I couldn't believe it when the list of Perth Bears signings was shown on the screen during 100% Footy on Monday night.
Apparently they already have 17 players on the books. I thought they had only signed three!
I stand by my comments to James Bracey that the club hasn't done enough to promote itself to players or to fans, and the Bears were shown up by the Papua New Guinea Chiefs last week.
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I'll be the first to admit I was one of many people doubting PNG appointing former journalist Michael Chammas as the general manager of football, but he is already doing some very smart things over there.
Flying Jarome Luai and his family to Port Moresby last week, and tipping off media to make sure the trip made news in Australia was a genius move. The fact Luai then signed a deal with the Chiefs is a huge win for the team, and they won't even be in the NRL until 2028.
All of a sudden the Chiefs are the talk of the town and players around the game will be eyeing off the tax-free salaries on offer there.
Let's be clear, Luai is only one player and PNG has a long way to go yet, but his signing is a great start for the club.
The Bears are coming into the competition next year and we've barely heard a peep out of them since the news was announced a year ago.
Obviously they have been quietly signing blokes in the background, but I honestly had no idea who most of those 17 players were when I saw the list on Monday night.
That's not to say they won't be good players, but why are we not seeing any Bears stuff on TV or in newspapers?
They have signed Scott Sorensen, a Kiwi representative player who has won four NRL premierships.
Has Sorensen been to Perth? We wouldn't know.
Why wouldn't the Bears have done what the Chiefs did with Luai, and fly Sorensen over there with his family to show him the beaches and whatnot, and tip off Nine so a cameraman and journalist are there to stop him and ask what he thinks of the place?
Get Sorensen – or Tyran Wishart, or Siosifa Talakai, or Nick Meaney – on TV talking up the Perth beaches, affordability, community and whatever, and all of a sudden other NRL players see that and start to get interested about chatting to the Bears.
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Or get one of them to have lunch with Mal Meninga and have a photographer rock up so there's photos in the media of a player actually touring the place.
They don't have to put on a Bears polo shirt and do a press conference. Obviously they are signed with other clubs this year and wouldn't be able to do that, but there are clever ways you can utilise their profile to help sell your club.
For people to now whinge about the NRL helping the Chiefs and not the Bears is pretty rich. Imagine how the other 17 clubs would feel if Perth suddenly got extra salary cap space or a handout from head office?
We've known about Perth coming into the competition for a year, it isn't new information. They simply haven't done enough to make a splash, and in one week Chammas and the Chiefs showed them how it should be done.
That being said, players are going to be drawn to the massive money on offer in PNG and I personally think it's ridiculous they will be able to earn tax-free salaries.
Look at all the hard-working Aussies who get stung by tax all the time, and tell me it's fair a handful of rugby league players will be able to earn big money without paying any tax just because they play for PNG.
There are two certainties in life – death and taxes. It's no wonder a lot of people are unhappy with the tax break offered to the Chiefs players.
Even with that incentive it's going to be a hard sell for PNG to convince a lot of players to sign on. I understand the exact logistics haven't been finalised yet, but living in a compound in Port Moresby doesn't exactly sound inviting and won't be attractive for a lot of blokes, or their families.
I've heard talk of players being based in the compound for several weeks and then the team being based in Sydney or Brisbane for two or three weeks at a time to play games.
If you're a player who has a wife and kids living over there, how are they going to feel about you leaving them in the compound for that long? And what do the kids do about schooling?
Also, for the blokes who don't have a partner or kids, imagine being single and being locked in a compound in a third-world country for weeks at a time.
How are you supposed to meet people, or go out socialising?
Let's be realistic, some of these guys will be young men who have those sort of needs, and I'm not sure how sustainable it will be for them over there.
I reckon we will see a lot of short-term contracts for that reason.
But, as I said, landing the Luai signature is a big first step and so far the Chiefs have done all the right things.
The Bears on the other hand? Time will tell if their strategy works.
But they should have been, and should be doing, more.
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