In an historic move, the North Sydney Bears have reached a partnership agreement to establish the Boston Bears for the 2024 USARL season. Previously known as the Boston Thirteens RL, the club will be rebranded as the Boston Bears and will compete in the newly combined USARL competition for the upcoming season beginning in June this year.

This partnership extends from the successful introduction in March of the Boston Bears who competed in the NRL Vegas 9’s competition. The team, wearing the iconic Bears red & black hoops jersey, drew wide acclaim from both USA rugby league and local Australian fans alike.

The partnership will focus on development of players and game structures for the USA based team and will see the Bears Head Coach, Pat Weisner, and his coaching team work directly with the Boston Bears coaching staff on pre-season conditioning programs, skill development, team and player game structures and more. The partnership will also present dual player pathway opportunities in which Bears development players will have the opportunity to play and study in the USA and vice versa with USA based players who are keen to develop their game further to join the Bears development, junior representative and NSW Cup high performance and pathway structures.

North Sydney Bears CEO Gareth Holmes stated “The initial Vegas 9’s tournament-based alignment is now progressing on to a more formal “brother club” partnership with the Boston 13’s in which we have opened up coach development and a player pathway between the two clubs.” Holmes went on to say the partnership will also open the North Sydney Bears to a new market of Bears members and the club will be rolling out a membership offering to attract fans from across the USA. To compliment the new partnership, both clubs will be releasing an official Boston Bears merchandise range ahead of the season kick off on 15 June.

Boston Bears Chairman and COO, Nicholas Lucido, confirmed “The Boston Bears board and players are excited for this opportunity to partner with such a long standing and professional Australian rugby league club in the Bears. The opportunities this partnership presents our club, and our players is immense, and we are proud to now be Bears for the 2024 season and beyond.”