Rumoured and Confirmed signings - Part 4

[franklin2323]

Looks like a good thing if despite the higher costs then most clubs can cut the Leagues club outlay

 

[Alintheeast]

PANTHERS
Gould’s legacy crumbling as Panthers slash $5.6m from footy club grant
Dean Ritchie, The Daily Telegraph
December 17, 2019 4:59pm
Subscriber only
The Panthers Group has slashed its annual grant to Penrith’s football club by a whopping $5.6m after scrapping former general manager of football Phil Gould’s long-term contract policy.

A crippling one-off season of payouts to players - and Gould himself – will now enable the Panthers Group’s $9m a season allocation to the football club to be reduced to $3.4m for next season.

Penrith moved multiple players on long-term contracts this year - including Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Waqa Blake and James Maloney – plus Gould’s termination – at a hefty cost of $3m.

Desperate to abandon an ill-fated policy of having one man control the club’s salary cap, long-term deals and back-ended contracts, Penrith has made dramatic financial changes since Gould resigned in April.

Penrith have been forced to end a number of contracts early. Picture by Brett Costello.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has installed a 10-man recruitment, retention and salary cap committee comprising himself, Brian Fletcher, Greg Alexander, Trent Barrett, Cam Ciraldo, Peter Wallace, Dave O’Neill, Matt Cameron, Jim Jones and Group Financial Controller, John White.

The group, which meets twice-monthly during the NRL season, has abandoned the club’s policy strategy of having one man – Gould – as sole salary cap boss.

“In the view of the retention committee, those long-term deals weren’t in the best interests of the club. We have tidied everything up but we have to take a hit in one year,” said Fletcher, Panthers Group chief executive.

“We are trying to reduce long-term and back-ended contracts. We had to make some hard financial decisions going forward.”

With the payouts now settled, and the salary cap committee in place, the Panthers Group don’t feel a need to inject $9m a year into the football club.

Penrith players have a drink during Penrith NRL training on a hot Sydney day in Penrith. Picture: Brett Costello
The Daily Telegraph can reveal an exclusive break down of the Panthers financial figures this season which included:

* An amount of $2.8m being given to propagate and develop junior rugby league in the Penrith district.

* Around $1.5m needed for the upkeep of Panthers Academy and Panthers Stadium.

* About $800,000 given to medically retired players Sam McKendry and Tim Browne.

* Approximately $3m spent on coaching and football staff.

* Despite the huge outlay, the Panthers Group still posted a $23m cash profit for this year.

All payouts had to be finalised in one year – not over a player’s contract term. That meant the payout figure was excessively high for 2019.

“When you’re releasing long-term contracts, the accounting standards make you put the full amount in the year that a player leaves the club,” said Fletcher.

Former Panthers general manager Phil Gould. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett
“We have now come up with a different business model in terms of retaining and releasing players. We have made adjustments after making mistakes before, financially.

“The committee has to approve everything and then a recommendation goes to the board for final approval. When Gus resigned, Ivan suggested that a retention committee be formed, a collaborative committee and not just one person.

“The retention committee feels very confident where the club has landed now. We don’t have long-term contracts that aren’t manageable. The committee now feels that we have to be 110 per cent right for a player to sign a long-term deal.”

Penrith now has just one player on a long-term deal – halfback Nathan Cleary.

“On a hot Sydney day in Penrith”, a lot wrong with that statement and that they paid coaches and football staff more than was contributed to Juniors.

 

[herbert henry1908]

PANTHERS
Gould’s legacy crumbling as Panthers slash $5.6m from footy club grant
Dean Ritchie, The Daily Telegraph
December 17, 2019 4:59pm
Subscriber only
The Panthers Group has slashed its annual grant to Penrith’s football club by a whopping $5.6m after scrapping former general manager of football Phil Gould’s long-term contract policy.

A crippling one-off season of payouts to players - and Gould himself – will now enable the Panthers Group’s $9m a season allocation to the football club to be reduced to $3.4m for next season.

Penrith moved multiple players on long-term contracts this year - including Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Waqa Blake and James Maloney – plus Gould’s termination – at a hefty cost of $3m.

Desperate to abandon an ill-fated policy of having one man control the club’s salary cap, long-term deals and back-ended contracts, Penrith has made dramatic financial changes since Gould resigned in April.

Penrith have been forced to end a number of contracts early. Picture by Brett Costello.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has installed a 10-man recruitment, retention and salary cap committee comprising himself, Brian Fletcher, Greg Alexander, Trent Barrett, Cam Ciraldo, Peter Wallace, Dave O’Neill, Matt Cameron, Jim Jones and Group Financial Controller, John White.

The group, which meets twice-monthly during the NRL season, has abandoned the club’s policy strategy of having one man – Gould – as sole salary cap boss.

“In the view of the retention committee, those long-term deals weren’t in the best interests of the club. We have tidied everything up but we have to take a hit in one year,” said Fletcher, Panthers Group chief executive.

“We are trying to reduce long-term and back-ended contracts. We had to make some hard financial decisions going forward.”

With the payouts now settled, and the salary cap committee in place, the Panthers Group don’t feel a need to inject $9m a year into the football club.

Penrith players have a drink during Penrith NRL training on a hot Sydney day in Penrith. Picture: Brett Costello
The Daily Telegraph can reveal an exclusive break down of the Panthers financial figures this season which included:

* An amount of $2.8m being given to propagate and develop junior rugby league in the Penrith district.

* Around $1.5m needed for the upkeep of Panthers Academy and Panthers Stadium.

* About $800,000 given to medically retired players Sam McKendry and Tim Browne.

* Approximately $3m spent on coaching and football staff.

* Despite the huge outlay, the Panthers Group still posted a $23m cash profit for this year.

All payouts had to be finalised in one year – not over a player’s contract term. That meant the payout figure was excessively high for 2019.

“When you’re releasing long-term contracts, the accounting standards make you put the full amount in the year that a player leaves the club,” said Fletcher.

Former Panthers general manager Phil Gould. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett
“We have now come up with a different business model in terms of retaining and releasing players. We have made adjustments after making mistakes before, financially.

“The committee has to approve everything and then a recommendation goes to the board for final approval. When Gus resigned, Ivan suggested that a retention committee be formed, a collaborative committee and not just one person.

“The retention committee feels very confident where the club has landed now. We don’t have long-term contracts that aren’t manageable. The committee now feels that we have to be 110 per cent right for a player to sign a long-term deal.”

Penrith now has just one player on a long-term deal – halfback Nathan Cleary.

I’ve said it before, but it’s even clearer to me now that Phil Gould was playing fast & loose with the salary cap in his last few years. Incredibly hypocritical given his criticism of back ended deals when he took over early this decade. My feeling is he was desperately chasing on field success before he left.

And before people say it’s a Dean Ritchie article, there’s direct quotes in there from Bryan Fletcher. They’re really quite damaging to Gould.

 

[Dave's mate]

I’ve said it before, but it’s even clearer to me now that Phil Gould was playing fast & loose with the salary cap in his last few years. Incredibly hypocritical given his criticism of back ended deals when he took over early this decade. My feeling is he was desperately chasing on field success before he left.

And before people say it’s a Dean Ritchie article, there’s direct quotes in there from Bryan Fletcher. They’re really quite damaging to Gould.

I'm not a huge Gus fan but no one earning good coin wants to live in Penrith. Risks needed to be taken and he got pretty close. Might haave pulled it off if he didn't sign Hook

 

[mxlegend99]

Wait... so people think its a good thing that Panthers Group is cutting 2/3rds of the funding to our football club?

What our contracted players get paid had nothing to do with that... so its not a matter of fixing up a cap mess Gus made with long contracts.

That article looks to be trying to lay all the blame on Gus. Who wasn't perfect. But the board made some horrible decisions too. They pushed Gus out forcing a $1m payout. They forced him to sack Hook mid-season..that payout is on the board and Gus. They approached a contracted coach, offering him $1m a season and threw more money away at buying out his contract. They gave Nathan the 5 year deal... not that Gus wouldnt have done the same. But basically the board only things Clearys deserve 5 year $10m+ deals.

If we are going to fail it costing less is a good thing I suppose. But failing while making the finals beats failing to play them at all.

 

[MugaB]

Wait... so people think its a good thing that Panthers Group is cutting 2/3rds of the funding to our football club?

What our contracted players get paid had nothing to do with that... so its not a matter of fixing up a cap mess Gus made with long contracts.

That article looks to be trying to lay all the blame on Gus. Who wasn't perfect. But the board made some horrible decisions too. They pushed Gus out forcing a $1m payout. They forced him to sack Hook mid-season..that payout is on the board and Gus. They approached a contracted coach, offering him $1m a season and threw more money away at buying out his contract. They gave Nathan the 5 year deal... not that Gus wouldnt have done the same. But basically the board only things Clearys deserve 5 year $10m+ deals.

If we are going to fail it costing less is a good thing I suppose. But failing while making the finals beats failing to play them at all.

Atleast its not another article on
"how bad things have gotten at penrith"
And a run down point by point of every single 2019 drama, and ending with a player also punched a another players car

 

[franklin2323]

I'm not a huge Gus fan but no one earning good coin wants to live in Penrith. Risks needed to be taken and he got pretty close. Might haave pulled it off if he didn't sign Hook

Hook or no Hook that 2016 team was stacked if not for injuries who knows

 

[franklin2323]

Wait... so people think its a good thing that Panthers Group is cutting 2/3rds of the funding to our football club?

What our contracted players get paid had nothing to do with that... so its not a matter of fixing up a cap mess Gus made with long contracts.

That article looks to be trying to lay all the blame on Gus. Who wasn't perfect. But the board made some horrible decisions too. They pushed Gus out forcing a $1m payout. They forced him to sack Hook mid-season..that payout is on the board and Gus. They approached a contracted coach, offering him $1m a season and threw more money away at buying out his contract. They gave Nathan the 5 year deal... not that Gus wouldnt have done the same. But basically the board only things Clearys deserve 5 year $10m+ deals.

If we are going to fail it costing less is a good thing I suppose. But failing while making the finals beats failing to play them at all.

The club made $23m.
So it isn’t like the cuts are due to not having money. If less money is wasted then that is a good thing

The main issue with Gus was he had all the power and could get anything he wanted despite having no experience in Finance etc.

Maybe this way fails but atleast you have everyone on the same page and those people involved who should be hands on

 

[mxlegend99]

The club made $23m.
So it isn’t like the cuts are due to not having money. If less money is wasted then that is a good thing

The main issue with Gus was he had all the power and could get anything he wanted despite having no experience in Finance etc.

Maybe this way fails but atleast you have everyone on the same page and those people involved who should be hands on

I never said it was because we were losing money. Gus could and would give the club the money and resources needed.

Cutting out 2/3rds of our funds suggest to me that the football club will be working on a tight budget with limited resources just as we did before Gus arrived.

That's not to say success is impossible. But you can almost guarantee we will no longer be consistent finals contenders now. Nor are we even a slim chance at being premiership contenders.

Goulds last 5 years were 4/5 finals appearances. One of them with Ivan as coach. 3 with Hook.

I cant seeus matching those results on a tighter budget and certainly dont see how we will become a premiership threat on that budget. Then again why flush money down the toilet...no amount of resources was winning us a comp with Hook or with Ivan. We can go back to the odd finals cameo I guess. Fans will behappy with that.

 

[betcats]

Have you seen the videos recently? To suggest they are working on anything like the budget or resources prior to Gus is way off. They have all the resources plus more. I am shocked by the amount of staff on the coaching team. Watch the videos and say with a straight face they need more resources. They are being financially smart there is nothing wrong with that, a culture of spending more then you need for the sake of it isn't a good one.

 

[franklin2323]

I never said it was because we were losing money. Gus could and would give the club the money and resources needed.

Cutting out 2/3rds of our funds suggest to me that the football club will be working on a tight budget with limited resources just as we did before Gus arrived.

That's not to say success is impossible. But you can almost guarantee we will no longer be consistent finals contenders now. Nor are we even a slim chance at being premiership contenders.

Goulds last 5 years were 4/5 finals appearances. One of them with Ivan as coach. 3 with Hook.

I cant seeus matching those results on a tighter budget and certainly dont see how we will become a premiership threat on that budget. Then again why flush money down the toilet...no amount of resources was winning us a comp with Hook or with Ivan. We can go back to the odd finals cameo I guess. Fans will behappy with that.

looking at the figures in the article.

2 players medically retired.
Paid out hook

That alone would be over $2m there won’t affect affect the team performance at all.

 

[franklin2323]

Have you seen the videos recently? To suggest they are working on anything the budget or resources like prior to Gus is way off. They have all the resources plus more. I am shocked by the amount of staff on the coaching team. Watch the videos and say with a straight face they need more resources. They are being financially smart there is nothing wrong with that, a culture of spending more then you need for the sake of it isn't a good one.

That is it. Not paying out staff etc is a good start smarter is all

 

[age.s]

Nothing good ever came from a committee.

 

[BxTom]

Wait... so people think its a good thing that Panthers Group is cutting 2/3rds of the funding to our football club?

What our contracted players get paid had nothing to do with that... so its not a matter of fixing up a cap mess Gus made with long contracts.

That article looks to be trying to lay all the blame on Gus. Who wasn't perfect. But the board made some horrible decisions too. They pushed Gus out forcing a $1m payout. They forced him to sack Hook mid-season..that payout is on the board and Gus. They approached a contracted coach, offering him $1m a season and threw more money away at buying out his contract. They gave Nathan the 5 year deal... not that Gus wouldnt have done the same. But basically the board only things Clearys deserve 5 year $10m+ deals.

If we are going to fail it costing less is a good thing I suppose. But failing while making the finals beats failing to play them at all.

Most of the story is bullshit. We are still at or close to the cap so can player contracts make that big a difference to the money spent? A lot of the payouts last year revolve around decisions made by Dave and his mates. Sacking Gus and making Gus sack Hook during the season is the main cause of the high bill, not long term contracts. Even long term contracts, though probably not desirable, don't blow the cap. If long term contracts are so bad, somebody tell me how long term are the Cleary's contracts.

 

[betcats]

That is it. Not paying out staff etc is a good start smarter is all

Correct me if I am wrong but wont most of the 5m reduction seems to be coming from payouts which isn't coming out of the football operating budget. I really struggle to see how anyone can read that article and decide we are no longer finals threat consistently or to suggest the team is going back to pre Gus times in terms of the limitedresources is really reading a f**kload into a budget.

 

[betcats]

Nothing good ever came from a committee.

They have done well with recruitment so far.

 

[franklin2323]

Nothing good ever came from a committee.

Governments function with a committee. Same would be fine here if everyone sticks to their role will go well. The CFO should have no say over what players come here outside of if we can afford them

 

[franklin2323]

Correct me if I am wrong but wont most of the 5m reduction seems to be coming from payouts which isn't coming out of the football operating budget. I really struggle to see how anyone can read that article and decide we are no longer finals threat consistently or to suggest the team is going back to pre Gus times in terms of the limitedresources is really reading a f**kload into a budget.

Rumours had Gus on $1m.
Hook on $500k but had multiple years left.
Throw in Browne and McKendry pay out . Other staff members paid out and it adds up.

 

[Bob]

The one thing I took out of the article is the 10 person recruitment committee, this I think is a good thing

 

[Fangs]

Great to know we are now financially savy.