Another billionaire wants to buy us...

[Bring it home Knights]

- Koukash hasn't made any promises, it's basically all speculation so far.
- Are all billionaires the same are they?
- Things didn't pan out with Tinkler as we'd hoped, but he hardly left us in the lurch. To me this is the big thing that people need to get their head around. You can be anti-Tinkler and still recognize that he didn't screw the club. Hell, he could hardly have done it even if he wanted to. A huge reason why he was allowed to own the club in the first place is because measures were put in place so that it was virtually impossible for us to get screwed over.

Well said. First things first, in regards to Baron.. I'd be willing to wager that no poster on here has led to more face palms then he has. Some of his posts lead me to think that he is a devout Mormon who thinks Tony Abbott is the best and most intellectual PM in Australia's history. Baron vo Mandor, creating constant face palms on League Unlimited since 2005.

In regards to Tinkler, it amazes me how so many people on here are so filled with disgust against him. If it came out 3 years ago that he was going to be incredibly charitable and give the club 23 million dollars (which was reported) and then left the club, I'd imagine that people would have been stoked. He payed off our big debt and threw an insane amount of money our way ffs. Even though he may very well be an arrogant tool, it doesn't take away from the fact that the club was in massive issues without him. The next time you want to criticise him, think about what state the club would be in now if it wasn't for him. I'd hate to think.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

The rising 6 million dollar debt before tinkler came is enough proof for me to say that a members run model does not work and that the Newcastle knights need a lot of money from somewhere to stay in the black.

The knights simply are not financially sustainable on ticketing, products and clothing, NRL grants and sponsors. If we want to be a force we need to be a rich club. 1997 and 2001 was a different era and we were blessed with the crop of players we had, but to simply rely on the planets aligning and having once in a generation players come through our juniors at once is a pipe dream. We just got lucky.

I want the knights to be all about professionalism on every level. I want us to be run like a top NFL or Soccer team. A members model will never ever achieve anything that remotely resembles professional.

 

[Rod]

If this guy is willing to provide iron clad safeguards so we don't get tinklered again I would reluctantly jump on board.

Just find it a tad weird everyone wants to jump in bed with the first person showing us interest since we royally got screwed under the fat man.

Please explain how one gets 'Tinklered' or how we got 'royally screwed.' Was it when he wiped our multi-million dollar debts? When he pumped money into fixing our facilities and our junior system from the ground up? When he landed one of the best coaches of all time for us?

Dramas like the crap with the players being paid late was a pain in the ass and was bad PR but at the end of the day those things don't have a lasting effect on a club. Things like enabling the club to have a debt-free fresh start is a lot more important to me.

As I've said a couple of times now, people have to get their heads around the fact that there's a difference between Tinkler outright screwing us over, and things not panning out as we'd hoped when we first agreed to get in bed with him. In case you were wondering, the latter is what actually happened.

 

[Dave_]

I hate you, Dave. You and your f**king smarmy underscore. ;-)

Being a Misanthrope, you are supposed to hate everyone right? Lol

 

[Misanthrope]

Being a Misanthrope, you are supposed to hate everyone right? Lol

I used to be a much more bitter and angry man than I am today :lol: They just disabled username changes before I could mellow out.

 

[Noname36]

Read an interesting exchange between Koukash and a Knights fan on Twitter this morning.

Koukash basically said that the Knights have one of the best production lines in the NRL and the goal should be to stop other clubs poaching the talent.

The more I hear from this bloke the more I like him. He seems to at least understand the club and it's strengths and that was one thing I was worried about given he's from the UK.

 

[Frederick]

That fan was the_joey_show - long time member here and pretty sure co-founder of the crusade.

Also his picture was posted in the jersey thread

 

[Noname36]

Oh yeah! I was trying to work out where id seen their display picture before!

I do remember them actually (haven't seen them post for a long time though). I started reading this forum a couple of years before I joined up.

Good to see Koukash does have some support.

 

[The Showstopper]

It would be quite ironic if Rick Stone (assuming he gets the job) gets his squad bankrolled by a billionaire. Koukash is a huge Hayne fan and Rick has a close relationship to Jarryd from his days in the Fiji squad. Hopefully the planets can align on that one.

 

[Noname36]

Hayne would never happen mate. Not in a million years. He'll play his whole career at Parra you can bet your house on it.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Well said. First things first, in regards to Baron.. I'd be willing to wager that no poster on here has led to more face palms then he has. Some of his posts lead me to think that he is a devout Mormon who thinks Tony Abbott is the best and most intellectual PM in Australia's history. Baron vo Mandor, creating constant face palms on League Unlimited since 2005.

Now that's a cool story!

 

[The Showstopper]

Hayne would never happen mate. Not in a million years. He'll play his whole career at Parra you can bet your house on it.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ey-need-a-little-tweaking-20140710-zt1t5.html

Interesting article on both men. Their ideas are really good ones. Nothing about the once alleged interest of Koukash in signing Hayne though. Still think Hayne's idea says where the NRL repeatedly gets it wrong. it doesn't want corporates owning their players in any shape or form. For all the crap they throw around they are truly backwards in their thinking. Reactive rather than proactive will forever be their Achilles heel. Branding yourself is the key to financial survival. In any climate. It is inappropriate for the NRL to limit the earning potential of their players. They should each be able to set themselves up for life if the chance becomes available to them.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Starting to take a liking to this guy, it's also clear his interest in league isn't flash in the pan either.

 

[LeedsRhinos]

An Englishman having a burning ambition to run an Australian club, when he is already having a dummy spit at the club his just brought in his home country.

Yep.

Hasn't got alarm bells ringing or anything hey?

How has he spat the dummy? He's spent a fortune on facilities and players and Salford have still have extremely poor crowds and he's disappointed more people aren't showing up.

He is clearly is doing it because he loves the game and it's his hobby he's not planning to become rich from it, i think he sees the NRL as the best competition so his love of the game and his ego wants to build a dominant team in that competition whilst also keeping Salford.

They just signed Kevin Locke from the Warriors and they got Ben Jones Bishop going there from the Rhinos next season, it's not like he's stopped spending money at Salford.

No offense but if you don't want this guy in charge of your club you're deluded, he splashes the cash and money is no object and he just wants to win, all your club facilties would be improved and upgraded and you'll be guaranteed to spend your entire cap every season, the money he would lose on the Knights is like pocket change to him.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

How has he spat the dummy? He's spent a fortune on facilities and players and Salford have still have extremely poor crowds and he's disappointed more people aren't showing up.

He is clearly is doing it because he loves the game and it's his hobby he's not planning to become rich from it, i think he sees the NRL as the best competition so his love of the game and his ego wants to build a dominant team in that competition whilst also keeping Salford.

They just signed Kevin Locke from the Warriors and they got Ben Jones Bishop going there from the Rhinos next season, it's not like he's stopped spending money at Salford.

No offense but if you don't want this guy in charge of your club you're deluded, he splashes the cash and money is no object and he just wants to win, all your club facilties would be improved and upgraded and you'll be guaranteed to spend your entire cap every season, the money he would lose on the Knights is like pocket change to him.

Very true. Some people are very black and white thinkers though. We had one billionaire not reach peoples very high expectations, so all billionaires will do the same thing, right???

 

[macavity]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...eague-into-a-global-sport-20140719-zuti0.html

I really hope this comes off and it's us. Will be a wild ride.

 

[Noname36]

Does seem like it would be a great fit. He has money and wants a club where fans turn up to games and we have the fans but no money.

 

[Spot On]

Geez, if this does go ahead, it will be interesting to see who the next coach is and how much he is getting paid.

 

[oikee]

Instead of picking up baggage from our clubs, (which they all have) he would be better off buying into a expansion club.
Either Perth of possibly Brisbane would be his best bet.
He would also have huge crowds and be able to grow the game without being influenced by Sydney league types who all have me me me agenda's./

 

[Noname36]

Instead of picking up baggage from our clubs, (which they all have) he would be better off buying into a expansion club.
Either Perth of possibly Brisbane would be his best bet.
He would also have huge crowds and be able to grow the game without being influenced by Sydney league types who all have me me me agenda's./

NRL have already said they won't even look into approving expansion until the current clubs are secure. There's a heap that aren't. Further expansion is a long way off...especially when the game's newest club is one of the ones struggling as it is.

If he wants an expansion club he's going to be waiting a long time.