Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Why Perth needs to land a "big fish"
Nicholas Quinlan • December 13th, 2025 5:04 pm
Chad Townsend believes that the Perth Bears need to land a big fish as they continue to construct their roster for their inaugural season.
Having been allowed to begin their recruitment spree from November 1, the NRL’s 18th side has been somewhat quiet on the signings front so far.
Currently, they have only signed six players to their squad, which includes Englishman Harry Newman, halfback Toby Sexton and Panthers’ forward Liam Henry.
Another name that has been added to Mal Meninga’s inaugural roster is Izack Fa’asuamaleaui, the brother of Tino.
And this has the 2016 Premiership winner with Cronulla thinking that this could aid in their pursuit of the Gold Coast captain, as he can leave the club as early as the end of next season to be able to play with his brother.
“This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, to be honest,” Townsend said on SEN’s Around the Grounds.
“You get the brother so you can get the family in, and obviously, Tino, doing his due diligence at the moment with regards to his clauses and his contract with the Gold Coast Titans.
“Obviously, they are desperate to keep him, knowing how important he is to their roster.
“But Tino has said, on the record, that he wants to win, he wants to be in a scenario where he wins. He’s sick of losing, and the Titans haven’t had the success that he would have liked.
“Their coach, Josh Hannay, is basically pulling out all the stops to try and make sure he stays.
“But I think Tino, a world-class player, an Australian player, Queensland Origin (representative), tries his absolute backside off week in and week out, and it will be an interesting decision for him.
“Because you understand how much family plays a role to potentially move over to Perth and be playing with his brother in the NRL.
“That’s a really cool thing to do.”
And with the possibility of any “big fish” signing potentially being the face of the franchise, whether that is Tino Fa’asuamaleaui or someone else, Townsend believes that it could be a great opportunity for them to join.
“We still need to see a big fish, Perth really do need to make a play,” he added.
“And I’m sure they are in the background, but we probably need to see a star representative player be the face of that franchise.
“And what an opportunity, right? You get the chance to have a really low number for the Perth Bears, your player number.
“But just to be the face of the franchise and have everything based around you, it is a great opportunity for players to go over there.”
The Perth Bears will begin competing in the NRL at the start of the 2027 season.
