Newcastle - Leagues Clubs

[Man_of_Steel_1982]

Hi Knights fans,

I was just wondering, with all the financial troubles up there, what's the position of some the local clubs up there? Do many of them have leagues clubs of their own? I know Wests(?) is quite well off(?).

Down here in the Illawarra our clubs have got leagues clubs galore, some of them huge and wealthy while the Steelers still have their tiny 'club' and a debt to St George (most of which was spent on improvements to the Steelers Club). We've got all the resources but no-one willing to get together and form one strong entity. That was promised in the begining but was never delivered, each club preferring to stick to their own kingdoms rather than put in for the Steelers (and the good of the game in the area). Though I think it was mostly the fault of our administrators.

Is it the same up there in Newcastle? It's a shame privatisation is being discussed... but at least you guys are discussing it, our CEO wouldn't even look at different options! Even when it came to joint ventures, Wests and Cronulla were both interested but he refused to even speak to them (wouldn't ya shop around for the best deal, see what's on offer?)

I hope you never have to feel our pain.
Good luck "Steel-City-Brothers" ;-)

 

[Knight76]

Well, from what people say on here our ceo dont want a bar of it either. Except for a delaying tactic of some impact report.

 

[IanG]

In answer to your question Man of Steel 1982 most of the club if not all the ones in the Toheeys cup have their own leagues club. Af you've illuded to Wests is the biggest

 

[Gene Krupa]

The Knights Leagues club failed dismally.

 

[roopy]

Only Wests, Lakes, Cessnock and Wyong have Leagues clubs I think.
Wyong and Wests are huge clubs with heaps of money.
The reason Wyong joined the Newcastle comp instead of the Jim Beam cup is because they would have had to cut many players because of the Jim Beam salary cap.

 

[Gene Krupa]

South, Central, Maitland and Kurri also have a Leagues club.

Even Waratah has one and they aren't in the Real NRL anymore.

 

[roopy]

Macquarie are associated with Toronto Workers club.

 

[hgfds]

Arent waratah looking for the way back to the nrl via a redevelopment of their leagues club site??the two new areas seem to be doing well what about the expanding south lakes nth cc for a team or a merger.

 

[CycloneSteve]

Are Waratah still playing in another competition?

 

[Gene Krupa]

I don't think so.

 

[roopy]

??the two new areas seem to be doing well what about the expanding south lakes nth cc for a team or a merger.

This is a question that must be meant for me - since I live right on the border between the Wyong and Macquarie teams.
This area is expanding rapidly, with possibly as many as 100,000 extra people moving into the district in the next 10 to 20 years.
Between Wyong and Toronto (where Maquarie are based) there are already around six second division teams playing - these include Morisset Bulls, Dora Creek Swampies, Wangi Wangi Warriors, Budgewoi, Warnervale I think, and another CC team I think.
Anyway - there are plenty of players and plenty of potential fans - it just needs someone to pull it all together into a firstgrade team.

 

[CycloneSteve]

roopy you might be able to answer a question i emailed off to the Newcastle RL last night. In the early 90's there was a Lower Hunter competition called the John Dunn Cup. Do you know the origin of how this competition was named? Obviously it was named after someone called John Dunn, but the reason I am asking is that my grandfather's name was John Dunn. He played for South Newcastle around the late 1920's early 1930's. If you can help that would be awesome.

 

[Man_of_Steel_1982]

Thanks everyone, some interesting stuff.

It seems both our areas are the same. If all the local leagues clubs formed one body and worked towards funding an NRL team and handing out to the junior competition, both Newcastle and Illawarra would have no financial worries.

In the late 40s the Illawarra Leagues Club (the second oldest behind NSW Leagues in Philips St) was established. We were getting ready to try and get into the Sydney comp and back then the Illawarra Leagues was very wealthy. But the CRL blocked our attempts to join and as we know it wasn't until the 80s that they couldn't stop us. In the mean time, local clubs set up their own leagues clubs and they continue to thrive today, some of them very rich with huge membership numbers (clubs such as Dapto Leagues, Wests Illawarra). The Illawarra Leagues still exists but has nothing to do with the Steelers Club... and that's just the problem.

There's no reason why both our regions couldn't support strong NRL clubs. We've both got a never ending well of juniors, passionate supporters, local corporations (which doesn't mean we couldn't attract national companies either), and list of local Leagues Clubs (sadly, all with their own interests). Unfortunately, there's is a lack of willingness or ability to bring all the ingredients together and work for the good of the game in the local area, and surely having a strong National side in town is the best way to encourage growth in the grassroots of the game.

Local Leagues Club's forming one super-rich entity (in the vein of St George, Canterbury etc) with the responsibility of maintaining the local leagues and supporting NRL teams is the only way both our regions can compete in the big time... without selling out to private investors... or entering into a joint venture.

 

[ShesOnAllDayAllDay]

What happened to the Newcastle Workers Club and why does Penrith Panthers own it now and does anyone know where that Panthers club is located???

 

[ShesOnAllDayAllDay]

The Panthers club in Newcastle of course

 

[Gene Krupa]

The Newcastle Workers club, along with Cardiff Workers, had massive debts and were taken over by the Panters group. They have gobbled up alot of smaller clubs around the state as well.

Newcastle Panthers is still running at a loss but the Cardiff branch seems to be doing reasonably well since the take over.