North broke 'within 6 months': Demetriou - today's Crikey

[St George]

Broke 'within six months': Demetriou plots a Kangaroo cull
Charles Happell writes:

To a passerby, it would have looked like a harmless chat between two of the AFL’s most important figures; to people sitting nearby, it was significantly more important than that. For the discussion between AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and AFL Players Association president Brendon Gale at a South Melbourne café last week revealed in gory detail how the league expects the Kangaroos to go broke before the end of next year – and how plans for a replacement team on the Gold Coast are already well underway.


This would mean a seamless transition between the death of the Roos – the club which this month spurned the AFL’s offer of a heavily subsidised relocation to Queensland – and the birth of the new Gold Coast outfit. So, effectively, there will be no need for a 17th licence; the integrity of a 16-team competition will remain intact.


The announcement of the signing of a 50-year lease on a stadium at Runaway Bay, a northern suburb of the Gold Coast, can also be expected soon. This will be the home of the new club.


It was last Thursday morning when patrons at the Montague Park café were given the impromptu rundown of the AFL’s plans by Demetriou, whose voice knows only one volume setting: foghorn. As the regulars were sipping long blacks and quietly minding their own business, at the next table Demetriou began outlining the League’s plans to Gale.


They heard Demetriou say that the Roos, by turning their back on the AFL’s lucrative deal to relocate to the Gold Coast, had "played into our hands". A neat segue – Roos out, Gold Coast in – was now possible.


He indicated plans for the new franchise, even down to the level of drafting rules for players, were already well underway. A Gold Coast starting date of 2010 was therefore on track.


They then heard Demetriou say he expected the Roos to go out of business "within six months" – an astonishing claim given that the club has just signed on Vodafone as a major sponsor, and has hefty commitments from several well-heeled supporters.


Presumably such a scenario could only take place with the connivance of the AFL. The Roos have been braced for a backlash from the AFL over their refusal to budge from Melbourne; now, it would seem, they need to batten down the hatches as well.


At one stage, Demetriou pulled out his Blackberry and read out to Gale details of the whizz-bang new facility at Runaway Bay. Demetriou boasted that it was "five times the size of the Lexus Centre" (Collingwood’s base in Melbourne).


A state-of-the-art complex has recently been built on the site that includes nine purpose-built villas which provide accommodation for touring groups or sporting teams, a FINA-approved 50-metre outdoor swimming pool, an IAAF-certified 10-lane 400-metre athletic track with 3,000 seater stadium, and an enormous gymnasium and health spa.


The amazingly indiscreet display left no-one in any doubt about the AFL’s plans: they now want to be rid of the Kangaroos. And they want to get a toehold in the fastest-growing area of Australia without any further delay.


It’s not the most conventional way to garner a story. But, in the same way that it’s impossible to ignore someone talking into a mobile phone when they’re in the same train carriage as you, so it was in the tight confines of the Montague Park caf (which, incidentally, makes a mean macchiato). Unless you had earmuffs on, there was no escaping the discussion.


Today, the AFL commission will meet in Melbourne to ostensibly discuss the prospect of a 17th licence and how it will realise its Gold Coast ambitions. There will be no announcements at the end of the meeting, for there is much detail to be finalised yet.


But at least we know where the AFL stands on this important issue. And we know this because it was broadcast to a small, surprised audience in a South Melbourne coffee shop.


The Kangaroos now will be in no doubt about the magnitude of the task facing them. For not only do they have to squeeze the pips (again) on their tiny membership base to raise the money to survive; they have to face a league that, like a woman scorn’d, is hellishly furious and bent on revenge.

[Saints94]

So join in the chorus and sing it one and all join in the chorus the roos are broke and they have no balls, extinct north melbourne there losers you'll agree north melbourne will be extinct in 6 months just you wait and see

[GrumpyOne]

The amazingly indiscreet display.....

Wow!!!! If the whole story is true, that could well be the understatement of the decade.

Cue fireworks..... this is about to get interesting......

[ausfatcat]

The amazingly indiscreet display.....

Wow!!!! If the whole story is true, that could well be the understatement of the decade.

Cue fireworks..... this is about to get interesting......

Doesn't add up, either it never occured or it is greatly embelished.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

not doubting the story but how the heck can a CEO of anything be found talking about sensitive information in public is mind boggleing thats what they have boardrooms for serioulsy dimwit has shown his real lack of corp. knowllege by letting this happen

[ausfatcat]

"played into there hands" LOL any blind idiot can see that from the AFL's perspective it would be better for the kanga's to relocate rather than a new team and if they wanted the kanga's to go down (hense play into our hands) they didn't have to go through a charade of offering them to relocate.


The AFL and Dimwit maybe a great number of things but they don't have schizophrenia.

[saintsRrising]

The AFL wanted the Roos to move...which is why they offered them a package too good to be refused....except Brayshaw did refuse it.



Even Brayshaw admits that the Kangaroos will continue to need AFL support to prop itself up.....which then begs the question that if Directors of a company are not allowed to knowingly put a company in a position that will cause it to go insolvent....how could the Directors knock back a very viable option in preference to a scenario where it is known that they cannot be solvent except with charity?

PS (Edited as that was a shocking effort for typos.....!!!!! which is what happens when one finishes writing a post while answering a phone call )

[GrumpyOne]

The AFL wanted the roos to move...which is why they offered them a packakage too good to be refused....except Brayshaw did refuse it.



Even Brayshaw admist that the Knagaroos will continue to need AFL support to prop itseld up.....which then begs the question that if Directors ofa Compan are not allowed to knowingly puta company ina postion that will cause it to insolvent....how could the Directors knowck backa very viable option in preference toa sceanrio where it is knon that they cannot be solvent except with charity?

Yes, the Directors are skating on thin ice IMO....... unlike your spell-checker which appears to have fallen through.

[plugger66]

When a story sounds like rubbish it usually is rubbish and this one is rubbish. Doesnt make sense at all.

[yipper]

The AFL wanted the roos to move...which is why they offered them a packakage too good to be refused....except Brayshaw did refuse it.



Even Brayshaw admist that the Knagaroos will continue to need AFL support to prop itseld up.....which then begs the question that if Directors ofa Compan are not allowed to knowingly puta company ina postion that will cause it to insolvent....how could the Directors knowck backa very viable option in preference toa sceanrio where it is knon that they cannot be solvent except with charity?

Yes, the Directors are skating on thin ice IMO....... unlike your spell-checker which appears to have fallen through.

Indeed. That was far more difficult to read than anything Homie has done!!

[saintsRrising]

Agreed ...I will have not try and finish posts that I have started while answering incoming phone calls....not a good combination

[saintsRrising]

As others have said in other strings.....I am not sure that the Roos will be broke that quick....as the recent uproar should lead to a spike in memberships and minor sponsorships but which will most likely then tail off.


However worryingly for Roos fans is that memberships so far have not spiked that much despite an immenent death sentemce....which makes me think that many Roos supporters are being complacent.....or perhaps are just jaded.



While all the uproar in the media was on cheering Roos fans yelling support for Brayshaw since the so called vote many Roos fans that I have talked to actually wanted the Roos to accept the deal as they saw it as too good to refuse....and also that it was reallya case ofa slow extinction vs relocation...rather than reloaction vs staying in Melbourne.

Amongst ex-Roos players, Officials and Board Members etc there also seems to have been strong support for the Gold Coast.


Which then begs the question that if the matter had of actually been put to a full poll of all Roos members what the decision may have been?????


Would they have elected to stay or to have moved????

Has Brayshaw just swept into power on the backs of a very vocal minority???? or does he indeed have the support of the quiet majortity as well??

[bigred]

HORSEAPPLES!

[saintspremiers]

When a story sounds like rubbish it usually is rubbish and this one is rubbish. Doesnt make sense at all.

really?

It sounds quite feasible to me, what part of it doesn't add up in your mind??

Of course the AFL want North to die now and set up a new team from scratch.....why would they want a 17th team, and bye's etc???

This is just like 1997 all over again.....in come Port as the new S.A. based team and out goes Fitzroy - no 17th team!!!

Also, Crickey has a fair bit more cred than a lot of information sources, so whilst the source of the info is a bit unorthodox, I actually buy it........you can often hear a fair bit of stuff at cafes!

[plugger66]

When a story sounds like rubbish it usually is rubbish and this one is rubbish. Doesnt make sense at all.

really?

It sounds quite feasible to me, what part of it doesn't add up in your mind??

Of course the AFL want North to die now and set up a new team from scratch.....why would they want a 17th team, and bye's etc???

This is just like 1997 all over again.....in come Port as the new S.A. based team and out goes Fitzroy - no 17th team!!!

Also, Crickey has a fair bit more cred than a lot of information sources, so whilst the source of the info is a bit unorthodox, I actually buy it........you can often hear a fair bit of stuff at cafes!

It says they played into the AFL hands. Well I would have thought the AFL would have rather them gone up than rely on them folding. Matter of fact to me it all sounds like crap.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

...
Has Brayshaw just swept into power on the backs of a very vocal minority???? or does he indeed have the support of the quiet majortity as well??

Been wondering that since this decision came down. Sentimentality, hubris, optomism. I'm expecting them to hit their membership targets for '08... but feels like everyone's holding their breath about the Roos future.

The people I feel for are the Roos Members who show up and are once and for all, all or nothing now at the behest of either big private backers or the ones who don't show up.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

the problem with the roos is i feel that they have their diehard supporters but then it falls away very sharply after that with the saints we have our life long supporters our diehards our 2nd generation 3rd generation our newbies our bandwagon jumpers and our passing intrest members thats what keeps us alive
the filth are in the best condition with all their members treating the membership more like a yearly power bill somthing they have no choice but buy . i just go's to show that premiership success means nothing if you cant capitalise on your popularity when your up to save your ass when your down

[yipper]

...
Has Brayshaw just swept into power on the backs of a very vocal minority???? or does he indeed have the support of the quiet majortity as well??

Been wondering that since this decision came down. Sentimentality, hubris, optomism. I'm expecting them to hit their membership targets for '08... but feels like everyone's holding their breath about the Roos future.

The people I feel for are the Roos Members who show up and are once and for all, all or nothing now at the behest of either big private backers or the ones who don't show up.

Yep. All 6 of em'

[meher baba]

Charles Happell is a golf writer who, I think, used to be the sports editor at The Age but who now writes for Crikey. I don't think he'd put his name to anything that was totally without substance. Indeed (although he is deliberately ambiguous on this point) it would seem that he claims to have overheard the discussion himself.

What is hard to believe about what was reported?

Demetriou (and, probably, the rest of the AFL Commission) is undoubtedly feeling angry and vindictive towards a club which he was prepared to bend over backwards to help, using money that rightfully belongs to the 15 other clubs. And in terms of the club going broke in six months: this is obviously a matter of opinion, but I am inclined to think that there is a reasonable possibility of that happening. At any rate, I would suggest that even Centro might be a better investment proposition than the Kangas ATM!!

The only thing that might not be quite right in the story is Happell's interpretation of Demetriou's statement that North "played right into our hands". I would still have thought that tthe AFL's medium-term plan was to merge the Kangaroos into the new Gold Coast franchise. But, if the club goes broke first, the AFL will be able to ensure that this happens on its own terms, with the Gold Coast franchisees in charge, and not James Brayshaw and the bunch who currently "own" the Kangaroos.

[plugger66]

Charles Happell is a golf writer who, I think, used to be the sports editor at The Age but who now writes for Crikey. I don't think he'd put his name to anything that was totally without substance. Indeed (although he is deliberately ambiguous on this point) it would seem that he claims to have overheard the discussion himself.

What is hard to believe about what was reported?

Demetriou (and, probably, the rest of the AFL Commission) is undoubtedly feeling angry and vindictive towards a club which he was prepared to bend over backwards to help, using money that rightfully belongs to the 15 other clubs. And in terms of the club going broke in six months: this is obviously a matter of opinion, but I am inclined to think that there is a reasonable possibility of that happening. At any rate, I would suggest that even Centro might be a better investment proposition than the Kangas ATM!!

The only thing that might not be quite right in the story is Happell's interpretation of Demetriou's statement that North "played right into our hands". I would still have thought that tthe AFL's medium-term plan was to merge the Kangaroos into the new Gold Coast franchise. But, if the club goes broke first, the AFL will be able to ensure that this happens on its own terms, with the Gold Coast franchisees in charge, and not James Brayshaw and the bunch who currently "own" the Kangaroos.

If Happell do you think Demetriou would have talked loud enough for him to hear as I am sure he knows who Happell is.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

does anyone see the "played right into our hands" comment if true a case of sour grapes ? in the long term i think there is more money to be made with a brand new team then a relocated one what with the hype around the new club new colours new name the publicity would be huge

[Oh When the Saints]

Nice to see you around meher baba

Your reason and balance has been greatly missed.

[Solar]

as some posters have already said, crickey is a good source and it all makes sense, tell me the AFL would not be smarting about getting turned down, it's like when someone breaks up with you and in the bitterness of the situation you say "yeah well I'm happier without them"... this time it's "who cares, the roos will be broke within 5 months".

The facility at runaway bay is huge, I would kill for stkilda to have something similar.

[ausfatcat]

as some posters have already said, crickey is a good source and it all makes sense, tell me the AFL would not be smarting about getting turned down, it's like when someone breaks up with you and in the bitterness of the situation you say "yeah well I'm happier without them"... this time it's "who cares, the roos will be broke within 5 months".

The facility at runaway bay is huge, I would kill for stkilda to have something similar.

I am sure that is the case but the article eludes to the AFL never wanting to relocate the Kanga's thats why people are calling it BS.

[Solar]

as some posters have already said, crickey is a good source and it all makes sense, tell me the AFL would not be smarting about getting turned down, it's like when someone breaks up with you and in the bitterness of the situation you say "yeah well I'm happier without them"... this time it's "who cares, the roos will be broke within 5 months".

The facility at runaway bay is huge, I would kill for stkilda to have something similar.

I am sure that is the case but the article eludes to the AFL never wanting to relocate the Kanga's thats why people are calling it BS.

I have a feeling that this is just the slant pushed in the article, kind of like over hearing a convo and then putting your own spin on it all.