The Perth Bears have appointed Anthony De Ceglie as their CEO.
It comes one week after the Western Australia Government-backed team was confirmed to join the NRL from 2027.
De Ceglie was most recently the director of news and current affairs at Seven West Media.
Prior to that, the former journalist was the editor-in-chief of The West Australian newspaper.
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Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys believes having a WA-born and based CEO will be beneficial.
"To succeed in Perth, you need a well-connected local who knows how to get things done and has a can-do attitude," he said.
"Anthony is a brilliant operator with a proven track record and a genuine Western Australian, and I am excited about what he can do for us as we grow rugby league in the WA market."
The AFR describes De Ceglie, 39, as one of "Kerry Stokes' [Channel 7 chairman] most senior lieutenants."
His appointment is somewhat of a surprise considering his affiliations with Seven West.
Ahead of confirmation of the Bears' NRL inclusion, The West Australian published a front page reading "THE BAD NEWS BEARS."
"Rugby-mad Roger Cook forces WA taxpayers to pay Sydney's NRL rejects $65m to play in Perth," it continued.
In response, Vlandys labelled the media coverage as "biased".
"The media coverage has been a bit biased in the sense that the main newspaper is owned by Seven West Media who have the AFL rights, let’s be quite frank," he said.
"They don’t want us to be here because they realise we’re going to be competitive and going to take some of their lunch, and we eat a lot, so we’ll be taking a fair bit of their lunch."