Experts' Columns

Fungus

Fungus

Steve Simpson
I thought it would be a good idea to have one thread which we could post all the experts' articles/column from newspapers. We can then discuss our thoughts.

Time to get brutal: we need radical change to save game
Phil Gould

It's time rugby league regained full ownership of its game.

We can no longer tolerate a media company owning the sport, nor the current structure of administration that is presiding over the slow decay of rugby league in this country.

Rugby league needs an independent commission, comprising professional, creative, passionate and ambitious leaders, to run its game.

Many people share this opinion - but no one wants to take the leap.

Last week NRL chief executive David Gallop warned that Sydney clubs face extinction as funding from leagues clubs was nearing crisis point thanks to the NSW Government's poker-machine taxes.

Where was the NRL's concern for the club industry years ago when the Government first proposed these taxes?

Why didn't NRL management assist in the campaign against them?

Rugby league is now in trouble.

The truth is poker-machine taxes are just a small part of the many problems plaguing our game.

Under the current administrative structure, our game's leaders carry neither the authority nor the freedom to make important decisions. Our game seemingly has no direction or plan for the future.

For years the NRL's damage-control style of management has delivered us warm and fuzzy press releases suggesting rugby league is in great shape.

They tell us that the crowds are up and the participation rates are increasing.

They report record TV deals and increases in new revenue streams. In fact, these deals were far less than they should have been because of the game's restricted bargaining power and the fact the code did not fully understand the potential of its media assets.

Now the real truth about the state of the game is emerging. Sydney clubs face extinction. Country rugby league is in a state of decay. Junior rugby league clubs are suffering.

Our top players are leaving the NRL in search of money overseas and in other codes. Two of our biggest stars, Mark Gasnier and Sonny Bill Williams, are about to leave league thanks to restrictive salary-cap rules and the break-even level of finances our clubs are forced to manage.

Our so-called professional league teams have no depth in talent. For most teams it's quite obvious when their best player is missing they that struggle to score a try, let alone win a game.

Then we have this ridiculous scheduling of representative matches that turns the NRL games before and after them into second-rate events.

The situation is appalling and embarrassing for the game.

You could argue that 25 per cent of matches are diminished in quality due to representative football, with players either missing or backing up to play club football in an inadequate time frame.

The salary cap has ensured clubs do not have the depth to cover for these players, and as a consequence the football is below standard.

Why should our clubs have to play without their representative stars?

Clubs are now forced to play in large empty stadiums because it's financially better than playing in their own suburban grounds.

What is the plan for our game in the next five, 10, 20 years?

What is the future role of suburban grounds? Figures show that the Sydney clubs that played solely at a "suburban" venue in 2007 - Cronulla, St George Illawarra, Penrith, Parramatta and Manly - had average crowds below the NRL average.

If tribalism and suburban grounds are the "heart and soul" of rugby league, why aren't these venues sold out every week?

If we think the future of our game involves clubs playing in front of 12,000 people in suburban grounds, I can assure you your club will almost certainly go broke.

That's why more clubs are taking advantage of the financial benefits of playing at ANZ Stadium although the atmosphere is not what they would like. You can't put atmosphere in the bank.

Sydney has nine clubs, crowds that average 14,000 and a modest membership base of approximately 35,000 across its clubs. Compare this with the AFL: Melbourne also has nine clubs, average crowds of 35,000 plus a huge and growing membership base.

Why can't Sydney be like Melbourne and what strategies does the NRL have to grow club memberships and game attendances?

We know that the AFL has very deliberately and successfully devised a strategy to play all Melbourne club games at two modern stadiums only: the MCG and Telstra Dome.

Sydney clubs will also find there is little justification for governments to continue to grant money for clubs to develop grounds to an acceptable modern level in suburban areas that are close to this city's equivalents - the Sydney Football Stadium and ANZ Stadium.

Sydney is the most competitive sports market in the world. How does the NRL intend to grow and protect its market share and revenues in light of the establishment of a second AFL team, a second A-League team and possibly a second Super rugby team in its biggest market, western Sydney?

What other revenue streams are being developed and what research is being conducted in this area?

The Australian Rugby Union has flagged its intention to procure private investment. Given that the A-League is almost totally funded by private investment, what scope does the NRL see for further private investment in rugby league?

Despite record numbers and an all-time high percentage of Polynesians playing our sport, the international game is at its lowest ebb and Australia has virtually no competition.

We are in our 100th year - a year in which we were promised a wide range of celebrations - and we're in a mess.

Who runs rugby league?

Can the NRL answer these questions? Please show us your research and documentation. Show us your plan so we can help. If you have no plan, own up!

I don't think News Ltd wants to run rugby league. I think it would sell its share tomorrow if it was confident the right management structure could be put in place.

It won't sell it back to the ARL and I don't blame it. The current ARL administration is as much a part of the problem with our game as the media company. They might all be great blokes and love the game, but that's not enough any more.

There is universal agreement amongst all league thinkers that the game desperately needs an independent commission to run it on a "whole of game" basis.

We need this sooner rather than later.
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Source

There's been a lot of media attention lately about the viability with the number of clubs in Sydney. What are your thoughts?
 
Thought I might just chuck this in here:

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There's talk that the Rabbitohs could move to the Central Coast:

FOR 20 long and tough years, Souths patriach and club hero George Piggins has fought the battle of his life to keep the Rabbitohs at Redfern.
Now, as much as it hurts, Piggins claims the club's biggest hope of survival is to relocate to Gosford.

And the owner of Gosford's Bluetongue Stadium - millionaire businessman John Singleton - said he would welcome the Rabbitohs to the Central Coast.

Piggins walked away from rugby league two years ago when members voted to privatise the club through new owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court. But now Piggins believes Souths should consider quitting Sydney to guarantee their long-term future.
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I wouldn't be surprised to see Cronulla and Penrith collapse, they seem to struggle the most for exposure, crowds, profits, sponsorship, etc.

Phil Gould is pretty much right with everything he says, I reckon.
 
Piggins is right in my opinion.

And so is Gould. But, it would be good if the Sydney clubs played two thirds of their games at their suburban ground and a third (big games) at Homebush.

Thoughts?
 
Its all got to do with money.

I get what you are saying and agree, But for eg. the Tigers only play 3 games at Leichhardt Oval and the rest at ANZ, becasue of higher revenues.
 
knight-no-7 said:
Its all got to do with money.

I get what you are saying and agree, But for eg. the Tigers only play 3 games at Leichhardt Oval and the rest at ANZ, becasue of higher revenues.
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Yeah I know.

Under my plan, the Tigers would play 4 home games each at Leichardt, Campbelltown and Homebush.

And with less games at their traditional areas, the fans would show how they really feal and flock to the suburban grounds on a regular basis, like what happened on Sunday.

The Panthers and Eels would also play 4 home games at Homebush too.

Dogs could stay there full-time.

The Rabbitohs - well I still dunno whether they should move to the Coast or not. Could split the games between Homebush and CC Stadium.
 
The Eels should stay at Parra full time. Right in the heart and sole of Parramatta, they draw better crowds imo. A lot of the fan base wouldn't travel to ANZ.
 
If you have a big stadium, doesn't mean you're going to sell it out. In the finals, yeah sure.
The Eels hardly ever sell out Parra Stadium.
 
Sure, a big stadium doesn't mean its gonna sell out

But we need to guarantee financial success for all Sydney teams.

However, if AFL was to buy Homebush then get outta there ASAP!
 
Cap makes some more equal than others
By Michael Hagan

THERE have been plenty of stories in the past week or so about how tough times are in rugby league, in NSW at least, due to the impact of overloaded poker machine taxes, decreasing leagues club revenues and tough economic times.
I'm privy to that. We've been told to cut $500,000 from the football budget at Parramatta and, to stop salary-cap blowouts, we're slowly eradicating the incentive clauses in contracts because they are just too hard to manage.

But I'm of the fatalistic belief that two things won't change.

The richer clubs, even with us all playing under a salary cap, will over time always have more regular success than the clubs with more modest incomes.

And it's not just about how much money that is injected, it's about how smartly you spend the money and the calibre of people with the responsibility of spending it.

Souths, for example, had all the right intentions when they embarked on a bold plan to reinvent themselves with a much more professional set-up, which includes better support staff, improved facilities, impressive marketing campaigns and an aggressive media strategy.

However, the costs associated with putting these things in place have now put them under enormous financial pressure. And because of that, they're now scaling back on the bells and whistles.

The Rabbitohs are struggling as the pressure on the coach and team builds, exasperated by the higher expectations for success from the fans and media. Perhaps one major lesson the new owners have learned is not to promise what they can't guarantee and that you have to make sure you can afford what you throw at success.

We have plenty of clubs who are, at best, surviving. They will never be more than modest performers who will struggle to be any richer or more successful in the long-term. And that happens in most sports.

Look at the English Premier League where, I know, they don't have a salary cap. Two-thirds of the clubs have no real expectations of winning one of the big trophies and success for them is being just behind the rich kids of the league.

Canberra, with a regional population of about 350,000, will always battle to attract big name players because of location, climate, a tight budget and other reasons. They have done extremely well to have finished in the finals six times in the past 10 seasons although they have not reached a grand final.

Then we have Newcastle which has a big, parochial regional market that any club should kill for. But they finished last year with a $1.3million deficit even after Wests Leagues Club was supposed to come in with the magic wand and mining giant Coal and Allied came to their rescue with a big sponsorship when the club was under threat of closing the doors.

In contrast Manly went from the wolves' door to be flush enough to attract some quality players thanks to private ownership. This week they snared Chris Bailey from the Knights with a big offer and paid double what the Eels could manage for under-20s backrower Tony Williams who hasn't played first grade yet (he'll get what many established first graders would earn).

The point here is, again, it's how you decide to spend the restricted money that decides, to a great degree, your performance - although injury, due to the spreading of talent under the cap, has a bigger influence than ever before.

Cronulla has never been one of the more liquid clubs and has learned to live on a shoestring. Yet it could have spent its restricted income more wisely than having to pay out the contracts of two coaches, as have Souths in recent years.

The Sharks also threw $400,000 at prop Ben Ross, which many have claimed was a doubtful valuation, and have been looking for an opportunity to off-load him since as they have with Brett Kimmorley (and Josh Hannay before that).

Many clubs have paid overs for players, only to find they haven't measured up, and then supplemented their contracts at other clubs to off-load them.

Penrith, the Bulldogs and Parramatta were once the big spenders of the league who could always rely on a hefty leagues club hand-out. All of a sudden poker machine tax and other influences that have cut their leagues club income have brought them back to the field.

Wests Tigers are apparently very frugal and have been forced to make the most of a tight budget, rarely paying overs on the market.

Meanwhile, the Roosters seem to have the money to throw at the best available players, so it's no surprise they are continually in the finals - cap or no cap.

Then there is Brisbane, running on a budget of something like $22m compared to the NSW's clubs $12-$15m - with a city of two million to itself the best stadium and the best set-up - and News Limited backing as a bonus.

Melbourne might lack the junior nursery and natural league loving market but has News to cover any shortfall plus a great coach and development structure that has tremendous resources and the ability to bring talent through and maximise their potential. And a new stadium will be a great asset.

We'll always have the haves and have nots, especially while there are too many teams in Sydney. Someone has to take the opportunity to grab the $10milion on offer and go to the central coast to break the clutter - but only as a genuine resident of the area and not as a rent-a-crowd and rent-a-stadium tenant as the Northern Eagles were perceived to be.

People talk about going back to Perth or Adelaide but I'm a believer in maximising your strong regions first, and that is why the Gold Coast Titans have worked, and the central coast could.

But no matter where you play the game, one thing won't change: how you spend cash is nearly as important as how much you have.
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Souce: The Australian.

I have to totally agree with Hagan. I wished people stop complaining about the cap - it's part of the game. That's why being a good coach is not only about the right tactics, but also about knowing what to buy with the money you have to maximise your team.

And as I said before, that's why I believe Smith is one of the best coaches.
 
We dropped the ball on Gaz
By Michael Hagan

TWO of rugby league's greatest threats were certainly in the headlines this week - AFL's aggressive move into western Sydney and the departure of another international player to Europe in Mark Gasnier.

My observation is that we are not sitting on our hands over one - the AFL threat - but I think we are to an extent in the other.

Firstly, the battle for the codes in Sydney's west. I understand that the newly formed Western Sydney Rugby League Academy will be based at CUA Stadium in Penrith from next year, currently based at Homebush.

I'd guess that western Sydney - which takes in the Parramatta, Penrith and Wests Tigers (based around Campbelltown-Liverpool) junior league areas --produces more NRL players than any area in Australia.

That's obvious in the amount that come through into those clubs' first grade sides and how many are playing elsewhere around the NRL, like the Warriors' Wade McKinnon (St Clair junior), Brisbane's Joel Clinton (Riverstone) and Peter Wallace (St Marys), Cronulla's Paul Gallen (Wentworthville) and Ben Pomeroy (Cambridge Park), Bulldogs' Ben Roberts (Narellan) and Gold Coast's Brett Delaney (Lalor Park) and Mark Minichiello (Liverpool) to name a few.

Parramatta and Penrith have also won between them 10 of the past 15 Harold Matthews Cups (under-16s), so the strength is there in numbers and quality.

It's an area worth protecting and that is what the academy, a joint venture between the NSWRL and ARL Development (with funding from the state and federal governments), is aimed at doing with its relocation from Homebush and restructure.

It will concentrate on increasing participation in the region bounded by Picton to the Hawkesbury, and Auburn to Blackheath.

The staffing, including development officers, will be doubled in number; Pacific Island and indigenous programs expanded and the work with junior league enhanced, rather than concentrating solely on schools development.

The three NRL clubs that exist within this region, Wests Tigers, Parramatta and Penrith are also supportive of this initiative.

In just the past couple of weeks the Eels have run a school holiday gala day for juniors in which all the first grade squad were involved, attended by about 500 children. We had a fan day at Wentworthville with about 800 turning up and Eels players signing autographs for an hour.

We are regularly in the community helping such programs as Ronald McDonald House. I know all NRL clubs have similar programs.

Sure, the AFL will come in aggressively with more money than we could afford as they attempt to get some sort of reasonable foothold in the west of Sydney.

But don't think rugby league is not working hard in all areas to enhance and improve what we have - which is a very, very strong presence and development system which is not going to be easy to break.

I think we have good people and good systems to keep the AFL in check.

Now to Gasnier heading to French rugby union where he will join Craig Gower and Luke Rooney.

On top of that the NRL is losing Michael Crocker, Jason Ryles and Danny Buderus to the English Super League.

That comes after State of Origin players of recent years Matt King, Dane Carlaw, Casey McGuire, Chris Flannery, Shaun Berrigan and Adam Mogg have also departed to the UK. All bar Buderus signed up to leave before they were 29, so they are not always going for an easy pension.

It's no good sitting back and saying this is inevitable, we can't compete and we'll just replace them with exciting young players.

We must have a salary cap but if we continue to lose star quality at the top of the spectrum, only to replace them with rookies at the bottom, the cap will only bring the strength of the competition down and encourage mediocrity.

I believe the evenness of the competition, with too few exceptional players to break open a game, has created what many people regard as predictable football, a criticism aimed at my side and a point on which I concede - you have to play structured, high percentage football in your own half to compete these days.

It's OK bragging about an even competition, but not with a ball and chain around the financial capacity of star players and the performance capacities of our most successful teams. The more successful you are nowadays, the harder it is to keep your team together.

We should be safe in the comfort that the likes of Buderus, Gasnier, Darren Lockyer, Gower, Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Brett Stewart can be kept at the one club.

We have to introduce a system where one marquee player at each club is outside the salary cap, (and there are greater concessions for long serving players).

We'd have a likely list of exempt players like Gasnier, Thurston, Lockyer, Nathan Hindmarsh, Sonny Bill Williams, Inglis and Kurt Gidley - who would also be put into an elite category and thrust forward as marketing celebrities.

I just can't fathom how we can't let a John Singleton or Kerry Stokes or other high-profile businessmen come to the game, which is the best and highest profile league competition in the world, and grab the best talent for promotional and media work or endorsements, and fix the problem.

And any extra income those marquee players receive should also be outside the salary cap. It is a way of keeping at least 16 players of the very best players in the game, and giving encouragement for the emerging players to reach their level in time.

I know income from Origin has to fund developmental aspects of rugby league, but surely the game can get more creative with finding other income for those levels and more aggressively targeting government funding - then providing much higher payments directly to Origin players.

It just doesn't make sense to me how we can have a league that attracts the best television audience of any sport in Australia, produces the best players, is regarded as a higher standard than the English competition, yet we continually lose players to Europe.
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The Australian.

Thoughts on the marquee player idea?
 
Peter Wallace represent St Marys yo. :tongue:

I like the idea about marquee players, how would a player be judged to be 'marquee' though ?

I mean would the clubs decide or would the NRL decide a list and update it each year ?
 
each club should designate the player they want to be the 'marque' similar to how the NFL has franchised players who are exempt from the salary cap.
 
Jonno_Knights said:
each club should designate the player they want to be the 'marque' similar to how the NFL has franchised players who are exempt from the salary cap.
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except the franchise player in the NFL is only on a one year contract and i think it does take up cap room but its a leveled amount among all franchises, so for example if Melbourne put Inglis on their "Franchise player tag" and Newcastle put on Kurt, the both would take up exactly the same amount of cap room, lets chuck up a number and say 10K
 
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