A war with no villains
Paul Crawley From: The Daily Telegraph February 26, 2011 12:00AM
OLD mates in Muswellbrook say the big bloke's best asset as a footballer was "he had plenty of ticker". Nathan Tinkler was never going to be the Newcastle Knights' next Chief Harragon.
He had guts, though, and was likeable.
Gary Harris, the elder brother of champion jockey Wayne Harris, has lived in Muswellbrook his entire life.
Back in his youth Gary was a golden gloves boxing champion who knew a thing or two about ticker.
He says he remembers big Nathan well.
How did he go as a footballer, we asked?
"Had plenty of ticker," Harris said.
That was back when Australia's richest man under 40 was an electrician - who lived up from the hockey fields in Muswellbrook - and used to run by Harris's squash courts for a game and a chat.
"I never knew how smart he was, we didn't talk business," Harris recalled.
"He used to play squash and we'd sit down afterwards and have a beer and talk sport. He loved his footy, loved racing and loved the punt ... absolutely loved the punt."One day the local electrician took the punt of his life - and got lucky. Kind of like Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies.
The story goes Tinkler borrowed $500,000 in 2006 with his old man and bought himself a mine. By 2008, Tinkler was up $440 million. By the middle of last year, the mining magnate's wealth had grown to $600 million.
Today, big Nathan has already hit the $1 billion mark - and counting.
John Singleton reckons Tinkler has the potential to be the greatest Australian of all time. Seriously, Singo likens him to a young Lang Hancock. Which goes to show, ticker can get you a long way in life if you're prepared to back yourself.
It brings us to Newcastle this week - and the question everyone's asking.
How on Earth did the Newcastle Knights board almost stuff up this deal of a lifetime?
Tinkler loves everything Newcastle, wants to buy the Knights, wants to bring home-grown talent back to the club, players like Kade Snowden and Jamal Idris.
He has proven success in sport with a $200 million racing empire - and at the Newcastle Jets, Tinkler's money has turned a disaster into a dream. He had the cash and contacts to bring David Beckham's LA Galaxy to town, and has now secured the services of Socceroo star Jason Culina.
So why were the Knights trying to push him away - what on Earth is the problem?
THE problem is this. Newcastle chairman Robbie Tew loves the Knights every bit as much as Tinkler - in a different way, though. Tew's been portrayed as the evil villain in this campaign, but the fact is he has devoted the best part of two decades to the club and what it stands for.
He does good deeds every day of his life, friends say, that never make the newspapers.
Tew is not about self-promotion. They say he is about integrity, honesty and decency.
Where Tinkler backed himself to make Newcastle an NRL powerhouse, Tew couldn't - and wouldn't - accept any offer without guarantees. As chairman, his job was to ask questions. Demand answers.
Which is why the Knights are now on the verge of taking up this third and revised deal that should secure the club's future forever.
No, Tew's name doesn't resonate through league circles like Newcastle greats Harragon, Butterfield and Johns, all Tinkler supporters. But talk to anyone who knows Tew well and they will tell you he is a man to be trusted - and his character has been shortchanged.
While Tew doesn't have Tinkler's billion, he is successful enough to own an acreage in Newcastle on the back of his work as a real estate valuer.
Tew was actually a handy five-eighth in his day and played in the Knights' very first game against Parramatta in 1988, marking up against the brilliant Brett Kenny.
He kicked the only two goals for Newcastle in that 28-4 loss.
He also coached under-19s and 21s - and was David Waite's assistant first-grade coach for the back end of 1991.
He actually coached Andrew Johns in his very first grade game in 1992.
Back in the early years at the club, the Knights established a creed that stands to this day: Be a player others want to play with.
Tew's mates say it sums up the man. A man who has now been made to look like a goat during a media-savvy campaign orchestrated by the same gurus who helped push Russell Crowe to power at Souths.
If you remember in that episode, Rabbitohs legend George Piggins played the evil villain.
They say every war needs an enemy.
But to say the chairman was only attempting to save his own neck by standing in the way of Tinkler's takeover goes against everything he stands for in life, mates add.
"The position as chairman doesn't come with a salary," one said to me yesterday.
It's why this tale has no villains - or at least shouldn't.
Both men say they wanted what's best for the club - and because of both the club is now standing at the doorstep of this deal of a lifetime. Where Tinkler played hardball, Tew stood his ground. He called Tinkler's bluff, a brave move when you play poker against a billionaire. The fact that Tinkler came back suggests Tew isn't the dill some took him for.
Perhaps it's a lesson for all at the club as they prepare for a new era under Nathan Tinkler's reign.
Chances are, Tew's days as chairman are numbered. But should he be remembered as the bloke who almost butchered the Tinkler deal - or the man who helped to guarantee the Knights' future?
Remember, Tinkler's guarantee is all he wanted. "I'm like the majority of members, I have a strong affection for the place," Tew told us this week. "I love the environment I live in ... we've got a large acreage here and it's in the middle of town, you can't do that anywhere else. And I've got an affection for the club like any other member. But I am sitting in a position with my fellow directors where it's appropriate that we be careful."
WHILE Tew chooses words with caution, Tinkler's campaign has resembled the bull at the gate. He saw opportunity, and charged. He wanted Newcastle yesterday.
When Tew put up barriers, Tinkler got cranky. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph this week, Tinkler was asked if he would back himself to turn the Knights into an NRL super club if his deal was given the green light.
"Absolutely," he said.
But what caused great concern in that same interview was Tinkler's admission that he had made that phone call to former Knights junior Snowden without the club's permission.
In the same interview, Tinkler also gave the club's current roster a stiff backhand, which apparently left heads hanging on the eve of the new season. Depending on who you talk to, Tinkler is either the best bloke in the world or a bully with a quick temper.
It was reported he told one journalist last year: "You're a f ... ing deadbeat, people like me don't bother with f ... ing you. You climb out of your bed every morning for your pathetic hundred grand a year. Good luck."
In racing circles, you hear similar stories.
They either love him or get the hell out of his way.
Since Tinkler first bulldozed his way into the turf world back in 2007, where he spent something like $15 million at New Zealand's Karaka yearling sale to announce his arrival, he has unloaded $200 million-plus to build up his Patinack Farm racing empire.
Yet in a few short years he's also gone through about six trainers.
There are those at the Knights who will tell you his comments in our interview had some players wondering what future they will have when Tinkler takes power.
The fact is the reason the Knights pulled the pin on Snowden originally was that they had run out of money under the salary cap, following Chris Houston's return.
The club had a moral and legal obligation to take Houston back - and when Evarn Tuimavave took up his option for another year at the club, the Knights had no money left to go after Snowden.
Tinkler saw it differently, though.
"I don't need permission to use a phone," he said in our interview, "and local talent should always be first priority."
No wonder some players are nervous. Especially if they don't hail from the Hunter.
But that is also a big part of Tinkler's charm. Like Jack Newton told us this week, he just wants to get back the club that Brian Smith tore apart.
"This board, on the main, has been in for the last two terms, so the last eight years," Newton said. "I blame them for allowing Brian Smith to come in here and put us in a situation now where there is a mad rush on to try and buy your own player back that has been punted.
"So they have to take some responsibility and that includes Steve Burraston and Robbie Tew."
The argument has divided the community.
Even at the Katara touch footy this week a difference of opinion ended up in some push and shove.
It seems inevitable Tew and Burraston will be casualties in the takeover.
Burraston's supporters also believe he's been poorly portrayed in these negotiations. Isn't this the deal of a lifetime?
But Burraston's name is mud to many.
Already there is talk Tony Butterfield will be the Knights' next CEO.
What's certain is whoever coaches the Knights next season will either have to say yes well - or be strong enough to tell a man worth $1 billion to pull his head in.
Tinkler makes no secret of the fact he'd like Wayne Bennett as coach.
He told us this week: "I think I could be very persuasive with him."
But how do you think Bennett would have copped the Kade Snowden admission? Or the attack on his players as they prepare for a new season?
It makes you wonder if this deal of a lifetime should come with a packet of Panadol.
Yet if you ask the bloke who used to play squash with big Nathan back in Muswellbrook, it's a no-brainer.
"Newcastle would be mad to turn their back on him," Harris said.
"The thing I always remember about him was his passion for sport ... that's a good thing, isn't it?"
