Bear Country Community Guidelines & Terms of Service

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Bear Country Community Guidelines

Welcome to Bear Country, the fan community for Perth Bears supporters. This is a place built by fans, for fans. To keep it that way, we ask everyone to read and respect these guidelines.

1. Be Respectful

Debate is welcome. Abuse is not.

Criticise ideas, not people. Disagreeing with someone's take on a signing or a team list is fine; attacking the person making it is not.
No personal insults, harassment, or targeted pile-ons.
Constructive criticism of players and coaches is fine. Blanket character attacks are not. "Player X needs to tidy up his defence on the left edge" is fine. "Player X is useless" is not.
Treat new members the way you'd want to be treated when you were new. Plenty of Bears fans are new to rugby league.

2. Keep It On Topic

This is a Perth Bears forum. Keep threads relevant to rugby league, the club, and the community.
Post in the right category: game threads in Match Day, recruitment talk in Signings & Rumours, local footy in WA Rugby League, and everything else in The Third Half.
Do not derail threads. If a conversation needs a new direction, start a new topic.
Search before posting. Your question has probably been asked before.

3. One Account Per Person

Each member gets one account. Creating alternate accounts to evade a ban or bypass a moderation decision will result in permanent removal.

4. Rumours and Unverified Information

Recruitment and contract rumours belong in Signings & Rumours, clearly labelled as rumours. Name your source where you can.
Do not present speculation as fact.
Do not spread information about players' personal lives, injuries, or private matters without a verified source.

5. No Defamatory Content

Do not post content that could be considered defamatory about players, officials, coaches, or other members. This includes:

False statements of fact presented as true
Allegations about ongoing legal matters involving the club or players
Personal information about individuals that hasn't been made public by them

6. Restricted Topics

To keep the forum focused and constructive, the following are off-limits:

Racial, political, and religious discussion, unless directly and specifically related to the club or the NRL
Pending legal matters involving the club, players, or officials
Player personal lives beyond what they've chosen to make public

7. Copyright

Do not copy and paste full articles from newspapers or other sites. Post a summary and a link instead.
Sharing short excerpts with attribution is fine.

8. No Spam or Advertising

No unsolicited commercial content, affiliate links, or advertising of any kind.
Self-promotion (e.g. your podcast or blog) is allowed in moderation if it is genuinely relevant to the Bears.
Unauthorised commercial advertising: Any post that constitutes unsolicited advertising may incur an advertising fee of A$500 plus GST, payable on demand, regardless of whether the post is subsequently removed.

9. Moderation

The Bear Country mod team are volunteers who love the club as much as you do. We cannot monitor content 24/7, so some inappropriate content may remain visible until it is reported and reviewed. Users acknowledge they participate at their own risk.

A new member's first posts may be held for a moderator to approve before they appear.
Posts that break these guidelines may be removed without notice or explanation.
Repeated or serious breaches will result in suspension or a permanent ban.
If you see something that breaks the rules, use the flag button rather than engaging with it.
Moderation decisions are final. If you have a genuine concern, contact the admin privately.
Where a moderator is a participant in a discussion, another moderator will handle any necessary enforcement to ensure impartiality.

10. Have Fun

At the end of the day, we're all here because we love the Bears. Win or lose, this is your community. Treat it well.

Go Bears.

Terms of Service

Last updated: October 2026

By registering an account on Bear Country you agree to these Terms of Service.

11. Your Account

You must provide accurate information when registering. A valid email address is required.
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and password.
You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
Bear Country reserves the right to terminate accounts that violate these terms, with or without notice.

12. Content You Post

By posting on Bear Country you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display your content on this site.
You retain ownership of content you create.
You are solely responsible for what you post. Do not post anything you do not have the right to share.
We may remove any content at our discretion, including content that violates these terms or our community guidelines.

13. Intellectual Property

Bear Country and its original content are the property of the site operator.
NRL club logos, names, and imagery are the property of their respective clubs and the NRL. Bear Country is an independent fan site with no affiliation to the Perth Bears, the North Sydney Bears, or the NRL.

14. Limitation of Liability

Bear Country is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.
We are not liable for any damages arising from your use of this site or reliance on content posted here.
We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or legality of member-posted content.
The moderation team are volunteers and cannot monitor all content at all times. By using the site you acknowledge this and agree to use the flag function to report inappropriate content.

15. Advertising

Bear Country is a free, independent fan community. To help cover running costs, the site may display advertising in the future. We will not show advertising that we consider intrusive or inappropriate for a sports fan community.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance. Updates will be posted in Announcements.

17. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia.