The Rumours Thread

[possm]

Just heard on 2GB there is yet another article in the Telegraph tomorrow about Fonua-Blake, who supposedly met with the Dragons, Dogs and Tigers today.
Surprise surprise, the article shows a photo of Gould meeting with AFB.
Really starting to think there is some kind of agenda going on there that a photographer of some kind always seems to be close by everytime Gus meets with a player.
Anyway, apparently the report goes on to say that at this stage it is a two horse race between the Dragons and the Dogs.
Anyone else here got the feeling that this story line will continue to play out into 2024??

Gould would be trying to recruit AFB for 2025 because there is no way the Dogs could fit him into their cap for 2024. So, Flanno should just push the 2024 start date and the long-term contract. We really need AFB and he is a local junior.

 

[possm]

Well if he does go ahead and become our main sponsor with Squadron Energy in 2025 our club better be on the improve and make it worthwhile for him to sponsor us.

Better still he can buy the Gordon shares and take an active role in runing the club.

 

[justadragon]

What do you think that may be.

I think he is trying to see what we would have available especially for 2025 and then we may not see Hunt in the halves or even at the club. He has no room to move now but 2025 is a different story.

 

[baggygreen man]

We really need AFB and he is a local junior.

He is a Rabbits junior actually, played two years of Holden Cup (20s) for us. You could say he cut his teeth with us as that comp was seen as the stepping stone to the top grade. Games were also televised, so punters were able to closely follow a players progress.

 

[baggygreen man]

Better still he can buy the Gordon shares and take an active role in runing the club.

Does buying all Gordon shares mean the Illawarra portion of the joint venture is dissolved.

 

[dungay dragon]

Better still buy out their interest in the club completely. I will vote for that 100%.

Guys Twiggy could be our best buy ever
Will be a great assist with TPA's , and future buy out of WIN
Makes Gordons look like one of the Waltons
still thinking we are a big hope of landing AFB for next year esp if Capewell gets an immediate release to Warriors
Then for Deardon ...

 

[SnowDragon]

So you’re looking at sponsoring a team… how to make the biggest impact? Cover the transfer fee for AFB for 2024, big article in the newspaper and POW!

 

[possm]

Does buying all Gordon shares mean the Illawarra portion of the joint venture is dissolved.

I'd say, there is no jointventure anymore. We just have Gordons as an investor/shareholder. I think Twiggy would be a lot more generous when it comes to using some cash to improve things at the club and also lining up some TPA.

 

[Gardenia]

Twiggy Forest new major sponsor for 2025 1.2 million a season. Australia's 2nd Richest person

Positive news!!

 

[John moz]

Next is Wayne Bennett General Manager Dragons for 2025.
Move over Phil Gould bulldogs saint benny on his way back .

 

[BLM01]

It makes a whole lot of sense if there are wheels in motion to relocate the club to Perth.

No hard info - just speculating.

I agree. Careful what you wish for.
Yes financially sound. I think its great news with a slight reservation.
It does not matter anyway. Doust will block it as will hate someone taking some power from him
But he is the main driver behind the Port Kembla Outer Harbour development which has been approved
He can certainly out bid Laundy & Gus
Now we can join the elite powerful clubs..soon I hope

 

[The Word]

I'd say, there is no jointventure anymore. We just have Gordons as an investor/shareholder. I think Twiggy would be a lot more generous when it comes to using some cash to improve things at the club and also lining up some TPA.

Yes Possm, this is what the club is trying to achieve, getting rid of the idea of "joint venture". There might be 2 stadiums, but at the end of the day we're all just one set of fans supporting the same club, probably time we thought that way. Flanagan has alluded to this in a couple of his interviews. He's only been here 5 minutes and he can already see where the divisions lie.

To be successful in future we need to solve the ownership problem. 50/50 ownership simply does not work. Two sides greedily protecting their own self-interests. Unwilling to put proper funding into the club because neither side are majority owners. Ridiculous state of affairs. Allowing one single owner of the club would be the best chance we've got of securing our future.

Could Twiggy's sponsorship be a pre-cursor to some kind of ownership move? Unlikely, but hey, you never know. I've never been a big fan of big mining, but he's a winner, and that we could do with.

And by the way well done Webb getting a significant sponsor in place to replace the bank. He's made a couple of mistakes in his tenure at the dragons, but I've been impressed with a lot of the stuff he's done. If he pulls off the Centre of Excellence and fixes up the stadiums (especially Kogarah) that's a tick. If Flanagan turns out to be a successful coach for us, as I suspect he could be, that's another big tick.

 

[FlickFlano]

Yes Possm, this is what the club is trying to achieve, getting rid of the idea of "joint venture". There might be 2 stadiums, but at the end of the day we're all just one set of fans supporting the same club, probably time we thought that way. Flanagan has alluded to this in a couple of his interviews. He's only been here 5 minutes and he can already see where the divisions lie.

To be successful in future we need to solve the ownership problem. 50/50 ownership simply does not work. Two sides greedily protecting their own self-interests. Unwilling to put proper funding into the club because neither side are majority owners. Ridiculous state of affairs. Allowing one single owner of the club would be the best chance we've got of securing our future.

Could Twiggy's sponsorship be a pre-cursor to some kind of ownership move? Unlikely, but hey, you never know. I've never been a big fan of big mining, but he's a winner, and that we could do with.

And by the way well done Webb getting a significant sponsor in place to replace the bank. He's made a couple of mistakes in his tenure at the dragons, but I've been impressed with a lot of the stuff he's done. If he pulls off the Centre of Excellence and fixes up the stadiums (especially Kogarah) that's a tick. If Flanagan turns out to be a successful coach for us, as I suspect he could be, that's another big tick.

dont confuse 20 years of that with what is actually happenning now. The board is closer now than ever and moving in the right/same direction ... Young/Doust have been put in their place, Lancaster by all reports doing well in the role too. Maybe those with an axe to grind about preconceived ideas of how the board is operating are just misinformed and unwilling to move on.

 

[justadragon]

its not the first time Twiggy has been involved with a football club, he sank a lot of money into the Western Force, so being with the Dragons makes sense with the tie to Port Kemba. i would also expect to see a lot more of him than we have with the Gordons. So far its a sponsorship deal, lets see what effect it has on the club over the next 2 years.

 

[The Word]

dont confuse 20 years of that with what is actually happenning now. The board is closer now than ever and moving in the right/same direction ... Young/Doust have been put in their place, Lancaster by all reports doing well in the role too. Maybe those with an axe to grind about preconceived ideas of how the board is operating are just misinformed and unwilling to move on.

Possibly, but hard to tell for your average Joe fan. Not a lot of transparency at Board level, in terms of what they are discussing, and who is voting for what, so I guess we have to speculate. I've never really thought Young has all that much power, more of the required ex-player presence on the Board who ends up putting his foot in his mouth too often. But I agree, Webb has negotiated the competing factions quite well.

Doust though, he's another matter altogether, no idea why he's there. Other than appointing Wayne, his decisions led to possibly the worst on-field results in living memory. Hearing him interviewed at any time in the last 10 years he sounds like he's not on the same planet as the rest of us. He's a St George Leagues Club pick, he needs to be gone.

I'm a big fan of Benny Creagh being on the board, always thought he was a smart cookie.

 

[Trifili13]

Maybe Twiggy needs something to keep him busy given his recent split with his wife?

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Squadron Saints

I like it

 

[thebigredv]

Bear in mind if we do relocate to Perth our juniors have lost a nursery.

True. However, I'm in Perth. I can pull the jersey on and do a lot better than Matt Feagai, if it helps.

 

[SnowDragon]

If the move relates to port kembla, moving us to Perth would be a dumb move.

not worried

 

[John moz]

Wont happen we just gain another interest in another state and supporters.