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INTERESTING! St George set for 100% of JV

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
Dragons governance update

St George Illawarra Chief Executive Peter Doust has provided the following statement regarding the speculation surrounding the Dragons' ongoing ownership discussions.

"It is not news that the Dragons have been undertaking confidential discussions about the future ownership and governance of the Dragons.

"There is nothing concrete to confirm at the moment and when there is, the club will advise accordingly.

"However, it is important to note that all discussions regarding any potential changes to the ownership structure will continue to represent the interests of both St George and the Steelers.

"The history of St George and the Steelers, the name and colours of St George Illawarra Dragons, NRL games in Wollongong and Kogarah are non-negotiable elements of any discussions.

"Any changes in ownership and governance will be about improving and building upon what the club already has in place."

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/07/05/dragons-governance-update/


In short, Doust has talked too much crap for too many years.
He'd make the perfect politician ( no disrespect to our MP's ) ......... being able to say much, whilst saying very little .......... and meaning nothing.

Those hoping that Doust, with retirement looming, may start making some sense are chasing a bridge too far.
The status quo will continue.

doustcr.jpg
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
I'm just not sure what the upside is for the Leagues Club to invest / pay out debt, for the footy club.

As per Doust's announcement today, it appears the game allocation between Gong / Kog will stay put, as will other issues, name / jersey, etc... If so, what benefit is there for a Leagues Club, that whilst ageing and way behind, is still making money and is asset rich, to poor millions into the footy club with no assurance of increased patronage, membership, etc. ??

Would that $$$ spent be better off allocated to re-furbishing the Leagues Club ?

The purpose of the Leagues club according to its constitution is to promote Rugby League in the area. They should not be operating with different objectives.

If you apply the letter of the constitution there is a very good reason for paying out the debt.
 

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,581
There’s no way the club are vain or stupid enough to discard the Illawarra side of the merger. Anybody with a brain stem can see that we need Illawarra like we need oxygen. The juniors alone are worth the JV, we effectively have dibs on every single kid from Carlton to Sussex Inlet.

To Milton-Ulladulla not Sussex even further.
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
The Illawarra leagues club is different to the Steelers club. I am pretty sure the Illawarra leagues club isn’t involved in the joint venture, it’s the Steelers club that is.

Yes thats right, the Steelers is the football club. The point I was trying to make is that the Steelers have the ability to cover their position financially as the Leagues club should be supporting them and they do not need to be financially relying on St George to cover any liabilities. I am not saying they are financially able to continue on their own in the NRL.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,093
The purpose of the Leagues club according to its constitution is to promote Rugby League in the area. They should not be operating with different objectives.

If you apply the letter of the constitution there is a very good reason for paying out the debt.

Fair enough mate, but within their constitution you would think that they also need to apply common business sense to achieve their "purpose".

They can still promote rugby league without investing millions of dollars to buy out a debt.

Dont get me wrong, I hope there is some insight here that would help both the Leagues club and the footy club.
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
Fair enough mate, but within their constitution you would think that they also need to apply common business sense to achieve their "purpose".

They can still promote rugby league without investing millions of dollars to buy out a debt.

Dont get me wrong, I hope there is some insight here that would help both the Leagues club and the footy club.

I dont think they have a choice, the NRL want their money and if they dont pay up I would not be surprised to find that the club is merged/relocated/deregistered. They need to create some space between the NRL and the strategic future (I know this is a stupid thing to say with Doust and co involved) of the club. The club is not supposed to be a business a such, it is supposed to be run in accordance with the constitution for the benefit of the members.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
16,905
Yes thats right, the Steelers is the football club. The point I was trying to make is that the Steelers have the ability to cover their position financially as the Leagues club should be supporting them and they do not need to be financially relying on St George to cover any liabilities. I am not saying they are financially able to continue on their own in the NRL.
I think what he is saying is that there are two different licensed clubs in Wollongong. One is called the Illawarra leagues club and one is called Steelers.

I don't know what relationship (if any) the Illawarra leagues club has with the dragons.
 

ALSGI

Bench
Messages
3,101
Easy solution.
Put us on ebay.
Use paypal and we’re covered by an Indian call centre retreiving returns from a Chinese mob.
Easy.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,410
I had heard they were broke, dwindling poker machine returns, poor sales etc, but I’ll admit I haven’t seen the balance sheet for a couple of years.

They want to do something I would suggest turning the old Sizzler into an outdoor family bistro beer garden
I heard today from a solid source that last week on a weeknight they turned over 1 million dollars through the pokies.
Thats where the money comes from and a million bucks in a night is not clean money if you know what I mean....
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,678
To me it seems too co-incidental that the Telegraph posted this article yesterday and less than a day later we receive a Governance update.
An attempt to shake the monkeys from the trees imo
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
I for one like the idea of St George Leagues buying up the Illawarra half of the joint venture and us going back to be St George Dragons, with our headquarters and base at Kogarah. We could still play a few games at Wollongong. Say 3 games a year at Wollongong and 9 at Kogarah.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
16,905
I heard today from a solid source that last week on a weeknight they turned over 1 million dollars through the pokies.
Thats where the money comes from and a million bucks in a night is not clean money if you know what I mean....
Without going too deeply into pokie operations, a million dollar turnover in a night is not a massive (albeit significant) figure.

I worked for a small pub with a small gaming room, and we would have regular nights where our turnover from the pokies would be 90k.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,410
Without going too deeply into pokie operations, a million dollar turnover in a night is not a massive (albeit significant) figure.

I worked for a small pub with a small gaming room, and we would have regular nights where our turnover from the pokies would be 90k.
Fair enough, I found that astounding. 1 million in a night at a leagues club. Wow.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
16,905
Fair enough, I found that astounding. 1 million in a night at a leagues club. Wow.
Yeah. It's poorly worded but it's the way it's expressed in the sector.

It basically means that a million dollars in credit is used. But that includes all of the little (and big) wins that are replayed, so there is only a % of that in cash actually put into the machines. Add the costs of running a place as big as the leagues club and the way that gaming income is used to subsidise costs of meals and drinks, and the net income amount would drop pretty dramatically.

Edit: it's not a negligible amount, but it's not as large as it seems on face value.
 
Messages
2,910
Fair enough, I found that astounding. 1 million in a night at a leagues club. Wow.

I know a certain Western Sydney club where it is not unusual to clear 1.4 million in cash out of the pokies every morning.
That's not profit, you need to take away the winnings and tax, but that's the actual cash figure fed into them.
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
I think what he is saying is that there are two different licensed clubs in Wollongong. One is called the Illawarra leagues club and one is called Steelers.

I don't know what relationship (if any) the Illawarra leagues club has with the dragons.

You could be right I assumed that they were connected, even if they aren't it doesn't really change things.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,410
I know a certain Western Sydney club where it is not unusual to clear 1.4 million in cash out of the pokies every morning.
That's not profit, you need to take away the winnings and tax, but that's the actual cash figure fed into them.
Crazy. How is that possible? How many people play a night and how much coin do they each drop?
It doesn't add up to me. I can't see more than 100-200 people playing the pokies on a mid-week night at SG leagues club. Multiple people are dropping 10s of thousands in order to get to a million.
 
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