninga and Perth Bears CEO Anthony de Ceglie will have a mountain of work to do to get this team ready.

"Bigger than me"

Speaking at his press conference, Meninga was excited to take on the challenge of being the inaugural head coach of Bears and to be apart of something bigger than himself.

“This is bigger than me," Meninga said proudly at NRL HQ.

“The opportunity to be involved and grow the game, grow the club was too good to refuse.

“I’m honoured and very nervous. It’s a huge responsibility but I believe I’m up for it.

Meninga also said he would be in the role for three years meaning he will oversee the club's first season.

“It’s only a three year program for me but I think this will be a great legacy piece for me.

“We’ll make sure we build a strong foundation and engage the rugby league community and give them a sense of belonging.

“We don’t have long to build the club but I’m confident we’ll do it.

De Ceglie: "I’m very optimistic"

Perth Bears CEO and former director of news at Channel 7, Anthony De Ceglie was also excited by the appointment.

De Ceglie would speak to Meninga's legendary status in the sport which will be a selling point in WA to help build the brand of the Bears within the state.

“Mal is not just an immortal of the NRL but also the national sporting identity. Everyone knows who he is." he said

De Ceglie also believes that the Bears can be a success within Perth whilst respecting the historical legacy that the club has.

“The first thing we need to do is respect and appreciate the legacy of the North Sydney Bears and the legacy of the supporters in WA.

“You have to ignore the noise and don’t let external noise dictate your markers of internal success.

“I’m very optimistic that this will be a huge success."

MAL's BLUEPRINT FOR BEARS JOB

Speaking on SEN’s Throwdown with Mal Meninga, he outlined some of the struggles he will need to address once in the role.

The hardest part of the job in Meninga’s eyes will be trying to grow rugby league to Western Australia which has been dominated by the two AFL teams the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers.

“The hardest part of all this is selling the game over there,” Meninga said.

“The sell point is really important. I haven’t been privy to any conversations or been a part of any conversations around how we do that culturally.

“That would be part of my role along with the CEO and other people we manage to take on this journey.

“That is something that will have to happen sooner rather than later, but you can’t do that until you have conversations with people.

“We don’t understand what the Perth Bears’ DNA will be. We haven’t talked to the local community; we don’t what the local business community is like with Rugby League over there.”

Meninga also made a point about ensuring the Bears adapt to the Perth market to ensure that they are embraced by all in Western Australia.

“We have to establish what’s right for there,” Meninga said. “We have to establish (what) the people expect, (what) the fans expect, (what) the Rugby League community expects out of their team.

“We’re obviously chasing success, that’s really important. But how do we do that?

“And I think that’s got to be part of the innateness of it all and the culture of it all to what makes up a Perth Bear person.

“Not just a player but what makes up a Perth Bear supporter, administrator, development kid, All of those sorts of things are really important to the whole sustainability of that program over there.”