Miller was a legend
Coach
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I didn't see the advertising saying two bone heads talking shit and calling the game like school kids.
My mistake. Carry on
My mistake. Carry on
Quite clearly Rothfield has lost the plot.
Time he was put out to grass.
Meanwhile Fumbleball in the west is lurching into greater depths of diaster:
The AFL's expansion into Sydney's rugby league and soccer heartland has hit a financial bump, with the league forced to tip in an extra $3.25 million into the Greater Western Sydney Giants last year.
Documents obtained from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show the Giants slid to an operating loss of $529,315 in 2014 despite the AFL pouring in $20.16 million in grants for the year.
More alarmingly for the AFL was the revelation that the Giants suffered a large fall in marketing and sponsorship income as well as a drop in membership and merchandise revenue in a year when they increased their number of wins from one to six.
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/greater-w...extra-325-million-by-afl-20150223-13mn5e.html
Oh god, this is delicious!!!
During GWSs first year, their shitty crowds and general lack of interest was all ok because, rather than coming in and blitzing the market leading to the inevitable decline when they became stale, they were intentionally starting small and growing from a solid base.
Instead the little interest they used to get is falling away to nothing. Ha!!
Wall Street or Caxton Street: The NRL executive salary debate
Since Shane Richardson announced he was heading to the NRL and The Telegraph lost their ‘not enough rugby league experience’ angle, NRL executive salaries have become the latest target for their agenda.
There are at least weekly mentions on how the NRL executive remuneration is ‘out of control’ and speculating that ‘so and so’ is on $700,000 a year etc.
In The Telegraph‘s latest effort, entitled “Clubs to turn up heat on NRL over spiralling wages bill”, Phil Rothfield sensationally claims that the “recent hiring of South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson on more than $500,000 a year has sent management wages spiralling higher than an Adam Reynolds bomb”.
Rothfield also suggests that when the code’s annual report is released this week the “combined wage bill of executive staff Dave Smith (CEO), Suzanne Young (COO), Todd Greenberg, Richardson, Sandra Olsen (media), Lewis Pullen (marketing), Nik Weekes (lawyer), Peter Brown (CFO) and senior consultants is more than $6 million”.
So how does the argument stack up?
Let’s pretend for a minute that Rothfield has some idea of the collective salary of the NRL executive team, $6 million is the equivalent of 1.9 per cent of the NRL’s 2013 reported revenue of $314 million, and revenue is expected to have grown significantly when the NRL 2014 annual report is released this week.
In contrast, according to the Brisbane Broncos 2013 annual report, the Broncos CEO Paul White earned $466,000 in 2013 when the club reported revenues of $35 million, which means the Broncos CEO’s salary equates to 1.3 per cent of annual revenue.
Now, throw in the rest of the Broncos executive team’s salary, made up of commercial operations manager Terry Reader on $250,000, former football operations manager Andrew Gee on $227,000, CFO Shirley Moro on $184,000 and company secretary Louise Lanigan on $98,000, and the collective salary amounts to $1.225 million, or 3.5 per cent, of 2013’s revenue of $35 million, nearly double that of the NRL executive.
Now, here’s the kicker. As most would know, the Brisbane Broncos’ majority and controlling shareholders are News Corp, whose chairman and representatives obviously approve the company’s remuneration. Moreover, the Broncos would not be unique, with other clubs’ executive teams likely earning similar salaries, only with lower revenues.
It would appear that the NRL is operating well within appropriate remuneration for an organisation of its size, projected growth and industry, but then I’m not trying to create a particular public perception.
That's assuming Rothfield is even correct to begin with by claiming they're on $6m.wow. john deserves an award. someone should tweet that to buzz.
The Gold Coast Titans were facing loses of $2.5m this year and investors did not want to inject cash into the club
Up until Tuesday the Gold Coast Titans were still paying last year’s coach John Cartwright.
They were also paying exorbitant overs -around $2 million-a-year — for match-day rental of their home ground Cbus Stadium.
This was almost three times what some NRL clubs in Sydney are paying.
Former Titans managing director Michael Searle was getting paid more than $300,000-a-year as director of football until late last season, despite standing down as the boss.
Most big sponsorship deals that are normally staggered over different periods of time all ended at the end of last season, creating cash flow problems.
The club had been saddled by a number of deals undertaken by the club’s former management and had reached breaking point, long before the cocaine scandal.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Titans were facing losses of $2.5 million this year and investors were reluctant to put more money into a failing business.
Majority shareholder Darryl Kelly (47 per cent) had already pumped in $5.5 million.
Searle and former world champion surfer Joel Parkinson (40 per cent) and Indian-based businessman Anshuman Magazine (13 per cent) ceased their funding.
Here was a club at rock bottom. No money, no future and no choice but to go into administration.
Enter the NRL and chief executive Dave Smith who stood up on Tuesday to show the leadership strength the game has been crying out for.
As the Titans were about to become another statistic on the graveyard of national sporting teams, only an immediate NRL takeover could save them.
To hell with handing the town over to the AFL, who invest $20 million into the Suns with the aim of owning the coast and its sporting fans.
Rugby league and the Titans were going nowhere.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the NRL is in a powerful enough financial position to step in and take over the club thanks to a record breaking financial year that includes a new agreement with corporate bookmakers for use of the game’s intellectual property.
Similar to the deal struck by Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys on race fields, the NRL will be paid up to three per cent of betting turnover on games this year that will potentially add as much as $20 million a year to the code’s coffers.
At Friday’s AGM, Smith is expected to announce a record net profit of $50 million with non-broadcast income now exceeding $115 million.
This enables the NRL to not only step in to save the Titans, but also hold a significant stake and ensure the futures of other strugglers the Newcastle Knights, the Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.
It is uncertain how much the NRL will invest in the Titans.
Former NSW minister for sport, Titans CEO Graham Annesley and the board have already slashed costs but not enough to prevent the forecast loss of $2.5 million.
They reduced the football club’s wages bill by $1 million, saved another $800,000 in operational costs and current directors elected not to be paid.
With declining crowds, membership and no major sponsor, they were still heading towards bankruptcy.
Cartwright’s wage is now a matter for the administrators to sort out.
He was on a five-year contract negotiated by Searle which critics questioned at the beginning because it was for longer than normal.
Searle, who was trying to sell his shares, will get nothing.
The new club will renegotiate a deal with the Queensland Government for Cbus Stadium at Robina. They should save more than $1 million a year.
In an analysis of the club’s football operations carried out by chartered accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers, it was found the average ground rental for NRL clubs was $750,000.
The Titans are now confident they can recover to become a major NRL force again.
“This is the turning point for this club and gives us clean air to put the club on a fresh footing,’’ Annesley said.
“Every business needs financial stability and this club now has it.
“Since I arrived at this club, I’ve constantly been asked: ‘Is the club going to fold, is it going to be relocated?’.
The clear answers are ‘no’ and ‘no’.
“The announcement by Dave Smith today should give great heart to fans and our partners.”
Titans chairwoman Rebecca Frizelle last night said the club had been overwhelmed by support from Gold Coast residents and businesses who had rallied behind the club in its darkest hour.
“The Gold Coast has shown its true colours over the last few days with a significant spike in membership and pledges of further support from fans and businesses alike,’’ Frizelle said.
“We are here for the long run.’’