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Qatar Sheikh Wanting To Buy NRL Club

gonz

Juniors
Messages
1,271
Need to be very careful with this. For mine there would need to be a lot of detail in the contract around protecting certain aspects of our club. I'd also be concerned around the clauses in the contract with what he can and can't do to sell the club if he wanted to in the future.

At least with Gordon you know his family are fans - here I'm not to sure what to think.

Not saying that I don't want to see this happen, but it needs to be the right deal first and foremost.

Imbrahim is a massive fan and loves tvs sport
 

inside_pass

Bench
Messages
3,132
Kiama Saint if that is the case, what is the point in a joint venture/merge? The club has more supporters in QLD with the Dragons Army and could have relocated as a single entity.
There is no point in the joint venture!
I would have preferred staying as the St George Dragons and being relocated.
I personally think its embarrassing being merged with the Steelers.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Yeah, I am not sure.

I was born at Bulli Hospital 63 odd years ago but I think the best thing that ever happened for Illawarra was the merge with the Dragons. Illawarra was on the way down and out. St George always drew juniors from the south coast and would have continued to do so without the merger. You can bet your last dollar that the likes of Canterbury, Sydney Roosters and South Sydney would all love for the Dragons to base themselves at the gong and vacate Kogarah. They are there at the ready to pounce on the Dragons Junior Clubs north of the gong. For goodness sakes, the Sharks already snatched a large portion of our junior base when the split from St George. Yes the NRL would welcome a gong based SGI.

However, the Sheik would be much smarter than to let go the Kogarah jewl. He has the opportunity to turn two leagues clubs into high profit entities by developing them and upgrading their operation. If he developed two stadiums rather than one, he would have the opportunity to attract international sport - including soccer events, rugby events and of course rugby league events at a venue that has a very close proximity to Sydney Airport.

Without doubt, SGI could be the number one Club in Australia.


 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,406
Kiama Saint if that is the case, what is the point in a joint venture/merge? The club has more supporters in QLD with the Dragons Army and could have relocated as a single entity.

Coffs dragon , great idea mate . Can you imagine the number of Friday night matches we would gain , not to mention the 7 day turnarounds .

Our advertising dollar would skyrocket plus I am sure that the NRL would cancel our debt and perhaps even give the Dragons a cash injection to establish ourselves in the ' sunshine ' state . You have my vote !
 

monsterkev

Juniors
Messages
477
Wealthy businessmen don't become wealthy by investing money into something for nothing. I can't see him putting in 10 million a year for no return - he'd want to at least break even at some point.
I'm just using 10 mil as an example I don't know exactly how much would have to be spent each year but I'm sure it's a lot more than is spent now
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Wealthy businessmen don't become wealthy by investing money into something for nothing. I can't see him putting in 10 million a year for no return - he'd want to at least break even at some point.
Anyone who buys any sporting team, must expect to run at a lose. That is why only the very rich can afford to own sporting teams.
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,679
There are positves and negatives to this rumour.
The positives are of course the $$$ to wipe our debt and maybe a bit extra for improvements. Also, the propensity for TPA's comes into play more strongly. It may also see thevend of our current executive structure which has for too long been considered a "jobs for the boys" position.
The negatives are also pretty strong and must be examined in detail and not focus just on the $ investment.
Firstly this Sheikh knows nothing about RL so WHO is the one whispering in his ear about what to do?
Secondly, if he gets "bored" or it isnt returning some kind of profit, wgat happens if he just walks away from it? Where does that leave the club?
Finally, what guarantee do we get thaf our heritage, name, colours and strip remain? Does St George Illawarra Doha Dragons resonate with us?
There is a lot of due diligence needed before this could even come to fruition, thats why and in true business fashion, the deal offered by WIN was really just the first salvo. I expect more meeting between the Dragons board and WIN will take place before a deal or final rejection takes place.
Yes we really need a good "Sheikh" up but lets not put the cart before the horse.
 

KiamaSaint

Coach
Messages
17,455
There are positves and negatives to this rumour.
The positives are of course the $$$ to wipe our debt and maybe a bit extra for improvements. Also, the propensity for TPA's comes into play more strongly. It may also see thevend of our current executive structure which has for too long been considered a "jobs for the boys" position.
The negatives are also pretty strong and must be examined in detail and not focus just on the $ investment.
Firstly this Sheikh knows nothing about RL so WHO is the one whispering in his ear about what to do?
Secondly, if he gets "bored" or it isnt returning some kind of profit, wgat happens if he just walks away from it? Where does that leave the club?
Finally, what guarantee do we get thaf our heritage, name, colours and strip remain? Does St George Illawarra Doha Dragons resonate with us?
There is a lot of due diligence needed before this could even come to fruition, thats why and in true business fashion, the deal offered by WIN was really just the first salvo. I expect more meeting between the Dragons board and WIN will take place before a deal or final rejection takes place.
Yes we really need a good "Sheikh" up but lets not put the cart before the horse.
Sell him the Illawarra side only.
 

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
As some have mentioned..... the coming together of two red & white teams, our old breeding ground, was the right thing to do back then and still, now.

We just need real management, not idiots who are locked in a time warp, ex players looking for a feed or gender equality for the sake of it. Soon they’ll be calling for neutrals to sit in the board just to appease the bleeding heart society.

We need smart business people who can get our once great run club, back to where it was.

A modern day Tiger Black, Laurie Doust and co.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
There are positves and negatives to this rumour.
The positives are of course the $$$ to wipe our debt and maybe a bit extra for improvements. Also, the propensity for TPA's comes into play more strongly. It may also see thevend of our current executive structure which has for too long been considered a "jobs for the boys" position.
The negatives are also pretty strong and must be examined in detail and not focus just on the $ investment.
Firstly this Sheikh knows nothing about RL so WHO is the one whispering in his ear about what to do?
Secondly, if he gets "bored" or it isnt returning some kind of profit, wgat happens if he just walks away from it? Where does that leave the club?
Finally, what guarantee do we get thaf our heritage, name, colours and strip remain? Does St George Illawarra Doha Dragons resonate with us?
There is a lot of due diligence needed before this could even come to fruition, thats why and in true business fashion, the deal offered by WIN was really just the first salvo. I expect more meeting between the Dragons board and WIN will take place before a deal or final rejection takes place.
Yes we really need a good "Sheikh" up but lets not put the cart before the horse.

The Sheik will put people in place who will do a good job and keep him informed on important matters. But for him I believe the most important thing is that his Club/team becomes the very best. Once he has the very best he will stage something like a knockout competition over in his part of the world maybe during the off-season. Who knows, once his people understand the game and how things work, maybe they will set up a number of Clubs in their region.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,406
The Sheik will put people in place who will do a good job and keep him informed on important matters. But for him I believe the most important thing is that his Club/team becomes the very best. Once he has the very best he will stage something like a knockout competition over in his part of the world maybe during the off-season. Who knows, once his people understand the game and how things work, maybe they will set up a number of Clubs in their region.

I think that it might be just a little bit warm over in ' that neck of the woods ' Possum .
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Sounds like John Ribots Super League vision and we all know how that ended up!!!
Nothing like Super League which tried to completely take over the world of rugby league. The Sheik - if successful with the Dragons - would want to show off his club and be the first to bring our game to the Middle East. Just look how keen the rich guys were to bring soccer to the Middle East and what was their beginnings; buy a Club, make it a success, create the interest back home and then bid for a world cup.

If successful in purchasing the Dragons franchise, I predict the Sheik to spend what ever is necessary to create the environment of a winning culture and use this template to introduce our game to parts of the world which does not play the game.
 

Drag Queen

Bench
Messages
2,981
As some have mentioned..... the coming together of two red & white teams, our old breeding ground, was the right thing to do back then and still, now.

We just need real management, not idiots who are locked in a time warp, ex players looking for a feed or gender equality for the sake of it. Soon they’ll be calling for neutrals to sit in the board just to appease the bleeding heart society.

We need smart business people who can get our once great run club, back to where it was.

A modern day Tiger Black, Laurie Doust and co.
I think that it might be just a little bit warm over in ' that neck of the woods ' Possum .
But the Sheikh would provide a fully air-conditioned stadium with each player given a hand maiden to bring them refreshments when needed. I can just picture it now:D
 
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