Greg Florimo & the return of the Mighty Bears
The glory. The heartbreak. The long road back.
A life in red and black, told by the man who never stopped believing.
Hardcover · Publication 1 March 2027 · Plus postage
The book
For Greg Florimo, the Bears were never just a football club. They were home.
Stand Aside is his first-person account of a life in rugby league: the North Sydney years, the people beside him, and the long campaign to bring the Bears back to the game’s biggest stage.
Told to journalist Ben Horne and richly illustrated across 288 pages, it follows the highs, the near misses and the loyalty that lasted long after the final whistle.
What’s inside
Billy Moore’s introduction
“Without Greg Florimo there is no Perth Bears. There is no anything Bears.”
Own a piece of the story
For the ones who were there.
For the next generation who will be.
Choose your edition and pre-order with the publisher.
The hardcover edition
Greg’s story and the Bears’ remarkable journey, in a generously sized, illustrated hardcover.
Publication 1 March 2027 · Plus postage
For the collector · Edition limited to 75 copies
A special keepsake edition, signed by Greg Florimo, Ben Horne and leading contributors.
Plus postage · Check availability with the publisher
All prices are in Australian dollars. Orders, payment, availability and shipping are handled by Full Throttle Publishing. The publication date is 1 March 2027; it is not a guaranteed delivery date.
North Sydney’s favourite son
A North Sydney junior. A club-record 285 games. A Bear for life.
Greg represented New South Wales and Australia, but it was the red and black that defined his career. To Bears supporters, he became the face of a club and the spirit of a community.
When North Sydney’s first-grade chapter ended, his commitment didn’t. The years that followed became a different kind of contest: keeping the dream alive and working towards the Bears’ return.
Hear it from GregResurgence. Heartbreak. Return.
For a club, a community and generations of supporters, the red and black never faded.
Greg and his teammates take North Sydney deep into finals football, building memories that still live on the hill.
North Sydney’s final season as a standalone first-grade team. The supporters’ loyalty would outlast the loss.
After decades of campaigns and setbacks, the Perth Bears’ 2027 entry is confirmed. Belief turns into celebration.
Perth prepares to take the field in the NRL, carrying the Bears’ red-and-black heritage into a new era.
North Sydney’s teams continue their own story, with a development partnership connecting the club to Perth. Two Bears communities, linked by heritage and a future in the game.
Inside Stand Aside
Greg’s recollections sit alongside the voices of teammates, opponents and figures from across rugby league.
The North Sydney years, representative football and the people who shared the highs and the heartbreak.
First-person recollections and a richly illustrated record of the club and its community.
The setbacks, the campaigns and the determination that helped carry the Bears towards a new beginning.
A 288-page hardcover from Full Throttle Publishing.
ISBN 9780645965070.
Sneak peeks
Three extracts from Stand Aside. The friendships, the place and the personal story behind a lifetime in red and black.
The man behind the jersey
Where would Greg Florimo be without the Bears?
Perhaps the best place to start is to go back more than 50 years to when his life-long association with North Sydney rugby league began, in 1974.
If you scan through the list of officially registered players for the Willoughby Roos under 7s that season, mysteriously, you won’t find the name Greg Florimo anywhere.
Although, there was a young red-headed footballer in that team with obvious talent, named Greg.
A boy registered under the name, ‘Greg Houslip.’
And yes, they are indeed, one and the same…
An extract from Stand Aside
A friendship like no other
The first time Greg Florimo met Peter Jackson, the maverick centre from Queensland delivered the most enticing proposal at the most unusual time.
Jackson had his right hand plastered over his opponent’s face at the bottom of a ruck, rubbing Florimo’s skull into the North Sydney Oval dirt.
“I’ll see you at The Bourbon tonight, Red!” Jackson quipped, and with that, one of rugby league’s closest friendships instantly ignited.
It was the last game of the 1990 regular season between Brisbane and Norths, but a couple of months later, Jackson switched from the Broncos to the Bears and late nights with ‘Red’ at The Bourbon and Beefsteak in Kings Cross suddenly became something of a permanent fixture.
An extract from Stand Aside
The place that made us
A Fig Tree and Drop Bears…
Before Billy Moore became famous for his iconic ‘Queenslander!’ shout, there was another Bear, with another chant, that echoed emotively through hallowed hallways and dressing rooms.
“Come on, Bears!” Greg Florimo would bellow as a final battle cry, just as teammates were about to ascend the stairway to heaven.
The natural resonance of the North Sydney Oval tunnel would take care of the rest.
“You’d walk out of the rooms, and just as you were about to go up the stairs, he would always just do it in a way that, I don’t know, just made you feel good,” remembers Ivan Cleary, as if he was wearing that red and black jersey yesterday.
An extract from Stand Aside
There’s so much more to the story.
Pre-order the full storyWatch & listen
Greg in his own words, classic Bears football and the moments that brought the return to life.
North Sydney history, running over Mal Meninga and a new book. Start with Greg’s own story.
Watch on YouTube ↗Bears stories
From Flo’s perfect ten to the Perth jersey reveal. Stories from the archives and highlights from North Sydney’s 2026 season.
Greg Florimo delivered a performance for the ages as North Sydney beat Manly 41–8 in 1997. Revisit the afternoon that earned him a perfect ten from Rugby League Week—and ended with Bears supporters joining their heroes on the oval.
After years of false starts, the confirmation of Perth’s 2027 NRL entry brought an outpouring of emotion from Bears supporters. Nick Campton captures Greg Florimo and the North Sydney faithful as decades of waiting finally gave way to celebration.
Greg Florimo welcomes the Perth Bears’ inaugural home jersey, with red-and-black hoops and details honouring North Sydney’s foundation heritage. The unveiling brings the next chapter into focus as the Bears prepare to take the field in the NRL in 2027.
Former Bears centre David Hall looks back on the team’s rise in the 1990s, the personalities behind it and the finals campaigns that came agonisingly close. A teammate’s perspective on an era that still means so much to North Sydney supporters.
With NRL expansion off the agenda, Greg Florimo explained why the Bears were exploring a future alongside the Gold Coast franchise. His message to members captures the persistence, practical thinking and commitment to supporters behind the long campaign to return.
The proposed Western Bears suffered a major setback when the ARL Commission rejected the consortium’s bid in October 2024. This report captures the financial disagreement and uncertainty surrounding another attempted return, months before a different agreement finally opened the door to Perth.
North Sydney survived a fierce Roosters comeback to win 33–28 at Wentworth Park. After surrendering a commanding lead, the Bears found one last answer through Coby Thomas, whose late try turned a tense afternoon into another memorable victory.
A strong second-half performance carried North Sydney to a 30–22 win over Parramatta at the oval. Ammaron Gudgeon’s double and an important Ethyn Martin intercept helped the Bears secure another victory in their impressive 2026 regular-season campaign.
North Sydney’s connection to the Perth Bears now includes a formal development pathway. The clubs’ agreement links North Sydney’s junior and representative programs with the new NRL side, giving emerging players a route forward while strengthening ties between the two Bears communities.
Designed by a lifelong North Sydney supporter, the Perth Bears’ new logo connects the club’s heritage with its Western Australian future. Greg Florimo and Billy Moore add their support as the new identity takes shape ahead of the 2027 NRL debut.
The loyalty. The legend. The book.
A lifetime of memories for your bookshelf.
Pre-order Stand Aside for yourself or the Bears supporter in your life.
Publication 1 March 2027 · Plus postage · Full Throttle Publishing
