The Easts Merry Go Round...

[greeneyed]

I have to say I agree with an increase in the salary cap. I just don't agree with any club taking the NRL to court just because they don't like the decisions the NRL is taking with the almost unanimous support of the clubs.

If the salary cap is not to be increased, what I would like to see is a lot more discounting from the cap for the development of local juniors and their retention... but not the "pretend" juniors that Easts claim by having thrown a few dollars in Redcliffe's direction.......

 

[melon....]

I have to say I agree with an increase in the salary cap. I just don't agree with any club taking the NRL to court just because they don't like the decisions the NRL is taking with the almost unanimous support of the clubs.

If the salary cap is not to be increased, what I would like to see is a lot more discounting from the cap for the development of local juniors and their retention... but not the "pretend" juniors that Easts claim by having thrown a few dollars in Redcliffe's direction.......

Well greeneye...when the NSWRL tells Souths to give back our junior stronholds they have had control of since the 50s-60s, then we'll gladly develop LOCAL juniors. Until then we and Redcliffe are happy with the current arrangement. Hey it beats buying every player that comes on the market dont it???

 

[melon....]

The Knights have to borrow between $250,000, and $500,000 every year to meet their shortfall, they are struggling every season

And the reason for that is, what?

You questioned “why does our club have to borrow every year?” too meet player payments is the simple answer, the final payments are due at the seasons end, when we are at our most vulnerable, Financially, I was using that as an example of how close to the wire our club (and probably a lot of others) are each year, adding $250,000 a year to our expenses won’t help that one bit. Now you can say “that’s your clubs fault”, maybe it is, but we don’t have the luxury of a benefactor, or a licensed club, we have sponsorships yes, but in the end we spend everything we make, some of your fans have said “well if the games to hot, get out of the game” great, hows that going to save the game, if that’s the attitude? As for Con Constentine, yes he kicked in a bit of money every year, but in the end he wanted too much control of the club for that money, something that wasn't possible. Con also took over the running of the liscenced club he was no more successful with it than we were. It also went belly up with him at the helm.

Pen, I don’t have any problem with your side wanting a raise in the cap. What I have a problem with is the method used ie: - “raise it or we’ll test it in court” I just can’t see that as being a reasonable approach, or being good for the game. Phil Gould can come out with statements like “we want our players to be fulltime and not have to work at a job”. I’m sorry I don’t swallow that line, neither do I swallow the line that the players will all go to union (that one is the most ridiculous of all, a $250,000 raise won’t change that.) It’s simply about trying to hang on to what you’ve got; again there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s the same for everyone else. Saying clubs will die if it isn’t raised is another stupid statement, how does that equate?
Nothing would please me more for my club to have more money, I don’t think they deliberately try not to have any. The simple fact is that there is only so much sponsorship to go round, plenty of other sporting clubs/groups have priced themselves out of their games (Soccer is a prime example,where junior clubs are proping them up.) Do we want league to do the same? I think more effort should be put into trying to get the NRL to come up with a bigger slice of the pie for clubs, then yes they’ll be able to use that money to increase player payments. That way nobody is disadvantaged, the road the Roosters are going down will allow some clubs to increase player payments, whilst others will not be able to, they will just become uncompetitive, or bankrupt, how is that good for the game? Believe me I’m not Rooster bashing here, if it were any other club, my attitude would still be the same. I’ve argued with people from my own clubs forum about player payments, and getting allowances for service etc, in the end you still have to have the money to pay them. More money from the the big players (Free to air TV, and pay TV) is one avenue that should be looked at a lot more seriously IMO.

Anton you make a couple of good points...one in particluar regarding money from TV rights. Currently the clubs that provide this markettable form of Entertainment get nothing of the TV rights. The NRL keep it. Mind you The guy that owns Cable TV also owns the NRL. It basically proves he is getting a premium product and paying absolutely nothing for it. Rather he's getting bucket loads for the product.

I think redirecting some of teh TV rights especially to popular clubs like Newcastle that could do with it is a step in the right direction and would probably mean the current level of clubs in the NRL wil be sustained.

A raise in the cap will not contribute to struggler's demise in that these clubs are struggling to pay what they have to now. They wont be able to take up the extra payment afforded by the gap. Not that they shouldnt be able to as not doing so, unfortunately means their player remain on or take less money in the future. The cost of living unfortunately does not stagnate to help these players out.

A raise in the cap will not worsen the financial situation for these struggling clubs. Thast what i believe it equates to.

You have your opinion on how the Roosters approach this issue. And a lot of people think its arrogant and its holding a gun to the game's head. I think the medias perception of the whole deal has contributed to it becoming a farce and rubbing people the wrong way from day one. Again this is the media that Mr. Fox owns along with the game along with the TV network that makes a squillion without returning much back to the clubs themselves that provide the premium entertainment product.

It may be arrogant, but in no way is it holding gun to anyone's head. That would imply someone's going to potentially be killed, and I cant see the game dying because of this request to raise the cap.

 

[ibeme]

A raise in the cap will not contribute to struggler's demise in that these clubs are struggling to pay what they have to now. They wont be able to take up the extra payment afforded by the gap. Not that they shouldnt be able to as not doing so, unfortunately means their player remain on or take less money in the future. The cost of living unfortunately does not stagnate to help these players out.

A raise in the cap will not worsen the financial situation for these struggling clubs. Thast what i believe it equates to.

You have your opinion on how the Roosters approach this issue. And a lot of people think its arrogant and its holding a gun to the game's head. I think the medias perception of the whole deal has contributed to it becoming a farce and rubbing people the wrong way from day one. Again this is the media that Mr. Fox owns along with the game along with the TV network that makes a squillion without returning much back to the clubs themselves that provide the premium entertainment product.

It may be arrogant, but in no way is it holding gun to anyone's head. That would imply someone's going to potentially be killed, and I cant see the game dying because of this request to raise the cap.

Saying that it will not contribute to the strugglers' demise is ridiculous. They may be struggling now, but they'll have no chance then. Where clubs are treading water now, they'll be drowning then, regardless of whether or not they decide to max out the cap or not. They will end up with less quality players than they have now. The cap may not sink these clubs immediately, but it will hasten their demise. That's called contribution in my world.

You say that holding a gun to someone's head would imply that someone's going to potentially be killed. Some clubs will potentially be killed if the cap is raised. They definately will if it is abolished. And don't say they won't abolish it, because that's the only result possible if it goes to court. That's called holding a gun to someone's head in my world.

 

[antonius]

Anton you make a couple of good points...one in particluar regarding money from TV rights. Currently the clubs that provide this markettable form of Entertainment get nothing of the TV rights. The NRL keep it. Mind you The guy that owns Cable TV also owns the NRL. It basically proves he is getting a premium product and paying absolutely nothing for it. Rather he's getting bucket loads for the product.

I think redirecting some of teh TV rights especially to popular clubs like Newcastle that could do with it is a step in the right direction and would probably mean the current level of clubs in the NRL wil be sustained.

A raise in the cap will not contribute to struggler's demise in that these clubs are struggling to pay what they have to now. They wont be able to take up the extra payment afforded by the gap. Not that they shouldnt be able to as not doing so, unfortunately means their player remain on or take less money in the future. The cost of living unfortunately does not stagnate to help these players out.

A raise in the cap will not worsen the financial situation for these struggling clubs. Thast what i believe it equates to.

The TV rights have been a pet hate of mine for some considerable time, as you say they are making huge profits from the game, and the people providing that product (the players) are getting peanuts, compared to sportsmen in other sports, you'll get no argument from me there (our elite players deserve to be paid what they are worth.) At the moment it's the clubs out there, on their own trying to raise the money to stay afloat from sources outside the game, while we have media outlets sitting back reaping all the benifits from those clubs efforts. Whilst you say the struggling clubs don't have to pay it(any increase), that just means that the players who can command big money will just go elsewhere, and that in the end will lead to the poorer teams demise. We have a great competition ATM, it's competetive, and therefore attracts basically what we have here, "A passionate following" now we can go back to the haves and have nots, and the game will be nowhere as popular, it'll become a 4 or 5 horse race every year, I don't believe anyone (you included) wants that. I would like to see the clubs push for a better deal for players (Which is what Mr Gould, and most of the Roosters supporters I'm reading here are claiming is their aim) through a combined effort of demanding a bigger piece of the income generated by the game from all areas. I really don't think going to court to raise the cap will benifit the game or the players at all.

 

[melon....]

Anton you make a couple of good points...one in particluar regarding money from TV rights. Currently the clubs that provide this markettable form of Entertainment get nothing of the TV rights. The NRL keep it. Mind you The guy that owns Cable TV also owns the NRL. It basically proves he is getting a premium product and paying absolutely nothing for it. Rather he's getting bucket loads for the product.

I think redirecting some of teh TV rights especially to popular clubs like Newcastle that could do with it is a step in the right direction and would probably mean the current level of clubs in the NRL wil be sustained.

A raise in the cap will not contribute to struggler's demise in that these clubs are struggling to pay what they have to now. They wont be able to take up the extra payment afforded by the gap. Not that they shouldnt be able to as not doing so, unfortunately means their player remain on or take less money in the future. The cost of living unfortunately does not stagnate to help these players out.

A raise in the cap will not worsen the financial situation for these struggling clubs. Thast what i believe it equates to.

The TV rights have been a pet hate of mine for some considerable time, as you say they are making huge profits from the game, and the people providing that product (the players) are getting peanuts, compared to sportsmen in other sports, you'll get no argument from me there (our elite players deserve to be paid what they are worth.) At the moment it's the clubs out there, on their own trying to raise the money to stay afloat from sources outside the game, while we have media outlets sitting back reaping all the benifits from those clubs efforts. Whilst you say the struggling clubs don't have to pay it(any increase), that just means that the players who can command big money will just go elsewhere, and that in the end will lead to the poorer teams demise. We have a great competition ATM, it's competetive, and therefore attracts basically what we have here, "A passionate following" now we can go back to the haves and have nots, and the game will be nowhere as popular, it'll become a 4 or 5 horse race every year, I don't believe anyone (you included) wants that. I would like to see the clubs push for a better deal for players (Which is what Mr Gould, and most of the Roosters supporters I'm reading here are claiming is their aim) through a combined effort of demanding a bigger piece of the income generated by the game from all areas. I really don't think going to court to raise the cap will benifit the game or the players at all.

The players will benefit from raising the cap, for those clubs that can afford to pay them that is. This puts the onus on clubs to look for new avenues of funds generation. Seeing as theres not much coming back from the NRL TV deals, then thats the only other choice for clubs...keep chasing dollars.


I also think its a 5 horse race now..raising the cap wont change anything in that regard. When Easts put 50 points on Souths in round 1 (or another 40 on Newcastle!! LOL) we'll see how even the comp is then.

Anton...please clarify...why the hell doesnt a one team town like Newcstle have a Leagues club? Theyve been successful in their short existance, surely there's some business entity out there that would see an opportunity for a club.

 

[antonius]

The players will benefit from raising the cap, for those clubs that can afford to pay them that is. This puts the onus on clubs to look for new avenues of funds generation. Seeing as theres not much coming back from the NRL TV deals, then thats the only other choice for clubs...keep chasing dollars.


I also think its a 5 horse race now..raising the cap wont change anything in that regard. When Easts put 50 points on Souths in round 1 (or another 40 on Newcastle!! LOL) we'll see how even the comp is then.

Anton...please clarify...why the hell doesnt a one team town like Newcstle have a Leagues club? Theyve been successful in their short existance, surely there's some business entity out there that would see an opportunity for a club.

The Knights started a leagues club, the problem is the town already has a couple of large liscenced clubs, one of which is Ncle Western Suburbs Leagues Club, the Knights are never going to be able to compete with clubs like that. The club they had was in an outer suburb, and was very small. Clubs are not the liscence to print money that they once were, too many taxes these days, to build a club that could realisticaly compete with the large clubs in town would cost Millions. You only have to look at Ncle Workers, and Cardiff Workers clubs , they are huge, and had to merge with Panthers to stay viable. The Knights are successful because of their supporter base, We need a benifactor like Con Constentine, trouble was he wanted to merge the club with Ncle United soccer club, and really that is not the way to go. We are a one team town that's true, unfortunately, we are not as big as Brisbane, we have squeezed all we can out of local buisness, most of the big companies here are Sydney, or Queensland based. In fact they are probably sponsoring Sydney teams, maybe even yours LOL. As for the 40 point beating..... you can apologise after round 6. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[melon....]

The players will benefit from raising the cap, for those clubs that can afford to pay them that is. This puts the onus on clubs to look for new avenues of funds generation. Seeing as theres not much coming back from the NRL TV deals, then thats the only other choice for clubs...keep chasing dollars.


I also think its a 5 horse race now..raising the cap wont change anything in that regard. When Easts put 50 points on Souths in round 1 (or another 40 on Newcastle!! LOL) we'll see how even the comp is then.

Anton...please clarify...why the hell doesnt a one team town like Newcstle have a Leagues club? Theyve been successful in their short existance, surely there's some business entity out there that would see an opportunity for a club.

The Knights started a leagues club, the problem is the town already has a couple of large liscenced clubs, one of which is Ncle Western Suburbs Leagues Club, the Knights are never going to be able to compete with clubs like that. The club they had was in an outer suburb, and was very small. Clubs are not the liscence to print money that they once were, too many taxes these days, to build a club that could realisticaly compete with the large clubs in town would cost Millions. You only have to look at Ncle Workers, and Cardiff Workers clubs , they are huge, and had to merge with Panthers to stay viable. The Knights are successful because of their supporter base, We need a benifactor like Con Constentine, trouble was he wanted to merge the club with Ncle United soccer club, and really that is not the way to go. We are a one team town that's true, unfortunately, we are not as big as Brisbane, we have squeezed all we can out of local buisness, most of the big companies here are Sydney, or Queensland based. In fact they are probably sponsoring Sydney teams, maybe even yours LOL. As for the 40 point beating..... you can apologise after round 6. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Interesting.....do you think that if there wasnt any competition with Wests and Cardiff clubs, then it may have been beneficial to allow Constantine's "vision" for a merger with Newcastle United as a Super Club? Parra are doing it, but I dont see the results on the field!! LOL....

As for round 6, it will be a cracker with several cans of whoop ass being opened!! Come and get some!!

 

[antonius]

I'll be there (round six that is).

Cons Newcastle soccer team would be living on the edge also, I'd prefer the Knights to stick with their own code.

 

[dannyboy]

Yep round 1 , can see it now.

The Roosters have begun the season in dominant form, thrashing their red & green neighbours 50-2. However the win has come at a huge cost when man of the match, Brad Fittler having scored 4 tries & kicking 3 goals, destroyed his shoulder in a season ending tackle on Terry Hill in the final minute as he went in for the bunnies second try of the evening. A full reconstruction is scheduled for Thursday as the Roosters start shuffling their team to make do without Fittler.

Round 20
The Roosters season keeps getting worse. After an horrific spate of injuries that only Dragons fans have been used to in recent years, the Roosters slump to their 13th loss on the trot as Souths avenge their first round humiliation by beating their neighbours by 64-4. The Roosters are sitting on the bottom of the table on 8 points having not seen victory since their narrow 1 point win over the Broncos in the second week of April.

Round 26
The Roosters have finished their distasterous season with their 5th wooden spoon 3 points adrift of their nearest rival. Having won only 3 matches & a rare draw to finish on 11 points, this has truly been a miserable year for the team that competed in 3 of the last 4 years grand finals. Recently retired Fittler, whose 3rd attempt at a shoulder reconstruction this year has commented that he's pleased to see his old team the Panthers once again deserve to be the minor premiers having blitzed all other teams losing only two matches through the regular season. It's not looking positive for the Roosters in 2005 as they continue to struggle to find a player to take control the way Fittler did.

 

[Kaz]

The Knights started a leagues club, the problem is the town already has a couple of large liscenced clubs, one of which is Ncle Western Suburbs Leagues Club, the Knights are never going to be able to compete with clubs like that. The club they had was in an outer suburb, and was very small.

I was at the opening of that club & it was doomed from the start.

The brains trust behind it forgot to connect the gas & my family had to wait 2 hours for our meals while the staff went home to get the own gas burners to cook it, then only half the meals arrived. :lol:

 

[melon....]

Yep round 1 , can see it now.

The Roosters have begun the season in dominant form, thrashing their red & green neighbours 50-2. However the win has come at a huge cost when man of the match, Brad Fittler having scored 4 tries & kicking 3 goals, destroyed his shoulder in a season ending tackle on Terry Hill in the final minute as he went in for the bunnies second try of the evening. A full reconstruction is scheduled for Thursday as the Roosters start shuffling their team to make do without Fittler.

Round 20
The Roosters season keeps getting worse. After an horrific spate of injuries that only Dragons fans have been used to in recent years, the Roosters slump to their 13th loss on the trot as Souths avenge their first round humiliation by beating their neighbours by 64-4. The Roosters are sitting on the bottom of the table on 8 points having not seen victory since their narrow 1 point win over the Broncos in the second week of April.

Round 26
The Roosters have finished their distasterous season with their 5th wooden spoon 3 points adrift of their nearest rival. Having won only 3 matches & a rare draw to finish on 11 points, this has truly been a miserable year for the team that competed in 3 of the last 4 years grand finals. Recently retired Fittler, whose 3rd attempt at a shoulder reconstruction this year has commented that he's pleased to see his old team the Panthers once again deserve to be the minor premiers having blitzed all other teams losing only two matches through the regular season. It's not looking positive for the Roosters in 2005 as they continue to struggle to find a player to take control the way Fittler did.

LOL...I didint know you were a comedy writer!! LOL~!!

 

[dannyboy]

Melon

If Fittler's not there the Roosters are goners. He's your Joey Johns. When he retires you'll be a mediocre team all over again.

 

[strider]

Well you see dannyboy, the Roosters know what will likely happen when Fittler retires...thats why they want to do away with the cap and buy a new team of stars for when he does leave.

 

[melon....]

Melon

If Fittler's not there the Roosters are goners. He's your Joey Johns. When he retires you'll be a mediocre team all over again.

OK Dan...if you say so Dan. :roll:

 

[Big Panther Cool]

Melon

If Fittler's not there the Roosters are goners. He's your Joey Johns. When he retires you'll be a mediocre team all over again.

OK Dan...if you say so Dan. :roll:

Ohhh Melon's not coming back with the tirade of verbal abuse usually delivered by he & his troupe of like-minded merry men such as cogburn & renowned league fraud. I think dannyboy's hit the nail on the head..........

No wonder the roosters are so keen to either raise the cap or abolish it. They're going to throw everything at Fittler, including the kitchen sink to convince him to play until he's 50!! :lol: :lol:

Roosters "pre-1996 & pre-Fittler", here they come!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Rooster Cogburn.]

Yep round 1 , can see it now.

The Roosters have begun the season in dominant form, thrashing their red & green neighbours 50-2. However the win has come at a huge cost when man of the match, Brad Fittler having scored 4 tries & kicking 3 goals, destroyed his shoulder in a season ending tackle on Terry Hill in the final minute as he went in for the bunnies second try of the evening. A full reconstruction is scheduled for Thursday as the Roosters start shuffling their team to make do without Fittler.

Round 20
The Roosters season keeps getting worse. After an horrific spate of injuries that only Dragons fans have been used to in recent years, the Roosters slump to their 13th loss on the trot as Souths avenge their first round humiliation by beating their neighbours by 64-4. The Roosters are sitting on the bottom of the table on 8 points having not seen victory since their narrow 1 point win over the Broncos in the second week of April.

Round 26
The Roosters have finished their distasterous season with their 5th wooden spoon 3 points adrift of their nearest rival. Having won only 3 matches & a rare draw to finish on 11 points, this has truly been a miserable year for the team that competed in 3 of the last 4 years grand finals. Recently retired Fittler, whose 3rd attempt at a shoulder reconstruction this year has commented that he's pleased to see his old team the Panthers once again deserve to be the minor premiers having blitzed all other teams losing only two matches through the regular season. It's not looking positive for the Roosters in 2005 as they continue to struggle to find a player to take control the way Fittler did.

I already know how stupid you are. You don't have to keep proving it to me. :lol:

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

LOL Dan.

I think that would be a pretty good season and I can guarantee that if Easts have that sort of season, "Coggie" and Melon will go missing.

 

[Penelope Pittstop]

EA, these blokes have supported Easts for the last 30 years. Same with RLE.

Never while there backsides point to the ground will they go missing. I CAN guarantee that.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

EA, these blokes have supported Easts for the last 30 years. Same with RLE.

Never while there backsides point to the ground will they go missing. I CAN guarantee that.

Well, it looks like we'll have a permanent dumbarse convention going here then. I wish a few Easts supporters with a measurable IQ would pop in now and then, just to balance it up.

Thank you for doing your part. ;-)