What to do with Level 3 - Parramatta Leagues Club

[Stagger eel]

I really hope that wasn't a serious comment Mark. It appalls me that a club such as ours has felt the need to go down the pokie road and alienate most of its football members, just to try to survive.

I think what Mark is trying to say is something I've been slowly realising in the past week and that's there's no quick fix.

 

[strider]

But there is another much simpler solution to all this.

Everyone goes and puts $50 in a pokie once a week or even fortnight.

even simpler - just give the club the $50 - then they don't lose half of it to tax ..... you won't win at the pokies anyway :lol:

 

[mickdo]

I think what Mark is trying to say is something I've been slowly realising in the past week and that's there's no quick fix.

That isn't exactly something new...

 

[bartman]

Perhaps we will meet at some stage, and there will be no hard feelings, we just come at things from a different angle.

Delboy, there is no hard feelings. Most of what I write here is not as serious as it reads on a screen. You're so earnest about always bringing up the pokie tax, that I just can't resist getting the rise out of you about it, that's all.

Bart, the point that I am trying to make is to get some understanding of the depth of the financial problem that most clubs face, and the reason that they do.

Fair enough, and I think he more that the club admin and directors share with the members, the better their/our understanding of the situation becomes. We wouldn;'t have threads of ideas and debate about it (instead of about the footy, or the players girlfriends or whatever else) if people here didn't realise the depths of the situation the NRL and its clubs face.

My main point in reply has been that these laws passed long ago now, and everyone should focus on the future moving forwards rather than be stuck in blame for the past. Personally I don't think too much is achieved by acknowledging on here that the club "was put in" a difficult position - it's the position we find ourselves in, and going back over past events outside the club's control doesn't change that.

Your comment re Newtwon , has a hint of double standards, as they receive their funding via Souths juniors and their gambling revenue, who not having an NRL club to fund send the money into the junior clubs, Parramatta do both.

Valid point. I guess my mention of Newtown is that it now more represents what I was drawn to footy for in the first place... in terms of gameday, experience, fan relations, sense of community (not overshadowed by the other). Yes true it doesn't run an NRL team, but if I go and see a game there (or in England, Super League or the lower divisions) I guarantee I won't feel as hollow as I feel going into the leagues club that's more or less had the league (or anything other than pokies) squeezed out of our club in recent years.

The least they could do (or plan to do) is build a new little two storey "clubhouse" purely for football purposes - game day fundraising BBQs, after match functions, hire it out as a function space for 21sts etc, have supporter group meetings held there, have video replay screenings of away junior/Wenty games, have annual trivia nights with players - real grass roots community level stuff again (like the old days of the LC). Keeping the costs down, and have it make returns through hiring out to other parties. And having it give its biggest returns in a boost to the morale of the neglected supporter.

I write the occasional rants I write on this subject in the hope that someone reading who can change things, might read and realise that the club has passed the point of balance and do something - just little things - to put back into our club what they've lost in recent times.

Sorry for always picking you up on the pokie tax spiels... I know there is no big fix for th $6mil other than to trust the NRL to see the clubs/teams through, so I'm not looking for one from the Board or any challengers. What I am looking for instead of blaming taxes and bans are ideas and communication like the above, that make me feel like I want to be a member.

Never any hard feelings Delboy, hopefully none taken either.

 

[bartman]

You have been contributing to the gaming industry either directly or indirectly for as long as you've been a leagues club member......

Yes, indirectly... In the same way I indirectly breathe in smokers fumes when they walk past too.

You know exactly what I meant by my comment though...

hey bart just letting you know that Newtown is sponsored and funded by Petersham RSL...

just thought you'd like to know...;-)

I understand they get their funding from filthy lucre too...

As I maybe explained better in the post above (replying to Delboy), the point re Newtown is more about feeling a sense that you're actually part of a club - that as a supporter/member you belong and are accepted, rather than taken for granted? Newtown keeps it simple for the people that are involved in the footy and who frequent Henson Park - good game day experience, stall in the heart of the community every weekend, no sense that you're a second class member because on game day you don't/won't put your $50 into the non-existant pokies* down at their clubhouse in Cooks River

(* disclaimer - there may be a couple of pokies there, I haven't actually been inside, just making the comparison as part of the point)

 

[Parra]

I think what Mark is trying to say is something I've been slowly realising in the past week and that's there's no quick fix.

There is always a quick fix.

For any solution, you can pick two options from the list below:

• Fast
• Cheap
• Good

You just can't have all three.

 

[fish eel]

Yes, indirectly... In the same way I indirectly breathe in smokers fumes when they walk past too.

You know exactly what I meant by my comment though...

No, every cent you have spent in the leagues club has gone back into the club, helping the gaming industry.

Nice grab for the high ground though ;-)

 

[bartman]

No, every cent you have spent in the leagues club has gone back into the club, helping the gaming industry.

Nice grab for the high ground though ;-)

Strange interpretation... So when I purchase a meal in Cafe 88 (at a loss to the club) or discounted beers on the third floor, that somehow supports the gaming industry?

When I buy footy merchandise at the club, studiously avoiding the poker machines, that directly helps the gaming industry?

Ok then... :roll: High ground or not, doesn't change the fact that I personally haven't put money into the pokies, have no interest in doing so and never will. And doesn't change the point that what my club is offering me as a member has gone down hill as it's turned more into a casino... Disagree?

 

[fish eel]

Strange interpretation... So when I purchase a meal in Cafe 88 (at a loss to the club) or discounted beers on the third floor, that somehow supports the gaming industry?

When I buy footy merchandise at the club, studiously avoiding the poker machines, that directly helps the gaming industry?

Yes, it does.

Perhaps help to facilitate the gaming industry?

Money put through a club goes back into the club.

Any money you spend in the club helps facilitate the gaming industry by contributing to the services provided for those who play pokies. Ovo mentioned the Reno room, for example. In putting money into the leagues club, we've all, in some way, contributed to that room IMO.

Ok then... :roll: High ground or not, doesn't change the fact that I personally haven't put money into the pokies, have no interest in doing so and never will. And doesn't change the point that what my club is offering me as a member has gone down hill as it's turned more into a casino... Disagree?

I can't agree or disagree with that statement as it is your perception as to what the club provides you as a member, and what you expect to be provided as a member.

 

[MarkInTheStands]

I really hope that wasn't a serious comment Mark. It appalls me that a club such as ours has felt the need to go down the pokie road and alienate most of its football members, just to try to survive.

That is a very very interesting statement.

I wonder what you mean, "Go down the Pokie road?" It comes off sounding like Poker Machines in the Leagues Club is well something new. That the Leagues Club has not used pokie money to fund the football operations of this club for the last 50 years or so, with one notable exception.

I also think it is very interesting when we talk about "Alienating" the membership. What most people from the sounds of it are most upset about losing a place to sit down, have a drink with their friends, watch some sport on TV or maybe a free show at Parramatta Leagues Club.

What you are all missing if the above is the case is the Cumberland lounge. A bar accessible directly from the foyer to go and have a drink at sit down and socialize.

If that is the case, lets not go blaming the pokies, lets blame the influx of Asian people into the area, blame them for joining as members, blame them for the effect they have had on club management trying to cater to them by removing the Cumberland Lounge and adding the Tingha Palace.

For the last 12 years, that I have been a member, there have been Pokies on the lower level in both the Reno Room and the adjacent Tahoe room, there have been more added outside, but its not like the club has gone all out with pokies on every level, or that Poker Machines have over run the other 2 publicly accessible levels of the club.

Bart said he was going to the club in the future it would be very interesting to see if there have been and further updates on the status of Sterlos Bar. If the upgrades the club is doing up there are progressing, The cabinets for more memorabilia, rehanging the clubs Directors Boards and Life Members Boards. The Photos of the first board of directors.

 

[fish eel]

That is a very very interesting statement.

I wonder what you mean, "Go down the Pokie road?" It comes off sounding like Poker Machines in the Leagues Club is well something new. That the Leagues Club has not used pokie money to fund the football operations of this club for the last 50 years or so, with one notable exception.

I also think it is very interesting when we talk about "Alienating" the membership. What most people from the sounds of it are most upset about losing a place to sit down, have a drink with their friends, watch some sport on TV or maybe a free show at Parramatta Leagues Club.

What you are all missing if the above is the case is the Cumberland lounge. A bar accessible directly from the foyer to go and have a drink at sit down and socialize.

If that is the case, lets not go blaming the pokies, lets blame the influx of Asian people into the area, blame them for joining as members, blame them for the effect they have had on club management trying to cater to them by removing the Cumberland Lounge and adding the Tingha Palace.

For the last 12 years, that I have been a member, there have been Pokies on the lower level in both the Reno Room and the adjacent Tahoe room, there have been more added outside, but its not like the club has gone all out with pokies on every level, or that Poker Machines have over run the other 2 publicly accessible levels of the club.

Bart said he was going to the club in the future it would be very interesting to see if there have been and further updates on the status of Sterlos Bar. If the upgrades the club is doing up there are progressing, The cabinets for more memorabilia, rehanging the clubs Directors Boards and Life Members Boards. The Photos of the first board of directors.

That used to be the part of the club I used most frequently, along with the bistro.

 

[JessEel]

There is always a quick fix.

For any solution, you can pick two options from the list below:

• Fast
• Cheap
• Good

You just can't have all three.

One of the smartest things i have ever read.

 

[Stagger eel]

That is a very very interesting statement.

I wonder what you mean, "Go down the Pokie road?" It comes off sounding like Poker Machines in the Leagues Club is well something new. That the Leagues Club has not used pokie money to fund the football operations of this club for the last 50 years or so, with one notable exception.

I also think it is very interesting when we talk about "Alienating" the membership. What most people from the sounds of it are most upset about losing a place to sit down, have a drink with their friends, watch some sport on TV or maybe a free show at Parramatta Leagues Club.

What you are all missing if the above is the case is the Cumberland lounge. A bar accessible directly from the foyer to go and have a drink at sit down and socialize.

If that is the case, lets not go blaming the pokies, lets blame the influx of Asian people into the area, blame them for joining as members, blame them for the effect they have had on club management trying to cater to them by removing the Cumberland Lounge and adding the Tingha Palace.

For the last 12 years, that I have been a member, there have been Pokies on the lower level in both the Reno Room and the adjacent Tahoe room, there have been more added outside, but its not like the club has gone all out with pokies on every level, or that Poker Machines have over run the other 2 publicly accessible levels of the club.

Bart said he was going to the club in the future it would be very interesting to see if there have been and further updates on the status of Sterlos Bar. If the upgrades the club is doing up there are progressing, The cabinets for more memorabilia, rehanging the clubs Directors Boards and Life Members Boards. The Photos of the first board of directors.

quick question Mark, was the introduction of the Tingah palace a way of attracting more Asians into the club or to cater for the influx of Asians that have suddenly appeared out of no where? I ask this question because although the Tingah group are paying rent on the level 2 area they use they've also cut a deal with the LC group to hand over a small percentage of the profits. and I'm still trying to get my head round how beneficial a restaraunt of that nature is to the club.

side note: love to try it out also if anyone wants to organise a Yum Cha get together let me know..;-)

 

[mickdo]

I wonder what you mean, "Go down the Pokie road?" It comes off sounding like Poker Machines in the Leagues Club is well something new.

I mean gearing the LC to becoming a casino, to the detriment of everything else

 

[MarkInTheStands]

Sorry Stagger I can't tell you that, purely because I don't know.

It is a fair question, but I don't think the Asian population appeared out of nowhere. I went to a restaurant in Parramatta on the Weekend and noted that the year of the Ox banners adorning the light poles along the street.

As to how beneficial, who knows, but I am reminded of us sitting on the balcony on level 3 after the 2007 AGM and looking down at the Car Park, Amazed that it was so full. I remember we got great joy watching a someone try to park and needing 3 assistants to do so. I remember commenting that in the 10 or so years I had been coming to Parramatta DRLFC AGM's I had never seen the car park this full afterwards. Even if all we get is our rent and a cut of the takings, it still mean more people are walking through the door than we might have been getting without it.

 

[MarkInTheStands]

I mean gearing the LC to becoming a casino, to the detriment of everything else

Once again, 2/3rd of floors in the Club, do not have poker machines on them. It has been that way for as long as I have been a member. I do think this is a perception issue more than anything else. The club did cut down the amount of floor space for lounging at the club. But it was not toward the benefit of the pokies.

 

[fish eel]

Once again, 2/3rd of floors in the Club, do not have poker machines on them. It has been that way for as long as I have been a member. I do think this is a perception issue more than anything else. The club did cut down the amount of floor space for lounging at the club. But it was not toward the benefit of the pokies.

Mark -would you know how many more poker machines we have now compared with say ten years ago?

 

[Suitman]

Mark -would you know how many more poker machines we have now compared with say ten years ago?

Ovo did say at the third meeting that the club is now at the maximum pokie machine limit - by law apparantly.
Maybe it has something to do with floor space ratio. Not quite sure about that. Would we have any more or less than Panthers, for instance?

Suity

 

[fish eel]

Ovo did say at the third meeting that the club is now at the maximum pokie machine limit - by law apparantly.
Maybe it has something to do with floor space ratio. Not quite sure about that. Would we have any more or less than Panthers, for instance?

Suity

I'd say Panthers would have more easily?

But perhaps ours are more crowded.

The easy way to see whether there has been a big shift to a 'casino' or whether it is a perception would be to see how much the number of pokies has increased by?

Certainly Mark is right when he talks about the locations of the machines being on level 1. Doesnt mean there isn't a lot more of them though....

 

[Suitman]

I'd say Panthers would have more easily?

But perhaps ours are more crowded.

The easy way to see whether there has been a big shift to a 'casino' or whether it is a perception would be to see how much the number of pokies has increased by?

Certainly Mark is right when he talks about the locations of the machines being on level 1. Doesnt mean there isn't a lot more of them though....

I recall the number now being 470 odd.
Not sure what it was before though.

Suity