Reds Go Suburban

[KalgoorlieRed]

Rockingham? Who will travel all the way down there when MES is central? Bizzarre.

Maybe play the odd game which attract lower crowds like Chester Hill or the Sharks, but they must remain close to the media outlets.

 

[b0rt]

Kurt Angle has it right.

The sights were too high at MES for such a competition. Maybe have an odd game or two there, but the future is elsewhere for JBC standard football. QLD Cup different story, with established Clubs like Redcliffe able to draw a decent crowd.

"8 games at the 2 extremes? thats leaves like 3 in the middle
how is that a great mix?"

Simple Bort. The future of the WARL is in the extremes of Perth, which is no coincidence because that is where the young families are. If you look at the massive numbers of Juniors at Rockingham, with Joondalup trying to catch up, this is the market that needs tapping.

So many Rugby League people over here are from NSW or Qld Country, where it is not uncommon for a 4 hr round trip to play and watch footy. If people can't be bothered driving the 40mins from the City to Lark Hill to watch a Reds game then that is their bad luck. Smacks of the same self interest that stops the game from growing.

The Reds have to become part of the local RL community to be accepted, not an aloof organisation divorced from it. This will go a way to establishing that.

but good luck getting many people to drive an hour and a half from joondalup to lark hill and back after, families especially
and vice versa
so esentially it just means people in the north only get to watch half the games, people in the south only get to watch half the games and people in the middle have to weigh up wether they are willing to travel 40 minutes to watch games that were only a few mins away before

maybe in country NSW and QLD a 4hour round trip isnt uncommon, but that is to see NRL or their own family play
theres a reason no1 goes to JBC over east

not to mention how p!ssed members and sponsors are going to be
i would be if i were them

also when people say WARL clubs will get more money from their sponsors even if that does happen all of a sudden their homegames are curtain raisers and they lose gate reciepts and 60-80% of bar take to the WARL and Reds
awesome tradeoff that

 

[Perth Red]

They can kiss goodbye to my 3 season tickets if they decide to play at local parks next season, in fact given how p155ed I am with being ripped off they probably won't see me as a season ticket holder again anyway. This season I have spent somewhere around $1500 on the Reds, with this decision they will be lucky to get $150 off me next season. FFS 2700 turned up for the first game at MES, playing at parks will see our attendances drop to 2-300 max and our corporate support wither away. How exactly is that a good financial thing????

MES is costing $7000 a game, we have an average crowd of 1000 at $12 pp, that's a $5,000 profit before bar takings and corporates are considered. How can it NOT be financially viable to play at MES?

If they had come out and said it was due to the Glory or due to wanting to take two games to suburban grounds for community partnerships I might have accepted it, but for no explained reason to do this to season ticket holders sucks. I paid $540 for season tickets for games at MES! Are they going to refund me the $135 for three games not being played at MES?

 

[KalgoorlieRed]

They can kiss goodbye to my 3 season tickets if they decide to play at local parks next season, in fact given how p155ed I am with being ripped off they probably won't see me as a season ticket holder again anyway. This season I have spent somewhere around $1500 on the Reds, with this decision they will be lucky to get $150 off me next season. FFS 2700 turned up for the first game at MES, playing at parks will see our attendances drop to 2-300 max and our corporate support wither away. How exactly is that a good financial thing????

MES is costing $7000 a game, we have an average crowd of 1000 at $12 pp, that's a $5,000 profit before bar takings and corporates are considered. How can it NOT be financially viable to play at MES?

If they had come out and said it was due to the Glory or due to wanting to take two games to suburban grounds for community partnerships I might have accepted it, but for no explained reason to do this to season ticket holders sucks. I paid $540 for season tickets for games at MES! Are they going to refund me the $135 for three games not being played at MES?

Have you emailed Geoff Baldwin? I have about this topic, still waiting for a response.

 

[Perth Red]

I've emailed Richard Campbell but no reply. What's Geoff's email?

 

[KalgoorlieRed]

I've emailed Richard Campbell but no reply. What's Geoff's email?

Geoff's email is: gbaldwin@iinet.net.au

Ive just had this response from him.

Hi Lee,

We are not playing at Joondalup but we will not be back at MES this season due to them restricting us to the one game (no curtain raisers) and a host of other issues mostly to do with burgeoning costs.

We have run this past our sponsors who a re 100% behind us and we will provide the members with drink vouchers to make up for the change.

As for the media they don’t exactly jump out to support us now so I doubt it will make an ounce of difference. The Sunday Times is committed regardless and they are our main supporters press wise.

Nick is a nice bloke but, like most of his crowd, he is a “round ball” head so anything he does for any other sport is opportunism as far as I’m concerned. Certainly the Town of Vincent has done nothing for RL.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Geoff's email is: gbaldwin@iinet.net.au

Ive just had this response from him.

Nice candid reply, not something I would've expected tbh.

 

[Perth Red]

Good that he replied, I have sent him my email expressing my dissapointment and anger at being treat in this shoddy manor. I am sure there is going to be lots of unhappy members contacting the Reds this week!

 

[Perth Red]

My prompt reply from Richard, good to see they are communicating with the fans.

We understand your disappointment. We also would prefer to have games at Members Equity Stadium with 2000 to 3000 people attending, but we also must be responsible to rugby league in WA.

The rugby league community has been slow taking up the games at the Stadium which is an important part to the presentation and recently the venue managers have only been able to guarantee one game per fixture which is not fair on patrons.

By moving to club grounds we can provide more action on the field and hopefully entice more people to attend who are currently not patronising the game.

With next year in mind, we will get a better understanding of what our supporters want.


As for season members, we acknowledge the comforts of MES cannot be duplicated at the suburban grounds, so what we can offer is:

• More rugby league games to watch
• Reserved general seating
• A drink voucher to all season members for each of the last 3 games
• $20 off season membership for 2009

Most of all, we challenge you to stay strong to the game because we will not get to NRL status if stalwart rugby league followers also refuse to take up the challenge to make it happen. We thank you for your support to date and hope you continue.

A challenge to you and everyone you talk to is to get behind the game for the rest of the season and 2009. Simply, if we had 2000 members sign up for 2009 who all attended the games, we could guarantee the Stadium and have more games there.

It is not up to the WARL to provide the solutions alone - it is up to all supporters of rugby league in WA

Thank you for your letting us know your thoughts, we look forward to continue seeing you at the games.

Kind regards

Richard Campbell
WA Reds Rugby League

 

[Perth Red]

Dear Fellow Member,

By now you will be aware that we have been forced to take our remaining three games to our club grounds.
Let me apologise to you as a fellow Member for any inconvenience this has caused however let me assure you it has not been a decision that was made easily.
The facts are, we have battled to make it work at Members Equity Stadium all season but their latest decision to restrict us to one game was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
This decision has brought an enormous amount of extra workload and stress onto our volunteers and staff and certainly isn’t something we wished to happen.
We played just the one main game (no curtain raisers) last Sunday fortnight and our crowd was down plus we had a deluge of complaints about that from Members, like you, and others so we have been faced with a difficult challenge.
We have been accused of letting soccer dictate to us but the fact is we are dictated to by the stadium itself and with crowds averaging 700 – 800 we have absolutely no ammunition with which to fight that battle.
In addition to that we have been repeatedly asked to take games to local club grounds all season so this gives us an opportunity to do so, however we have certainly not lost site of our members.

To compensate for the change Members will:

• Have reserved seating provided
• A drink voucher provided for each game
• More affordable food and drinks generally. (A drinks have been $5 - $7 at MES)
• $20 loyalty discount off your next years season membership
• And … more Rugby League to watch

In addition to the above we will be looking for as many ways as possible to look after you as a Reds Member whenever the opportunity arises.
This week’s game at North Beach is set to be one of our best all season and the vibrant carnival atmosphere of a full house will outweigh the inconvenience of any extra travel.
After all, atmosphere is something we have been missing in a echoing, near empty MES.


The bottom line is that we need more people like you to get behind the Reds as we battle the bumpy road back to the top but most importantly, we need people like you to understand our position and to stay tough and loyal as only Rugby League people know how to do!
As a volunteer myself, I too suffer the disappointments and challenges on a daily basis but I certainly won’t walk away from our quest to re-establish our code at the top level in Perth.
The team has won their last two games and now is a time for us all to band together, stay loyal to the cause and enjoy the journey for the remainder of the season.
I want to personally thank you for your support of our team this year and respectfully ask you to continue to support us through the tough times and the good times that I am sure we will experience along the way.


Best wishes
Geoff Baldwin
WA Reds / WARL Chairman

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:


it is the courage to continue that counts.”​

Winston Churchill​

 

[KalgoorlieRed]

Dear Fellow Member,

By now you will be aware that we have been forced to take our remaining three games to our club grounds.
Let me apologise to you as a fellow Member for any inconvenience this has caused however let me assure you it has not been a decision that was made easily.
The facts are, we have battled to make it work at Members Equity Stadium all season but their latest decision to restrict us to one game was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
This decision has brought an enormous amount of extra workload and stress onto our volunteers and staff and certainly isn’t something we wished to happen.
We played just the one main game (no curtain raisers) last Sunday fortnight and our crowd was down plus we had a deluge of complaints about that from Members, like you, and others so we have been faced with a difficult challenge.
We have been accused of letting soccer dictate to us but the fact is we are dictated to by the stadium itself and with crowds averaging 700 – 800 we have absolutely no ammunition with which to fight that battle.
In addition to that we have been repeatedly asked to take games to local club grounds all season so this gives us an opportunity to do so, however we have certainly not lost site of our members.


To compensate for the change Members will:

• Have reserved seating provided
• A drink voucher provided for each game
• More affordable food and drinks generally. (A drinks have been $5 - $7 at MES)
• $20 loyalty discount off your next years season membership
• And … more Rugby League to watch

In addition to the above we will be looking for as many ways as possible to look after you as a Reds Member whenever the opportunity arises.
This week’s game at North Beach is set to be one of our best all season and the vibrant carnival atmosphere of a full house will outweigh the inconvenience of any extra travel.
After all, atmosphere is something we have been missing in a echoing, near empty MES.


The bottom line is that we need more people like you to get behind the Reds as we battle the bumpy road back to the top but most importantly, we need people like you to understand our position and to stay tough and loyal as only Rugby League people know how to do!
As a volunteer myself, I too suffer the disappointments and challenges on a daily basis but I certainly won’t walk away from our quest to re-establish our code at the top level in Perth.
The team has won their last two games and now is a time for us all to band together, stay loyal to the cause and enjoy the journey for the remainder of the season.
I want to personally thank you for your support of our team this year and respectfully ask you to continue to support us through the tough times and the good times that I am sure we will experience along the way.


Best wishes
Geoff Baldwin
WA Reds / WARL Chairman

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: ​

it is the courage to continue that counts.”​

Winston Churchill​

I never recieved this email and I've complained twice now that I never get a newsletter!
Why are RL clubs so complacent?

So, matter aside, can we see bumper crowds at the WARL clubs then?

I have a feeling that some WARL clubs are not keen to support the Reds, or rather their fans aren't.

 

[Nuke]

Perhaps I get your e-mail then KalgoorlieRed ... I get 2 every week! They're both the same as eachother too. I put it down to me being a member in 2007 and in 2008, so I get newsletters for each of those years. That's my guess anyway. I haven't been bothered to ask them to only send me one just yet either. If I'm a member in 2009 and I start getting 3 newsletters, then I'll be contacting them!

 

[Perth Red]

I got it by post as well as email this week!

Thought soccer might have had something to do with only one game allowed. Bit silly of the WARL not to get it written into the agreement that they could play two games though. MES management group continues to be a pain to deal with it seems. They have made it clear tha concerts make the most money and that is what they seem most interested in. Having said that you would think they would be bending over backwards to get the Reds playing there with all the talk of stadium redevelopment money floating around?

I still think this is a major faux pas by the Reds and will come back to bite them big style next year in terms of memberships.

 

[joondalup_giant]

according to the article in todays west there hoping to get 1500 people to north beach 2morrow night.

 

[Ram Man]

according to the article in todays west there hoping to get 1500 people to north beach 2morrow night.

I gotta tell you as a JBC player, its was very nice to have played on MES rather than the usual goat tracks that we play on in Sydney and if I was playing on a weekend when it wasnt at MSE I would be pi$$ed.

 

[Perth Red]

according to the article in todays west there hoping to get 1500 people to north beach 2morrow night.

With no covered stands and the rain we've had this week they'll be very lucky to get 150!

 

[b0rt]

according to the article in todays west there hoping to get 1500 people to north beach 2morrow night.

north beach/this match will be a pretty good one for crowds
@north beach so lots of beach and joondalup people will go
lots of beach players in reds
rockingham playing beach before hand so they will have people there
and south perth people may come up because jon green is playing

 

[joondalup_giant]

yea i think they'll get a good crowd, its usally a good atmosphere there, was great when the reds played the bulls back at the start of the year in a trial. its forcasted for scattered showers so hopefully they'll stay scattered for atleast a coupl of hours while the reds game is on!!

 

[Nuke]

I gotta tell you as a JBC player, its was very nice to have played on MES rather than the usual goat tracks that we play on in Sydney and if I was playing on a weekend when it wasnt at MSE I would be pi$$ed.

Which team do you play for, Ram Man?

 

[albert]

North Beach is OK for WARL games,but to get 1500 people in the ground would be a bit cramped, but would create a great atmosohere.How would you go for food/ beverages and toilets if you were on the "score board" side of the ground.