Cronulla - Foldy McFold Fold?

[Goddo]

Cronulla great Gavin Miller's fears for club

• By Dean Ritchie
• From: The Daily Telegraph
• April 20, 2010 12:00AM

CRONULLA legend Gavin Miller has pleaded for fans to stick solid with the embattled Sharks, fearing the club could soon become the next North Sydney or Newtown.
Miller - one of the five greatest Cronulla players of all time - believes his former club could be the next side to disappear from the top flight if they continue to struggle on and off the field.

The Sharks sit dead last on the NRL table after their 44-16 thrashing at the hands of the Broncos on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed that, due to their precarious financial situation, they are the only club not to spend all of the NRL's $4.1 million salary cap.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Miller, who played 11 seasons at Shark Park, said: "We all have to bleed together. And we need to be kissed by a few angels.

"Down the track, I want to tell my grandchildren that I played for Cronulla and be able to take them to games."

To do that, Miller says, fans must continue to support coach Ricky Stuart and his men.

Asked was he worried about Cronulla's future, Miller said: "Absolutely. I'm more than worried. I often think of the anguish guys like Greg Florimo went through when Norths went out of the competition. You have to remember the enormous pleasure the Bears gave their fans. I think about Newtown not being in the competition any more as well.

"We all have to stick solid and support Ricky and the team. This is a very tough period for this club.

"The last thing this club needs is speculation about the demise of the coach. We've got to be positive. Everyone is involved."

Compounding the sense of crisis at the club were conflicting remarks after the match from Stuart and his star forward Paul Gallen.



Stuart said one of the problems the club faced was it wasn't spending its full cap allowance. But Gallen expressed surprise, saying one of the reasons he re-signed with the club was that the Sharks would be spending to their limit to ensure they would once again be an NRL force.

Sharks CEO Richard Fisk last night sought to defuse the issue by insisting Cronulla did indeed spend its cap - for its top tier side.

"Basically we spend [the full amount] on the NRL salary cap but we haven't gone to the limit on our second tier or NYC [national youth competition] salary caps," he said. "The new management and the board inherited a football club in which people had been spending way past their own means. All we've simply done is come in and say we can't afford to spend that money.

"We could keep spending like a drunken sailor and the club would go broke or we can be responsible in the way we're spending our money."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s-fears-for-club/story-e6frexnr-1225855703619

There is a minimum spend on the cap too, and a minimum spend on coaching staff. Cronulla must be just scraping over that at the moment.

Foldy McFold Fold? Getting close

 

[Goddo]

Top Sharks copping their full whack - it's the smaller fish missing out
BRAD WALTER

April 20, 2010 CRONULLA officials have moved to assure players and fans that the club is spending the full NRL salary cap and intends to do more to improve recruitment and depth next season.
The latest concerns about Cronulla's financial viability came after coach Ricky Stuart said in Brisbane following Sunday's 44-16 loss to the Broncos that the Sharks were not spending as much as others to ensure their survival beyond this season.
But chief executive Richard Fisk yesterday clarified Stuart's comments by saying that the Sharks were spending the $4.1 million salary cap for NRL players but not the full amount available to clubs for the NSW Cup and NYC competitions. ''We are spending all of our NRL salary cap but we have limited spending for this season in the Toyota Cup and the NSW Cup,'' Fisk said. ''But clearly if you don't spend your salary cap in the lower grades you don't have as many players to call up in the case of injuries so it is not a long-term thing for the club and we are currently reviewing budgets for the 2011 season.
''When new management took over last year and examined the books we discovered the club was spending a lot more than we could afford so we had to cut costs. But one of the aims of the board is to ensure we have a competitive team and to maximise our spend to get the best results.''
Fisk said he had spoken with former captain Paul Gallen after the Test forward expressed his dismay at hearing the club wasn't spending the full salary cap - a promise made to him when he recently re-signed for four seasons.
But he said it was wrong to blame the salary cap for the Sharks' poor start to the season, in which the club has won just one of six matches.
''The players have got to take responsibility,'' he said. ''When you look at our side we have a lot of representative players but some of those players are down on form.''
NRL chief executive David Gallop said the Sharks' position justified the salary cap's current level.
''Cronulla's position is precisely the reason why there is a salary cap at the level it is currently at.
''That is a level of affordability for most clubs in the competition. There are a few clubs that could afford a higher cap and they would quickly buy more players if the cap didn't exist.
''A lifting of the ceiling on the purchasing power of our clubs would not provide the unpredictable competition that fans are enjoying again this season. The rules governing the salary cap need to be as black and white as possible. A salary cap with grey areas would quickly become unworkable.
''There is a salary floor which is designed to ensure clubs don't limp along at the bottom of the table without a playing strength that allows them to compete. These concepts are highly successfully in more than just the NRL.''

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...e-smaller-fish-missing-out-20100419-spfq.html

More fence sitting from Gallop there on the salary cap.
If we don't get say $800m for the next TV deal, there will be blood. Famous last words will be "err, umm?"

 

[macavity]

only club not to spend all of the NRL's $4.1 million salary cap

Newcastle have lost 2 players on 200k plus, haven't replaced them, and have a comparatively weak roster.... how the hell are we spending to the cap, unless we have front-loaded a heap of contracts.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Newcastle have lost 2 players on 200k plus, haven't replaced them, and have a comparatively weak roster.... how the hell are we spending to the cap, unless we have front-loaded a heap of contracts.

You beat me to it

 

[gronkathon]

Plenty of clubs have not spent the full cap in past years.

Cronullas ineptitude is on a different level though.

Lets face it their spazbo coach thought paying big bucks for Trent Barrett was a masterstroke

 

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

Their financial report has to be a disaster and the release of it is potentially D Day.

It's already April. The Leages Club has a 31 October year end. That's six months.

Like Parramatta, the Sharks had an emphasis of matter audit opinion highlighting the material uncertainty of the business as a going concern. In 2009 Parramatta were able to refinance, improve their balance sheet and lose the emphasis of matter. There's no reason to expect the Sharks can do the same. Their current ratio in 2008 was 10%, i.e. borderline disaster. What will it be for 2009? I believe it has been reported that the Sharks were able to refinance to take some pressure off, but how effective has it been? Have there been more losses to worsen the economic position? And the big one.... how close are they to breaching their debt covenants?

 

[Loudstrat]

The more they rein in spending, the m ore they stay under the cap, the more their chances of survival. Clubs only get booted for one reason - non payment of players. As long as they can pay players, even if they struggle on the field, they will remain.

 

[jc155776]

What a stupid thread.

Responsible spending of available funds = fold? Serious?

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

I guess Ricky Stuart's policy of buying up all available second rowers and trying to fill a team with them is not paying off?

 

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

What a stupid thread.

Responsible spending of available funds = fold? Serious?

More or less.

You have to consider two things:

1. Why are they spending "responsibly"?
2. If spending "responsibly" means they can't field a competitive team, what does that mean for the future of the club?

Newtown are currently spending responsibly. Conveniently for Newtown they also don't owe the bank $9m dollars.

 

[Loudstrat]

Cheesie - their hammering by Brisbane was not the worst we have seen this season. Why suddenly did not other clubs die after a flogging?

Spending responsibly means you have more savings, and more to spend next year. Souths have been doing it since the early 1970's. In fact, so have Cronulla.

Cronulla on a tight budget and suffering a heavy loss. Since when is THAT a new situation? Their last GF was in 1978 ffs!

 

[_Johnsy]

tbh i think they will relocate in the future. Pining their future on a development was always fraught with danger.

 

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

Cheesie - their hammering by Brisbane was not the worst we have seen this season. Why suddenly did not other clubs die after a flogging?

The floggings are only one part of the picture. The dire financial situation is the other. No other teams are combining these two factors like the Sharks.

Spending responsibly means you have more savings, and more to spend next year. Souths have been doing it since the early 1970's. In fact, so have Cronulla.

At some point you can't cut any more from the budget.

There are a lot of fixed or unavoidable costs in running a football team. NRL-required salary floors. Transport. Ground upkeep. Medicine and insurance.

Moreover there's a very simple dilemma. If you're spending less and earning less at the same time, you haven't actually improved your financial position, you've probably made it worse.

Cronulla on a tight budget and suffering a heavy loss. Since when is THAT a new situation? Their last GF was in 1978 ffs!

It's not 1978. The NRL won't bail them out. The cost of running a football team is constantly increasing. Pokie taxes. Etc.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Adelaide Rams > Cronulla Sharks

 

[rlfan]

Anyone listen to sports today on 2ue last night?

Phil Gould said he had grave fears for the sharks survival over the next couple of years.

 

[Goddo]

The history of Cronulla over the last 20 years reads something like this:

Early 90's: brink of colapse, bailed out by NSWRL for the second time. Short term problems eased, but long term future in doubt.

1995-97 Super League: Cronulla one of the first clubs to sign up to the rival comp to secure future of the club as the sole South Sydney francise, thinking they had made a master stroke in their rivalry with St George in an increasingly shrinking market with higher overheads, where it is clear not all Sydney clubs will survive into the future.

1998: Given $12m for their part in Super League. Rebrand the club and spend big time on players and coaching staff. As an after thought, proposed a merger/take over of the Steelers, which is knocked back in favour of St George's better offer.

1999-2004: Cronulla have on field success due to big spending bringing in tallent, but revenue has not increased at all to match it. They are eating away at the SL money.

2005-2008: At some point during this time, the money dries up and they start getting into debt. Things start to look bad behind closed doors at the club in 2008 in spite of on field success.

2009: Sh!t hits the fan. The ineptness of the previous boards is revealed as is the dire financial situation. Controversy off field and poor on field performance.

2010: New board of small businessmen try to fix the mess. No money for anything other than the bare basics. Turns out the development isn't going to be a cash cow because they can't get a loan to get started. Need backing by a property investor which will suck up a large portion of the profits. Project pushed back to assess if it is still worth while.

On field performance is woeful. Coach out of his depth. Still have a refinanced $12m debt hanging over the club, and it has increased after 2009 (we don't know by how much though until the financial report for last year is revealed). Under spending on all levels of the game except NRL level. Worst average attendance in NRL. Merchandise sales very poor. Players concerned, explayers see writing on the wall.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Cronulla Sharks should be kicked out of the comp simply for being the most boring team to watch of all time.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Cronulla Sharks are more boring to watch then a Super 14 team

 

[RufusRex]

the NRL will do nothing ... the sharks have small supporter numbers, are the least successful club in the history of the game and have a proven track record of going belly up.

On top of this, if the sharks fold the NRL can expand the comp to another area with minimal increase in operating costs and retention of 16 teams.

I honestly think the NRL will cut them loose to die and the sharks will be circling (the drain pipe that is).

 

[flamin]

Send them to Adelaide or Wellington and bring back the Reds and Bears.