291,317 to their home games at Subiaco Oval and the WACA at an average of 26,483 per game. In 1988 a rift developed between the QAFL and the Bears, who had refused a move to Brisbane. The QAFL responded by threatening to secure a second Queensland licence for a Brisbane-based team by 1991. The club again recruited aggressively, landing Sydney Swans glamour spearhead Warwick Capper. In 1988 and 1989 the club suffered some severe defeats, finishing 13th and 10th respectively. Knights was sacked with eight rounds to play in the 1989 season. The club psychologist, Paul Feltham, took charge of the team for the remainder of the year. in 1993, staving off media rumours that the Bears would merge with the Sydney Swans to form a combined Queensland/New South Wales team, the Northern Swans, or be relocated to Tasmania or Port Adelaide. By this stage, the club was also under severe financial pressure. Attendances had been very poor due to poor performances and the long distance between Gold Coast and Brisbane and also due to the admission of the Brisbane Broncos which achieved the goal set by Queensland Rugby League general manager Ross Livermore of marketing and promotions interference against the threat of the VFL's expansion, with the team making their debut in the 1988 NSWRL season. End of the Skase-Cronin partnership, AFL takes over The collapse of Skase's business empire and his sudden departure for Spain in late 1989 almost resulted in the end of the club. Over the ensuing preseason the players threatened strike action, but Cronin resigned, the club was taken over by the AFL, re-sold to Gold Coast hospitality businessman Reuben Pelerman, and the crisis was averted. The AFL spent significant amounts of money to help the Bears survive over the coming years, and the club was provided with priority draft picks and special recruiting zones to give it access to some of the nation's best talent, which over the next few years allowed the club to recruit future stars such as Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Clark Keating, Steven Lawrence and Darryl White. Four-time QAFL premiership coach Norm Dare was appointed as coach in 1990, but the club won the wooden spoon. Pelerman Walls era Dare was replaced in 1991 by former Carlton premiership coach Robert Walls, who immediately set about rebuilding the playing list; having inherited the oldest list in the league, by the end