What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Bruce Gordon take-over still on .

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,523
And you can think up a catchy name to call it.. How about "membership"

Yeah that way, everyone can think they have a say , contribute to the financial stability etc

"Membership" I like the idea
Unfortunately for us, our members get no say.
Unfortunately for management, we aren't stupid enough to not realise that.
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,937
The St George name and brand are everything as far as any investment by Gordon is concerned as anything less than that will be an absolute fizzer and he knows that only too well.
Without Gordon's investment the St George brand will just wallow along as the NRL will not want to see it disappear due to its pulling power locally and interstate.
So the deal is not about anything other than numbers and if Gordon can get a trade off of the debt against some advertising he significantly maximises his outcome financially.
He is the bloke with all the smarts and the $$$ so I am sure he will work it out in his own good time and like all astute business men he will know what is the best timing to consummate the deals.
 

SaintHarry

Juniors
Messages
380
I agree the fans should have some say
Maybe if we had 50,000 fans willing to contribute $150 each the club could be debt free and each year there after $100 each equals 5 mill we could become a community owned team
Worth brainstorming over

Id be happy to put 10 grand in if it means the supports have a actual say
 

Country Dragon

Juniors
Messages
2,272
The St George name and brand are everything as far as any investment by Gordon is concerned as anything less than that will be an absolute fizzer and he knows that only too well.
Without Gordon's investment the St George brand will just wallow along as the NRL will not want to see it disappear due to its pulling power locally and interstate.
So the deal is not about anything other than numbers and if Gordon can get a trade off of the debt against some advertising he significantly maximises his outcome financially.
He is the bloke with all the smarts and the $$$ so I am sure he will work it out in his own good time and like all astute business men he will know what is the best timing to consummate the deals.
The only downfall withGordon is his age as far as I can see. But if his son is as dedicated to the team well then bring it on!
 

monsterkev

Juniors
Messages
477
And you can think up a catchy name to call it.. How about "membership"

Yeah that way, everyone can think they have a say, contribute to the financial stability etc

"Membership" I like the idea
Cairns taipans basketball team was a basket case at one stage and nearly folded until it became a community owned team financed by the ratepayers in the region
They are now a successful club and able to attract players and dont have to worry about finding the money to survive
Now not every single person gets a say in the day to day running of the club but they have elected representatives acting on behalf of all ratepayers
No one complains about it they have a full house every game
It may only be a case of a few bucks per household per year
But like the illawarra the region needs this team
I dont care what it is called but it could work
I dont live in the region but i would contribute if it gave me a competive team that i have supported all my life
It makes sense you know it does
Dont need bruces money or the insecurities that go with him
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,224
The St George name and brand are everything as far as any investment by Gordon is concerned as anything less than that will be an absolute fizzer and he knows that only too well.
Without Gordon's investment the St George brand will just wallow along as the NRL will not want to see it disappear due to its pulling power locally and interstate.
So the deal is not about anything other than numbers and if Gordon can get a trade off of the debt against some advertising he significantly maximises his outcome financially.
He is the bloke with all the smarts and the $$$ so I am sure he will work it out in his own good time and like all astute business men he will know what is the best timing to consummate the deals.
You're right the NRL are part of this puzzle. We have three areas St George, Cronulla and Illawarra. Cronulla are proving to be successful, WIN (not Bruce Gordon) are interested in Illawarra and St George is a bit like the 60 year old beauty queen (was once hot but isn't too attractive any more).

I think that WIN would like to leverage off St George in the initial period after purchase but longer term Illawarra is the game for them. I think the NRL would eventually like St George to disappear and have a Southern Sydney team (St George and Cronulla areas combined). Before I can support this, as once it happens there is no going back, I want to know the details of the agreements between all the parties. I am not saying this is not going to prove to be the best thing for the club. But I don't understand how anyone can support such a permanent change without first looking at and questioning the details.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
17,008
You're right the NRL are part of this puzzle. We have three areas St George, Cronulla and Illawarra. Cronulla are proving to be successful, WIN (not Bruce Gordon) are interested in Illawarra and St George is a bit like the 60 year old beauty queen (was once hot but isn't too attractive any more).

I think that WIN would like to leverage off St George in the initial period after purchase but longer term Illawarra is the game for them. I think the NRL would eventually like St George to disappear and have a Southern Sydney team (St George and Cronulla areas combined). Before I can support this, as once it happens there is no going back, I want to know the details of the agreements between all the parties. I am not saying this is not going to prove to be the best thing for the club. But I don't understand how anyone can support such a permanent change without first looking at and questioning the details.
I can fully understand why supporters from the st George side of the merger are worried about losing the st George identity. It's important to our history and important to rugby league.

For what it's worth, I was a steelers supporter, born and raised. Grew up in the gong.

When the merger happened there were some people who left because they would not support st George. I'm always surprised by the number of supporters of the titans in the gong, but when I ask about why, people tell me it's because they supported no one after the steelers merged and the titans were the next team to enter the comp. so instead of supporting one of the other teams that they'd always hated they went with a new team.

Those supporters are gone. We that stayed are proud dragons supporters. I've now supported the dragons longer than I supported the steelers. The young people in the gong don't differentiate. There is a generation of dragons supporters here that have never known the steelers. All they know is that the dragons represent the Illawarra. And they are f**king proud of it.

Gordon would have to be the least astute businessman in the world to ignore what the dragons represent. I can't believe that there is some Illawarra conspiracy.
 

Nich

Juniors
Messages
36
I can fully understand why supporters from the st George side of the merger are worried about losing the st George identity. It's important to our history and important to rugby league.

For what it's worth, I was a steelers supporter, born and raised. Grew up in the gong.

When the merger happened there were some people who left because they would not support st George. I'm always surprised by the number of supporters of the titans in the gong, but when I ask about why, people tell me it's because they supported no one after the steelers merged and the titans were the next team to enter the comp. so instead of supporting one of the other teams that they'd always hated they went with a new team.

Those supporters are gone. We that stayed are proud dragons supporters. I've now supported the dragons longer than I supported the steelers. The young people in the gong don't differentiate. There is a generation of dragons supporters here that have never known the steelers. All they know is that the dragons represent the Illawarra. And they are f**king proud of it.

Gordon would have to be the least astute businessman in the world to ignore what the dragons represent. I can't believe that there is some Illawarra conspiracy.


I know plenty of people from the Illawarra who support the Sharks simply because they don't feel the dragons represent the Illawarra they feel shafted by only 4 games in the gong but 8 in Sydney. These are guys who are in their 20's, if you spend anytime at the northern end of Wollongong you will find more and more Sharks supporters for that reason.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,407
[QUOTE="Nich, These are guys who are in their 20's, if you spend anytime at the northern end of Wollongong you will find more and more Sharks supporters for that reason.[/QUOTE]

Nich , that a good point of view .They have their own reasons regarding whom and why they would support ' their ' team .

Geography playing a big part . They live and work in Wollongong , so it is only natural for them to support a team that represents their area ,not as someone else described , " a ageing beauty Queen " .

However she , the St.George beauty Queen did receive a facelift when joined with the Queen of Illawarra back in ' 99 .

At the moment , they both or the Joint Venture require another more permanent facelift , if either one of them are to survive pass the next few years .
Personally , I believe that Bruce Gordon and his WIN Corporation are the people to do this , I just hope that it gets sorted sooner than later .
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,224
[QUOTE="Nich, These are guys who are in their 20's, if you spend anytime at the northern end of Wollongong you will find more and more Sharks supporters for that reason.

Nich , that a good point of view .They have their own reasons regarding whom and why they would support ' their ' team .

Geography playing a big part . They live and work in Wollongong , so it is only natural for them to support a team that represents their area ,not as someone else described , " a ageing beauty Queen " .

However she , the St.George beauty Queen did receive a facelift when joined with the Queen of Illawarra back in ' 99 .

At the moment , they both or the Joint Venture require another more permanent facelift , if either one of them are to survive pass the next few years .

Personally , I believe that Bruce Gordon and his WIN Corporation are the people to do this , I just hope that it gets sorted sooner than later .[/QUOTE]


I agree 100% that something needs to happen to secure the club for the long term.

As I have said before I can't say he is the answer, but I also can't say he isn't. My problem is that this is a complicated equation with a lot of parties involved all with their own agendas and we don't have the full details of how this is supposed to work. I would love to see the business case put to the WIN board justifying how they intend to financially leverage this.

The one I am really worried about though is actually the NRL and what is their plan for a Southern Sydney team. St George may be the best candidate to relocate as the supporter base is geographically spread. The NRL could keep the St George brand alive somewhere else.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,407
Carlton, Iam assuming that when you say relocate , you mean lock , stock and barrel .
The Joint Venture's team being the Dragons , having its home base in Wollongong .

Not just its training facilities and home ground , but also its Club . A new premises called The St.George Illawarra Leagues Club . Interesting , but when we get down to it , that in a ' nutshell ' is what some of the fans of both clubs need to realise .

Quite simply the old St.George and Illawarra teams have not existed since 1998 , they have no longer a first division team playing in the NRL . Therefore that may very well be what the NRL/WIN corporation plans are for the future .

As you and others have said , it would be better for all if we did indeed know just what their future plans entail .
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,224
Carlton, Iam assuming that when you say relocate , you mean lock , stock and barrel .
The Joint Venture's team being the Dragons , having its home base in Wollongong .

Not just its training facilities and home ground , but also its Club . A new premises called The St.George Illawarra Leagues Club . Interesting , but when we get down to it , that in a ' nutshell ' is what some of the fans of both clubs need to realise .

Quite simply the old St.George and Illawarra teams have not existed since 1998 , they have no longer a first division team playing in the NRL . Therefore that may very well be what the NRL/WIN corporation plans are for the future .

As you and others have said , it would be better for all if we did indeed know just what their future plans entail .

I don't know exactly what's happening, all I'm trying to do is say there are a lot of possible scenarios which make sense. Until we know what the proposal is in detail, any support or rejection is based on conjecture and "gut feeling". One of the things that scares me is when people say Bruce Gordon is a successful business man therefore it'll all be OK. Being a successful business man has no bearing on the survival of the club long term if the motives behind the takeover are aligned with a different strategic outcome.
 

SaintHarry

Juniors
Messages
380
Lol? You're f**king weak as piss Harry.

If you can't get past the merger it might be time to forget about the Dragons.

It's been almost 20 years. I'm sure you've managed to support one or two "steelers" in that time.

Anyone who puts on that RED V better believe that they represent st.george dragons if you want i can show you how piss weak i am face to face if you'd like ? Dont call someone on here and your not going to back yourself f#@k you and the steelers.
 
Top