IT'S the uncertainty no one in the Sutherland Shire wants to relive.
Just 15 years after their beloved footy side staved off insolvency, the
Cronulla Sharks have again been forced to seek financial aid as the leagues club struggles to deflect the ravages of soaring poker machine taxes and indoor smoking bans.
The Daily Telegraph has learned Sharks officials requested a $1 million loan from St George Bank in September to pay wages and bills over Christmas. The football club needed the liquidity because
Sharkies Leagues Club no longer has the means to drip-feed it cash on demand over the slow-trading summer period.
St George Bank, however, could only approve $500,000. In addition, the bank asked the Sharks to conduct an independent financial review of both the leagues and football clubs.
The global economic crisis has tightened lines of credit to all lenders. Plus, the entire Sharks group no longer boasts enough financial surety to command a $1 million loan.
As auditors from sleeve sponsor and global accountant PKF yesterday interviewed staff at the Sharks base in Woolooware, group chairman Barry Pierce conceded "hard calls" would need to be made.
Possible measures could include staff redundancies, player salary cuts and the axing of junior teams.
But the $500,000 loan will maintain the status quo over the short-term, as will a bonus from major sponsor LG and
NRL prizemoney for finishing in the top four last season.
"We have got PKF in at the moment - they are doing a review of both the football club and the leagues club and St George Bank is supportive of that," Pierce said.
"I want to stress that we've got the full support of the bank - they've been behind us for 18 years."
Despite receiving a $1.5 million licensed club grant and finishing equal first in the minor premiership, the football club is still expected to record a $500,000 loss for 2008.
Pierce was involved when Cronulla flirted with insolvency during the early '90s, and suggested the current climate was even tougher for Sydney-based clubs. "It was hard times 15 years ago, but we didn't have smoking bans and gaming taxes to contend with back then," he said.
On the positive side, Cronulla have retained all their sponsors for 2009 and will earn big money from the South Australian government for transferring a home game to Adelaide.
The leagues club is also sweating on offers from two builders interested in building a nursing home and retail complex in land surrounding the club.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24647225-5006066,00.html
