Suit, I only learned of the constitution change to bring the SC in line with the other LC member clubs (darts, bowls etc) from what was posted here and on facebook in the words of current SC members.
Not sure its' confirmed, and I guess we'll have to take their word for it... perhaps it is getting confused with the 3 year rule for the LC, and doesn't actually apply within the sub-clubs again (but would in the case of a brand new LC member)? But I do know it was not the case in February this year. So this has either happened in the last days of the previous Board, or the first days of the new Board.
With that in mind I have low expectations of the new Board sorting that out, as it seems that it has just been sorted for consistency through the LC. In terms of encouraging participation they have recently had a spiel and contact phone number go up on the LC website (as posted by Fish somewhere), and have been plugging the away bus trips by email via Ross Smart, so they'd be ticking the boxes as far as their requirements as a group under the LC are concerned.
Basically, you can't start a new one supported under the LC while the old one is there, and there are rules in place about how membership and change have to occur in the existing one. The LC financial support isn't sizable as I understand it, and it's more about the official status being used in potentially broader ways.
I personally just think that the quickest and best option to get a broad open official Supporters club functioning in this way will come with the reconfiguration of "memberships" (which surely should be ready for start of season 2010) and the shift of the NRL franchise back to the FC (which should be mid-2011?) allowing the establishment under the FC of a big supporters club of the type people have been and are crying out for.
It's time, but alas to unearth the NRL operations and bring them back closer to the people/members (from where Dennis and Brian Smith et al had it buried) will take time too...
