Venomous bile. Simply an opinion piece, offering nothing but smart arsed language and old quotes.
What an evil being she is.
_______
http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/afl/roos-ripe-for-afl-takeover/2007/02/23/1171734022783.html
Roos ripe for AFL takeover
Caroline Wilson
February 24, 2007
If ever there was an obvious solution to a club that has lurched in recent years from crisis to catastrophe as have the poor identity-seeking Kangaroos, then it is for the AFL to step in and buy it.
The Roos are ripe for the takeover and, as brutal as it sounds, there seems no other solution for a team with so poor a public profile, so little support and such desperately crazy political issues.
In a farcical attempt to buy two million votes two days ago, the lighting billionaire Peter de Rauch turned up at a board meeting with a cheque for $27,000. That such a coup was even considered legally possible is beyond belief. Surely Bob Ansett did not envisage such a circus when he set up his A and B-class share structure.
My colleague Robert Walls has argued strongly for immediate relocation to the Gold Coast and the truth is that most senior Kangaroos, informed commentators and AFL heavies agree with him.
North Melbourne must retain at least 10 games in Melbourne, accept that a state-of-the-art Arden Street is a pipe-dream and set up a base in Queensland with the full backing and steering of the AFL.
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It is not enough for the commission to sit back and watch the club's problems continue to unfold.
Clearly the AFL chiefs are waiting for the result of next week's annual meeting and the end of the dreaded current share structure, but not every political problem will be solved by an election.
Should de Rauch and his team prove victorious, the AFL is unlikely to go into business with the North board. De Rauch was backing his fellow director and supporter Maurice Reilly for the chief executive's job last year, so more political turmoil is on the cards.
De Rauch has some staunch supporters and some powerful enemies.
Should chairman Graham Duff win, as he is favoured to do, he faces the prospect of a hostile and influential Ron Joseph alongside him.
Duff has indicated to friends in recent weeks that football behind the glass was so much tougher than he expected and you have to wonder whether he has the experience to tackle the sensitive job of relocation.
Not only do the Kangaroos boast a hopelessly low profile and poor market brand, their problems are damaging the AFL brand just as Carlton's have done.
It is also not enough to send in help as the competition's governing body has done with an annual grant of $1.4 million and now financial hope with the Carrara move.
Look at Carlton. The AFL lent the club money and sent in its favoured consultant-turned-AFL executive Jim Watts, along with commissioner-turned-AFL chairman-elect Mike Fitzpatrick and nothing really changed.
Certainly North's debts (about $2 million) are fractional compared with Carlton's and its on-field performances more impressive in recent years but Carlton's image and supporter base had not been totally damaged by the club's dreadful on and off-field performance.
New chairman ******** Pratt, who has pledged money along with a managerial makeover, at least offers hope.
The Kangaroos are desperately short on hope and even the club's most senior people believe the AFL is its only saviour now.
A share buy-out could be tricky. Under the present share structure, such a move would cost the competition $5 million but the commission is famous for keeping its hand in its
pocket and probably has a more economic plan.
The Age revealed last December that Andrew Demetriou had attended a Kangaroos board meeting and discussed a possible share purchase.
Rejecting comparisons with the South Melbourne of the 1980s, Demetriou said then: "We did discuss the possibility of buying shares at a board meeting. There were some shareholders who were asking whether we'd be interested in purchasing their shares and we said we'd look at it.
"This is a club that the AFL has completely supported with football money and continued to support.
"There is no sinister plot here but when we put money into a football club, we expect to have a say in its direction.
"It is the same as any investment. We put $1.4 million a year into North along with a lot of money into Carrara and the Gold Coast. It's a pretty serious investment and it's football money, as I say.
"The other 15 clubs would be disappointed if we didn't and they are well within their rights.
"Having said that, we are still a major shareholder in the Sydney Swans but we have never attempted to influence what they do."
The Broncos are the reigning premiers, the Gold Coast Titans are proving a publicity machine and A-League soccer is on the rise around Australia. The Brisbane Lions have money in the bank but look likely to lose money again this year and the competition up north is growing fiercer by the minute.
It would be untenable for the AFL to relocate — even partly — another team to Queensland without throwing every possible resource behind it including an administration in which it has total faith.
Channel Ten and pay television have thrown their support behind the code in Brisbane and the Gold Coast and the competition is flush with cash.
The Kangaroos are ripe for the takeover. And the time for the AFL to act is now.
What an evil being she is.
_______
http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/afl/roos-ripe-for-afl-takeover/2007/02/23/1171734022783.html
Roos ripe for AFL takeover
Caroline Wilson
February 24, 2007
If ever there was an obvious solution to a club that has lurched in recent years from crisis to catastrophe as have the poor identity-seeking Kangaroos, then it is for the AFL to step in and buy it.
The Roos are ripe for the takeover and, as brutal as it sounds, there seems no other solution for a team with so poor a public profile, so little support and such desperately crazy political issues.
In a farcical attempt to buy two million votes two days ago, the lighting billionaire Peter de Rauch turned up at a board meeting with a cheque for $27,000. That such a coup was even considered legally possible is beyond belief. Surely Bob Ansett did not envisage such a circus when he set up his A and B-class share structure.
My colleague Robert Walls has argued strongly for immediate relocation to the Gold Coast and the truth is that most senior Kangaroos, informed commentators and AFL heavies agree with him.
North Melbourne must retain at least 10 games in Melbourne, accept that a state-of-the-art Arden Street is a pipe-dream and set up a base in Queensland with the full backing and steering of the AFL.
advertisement
advertisement
It is not enough for the commission to sit back and watch the club's problems continue to unfold.
Clearly the AFL chiefs are waiting for the result of next week's annual meeting and the end of the dreaded current share structure, but not every political problem will be solved by an election.
Should de Rauch and his team prove victorious, the AFL is unlikely to go into business with the North board. De Rauch was backing his fellow director and supporter Maurice Reilly for the chief executive's job last year, so more political turmoil is on the cards.
De Rauch has some staunch supporters and some powerful enemies.
Should chairman Graham Duff win, as he is favoured to do, he faces the prospect of a hostile and influential Ron Joseph alongside him.
Duff has indicated to friends in recent weeks that football behind the glass was so much tougher than he expected and you have to wonder whether he has the experience to tackle the sensitive job of relocation.
Not only do the Kangaroos boast a hopelessly low profile and poor market brand, their problems are damaging the AFL brand just as Carlton's have done.
It is also not enough to send in help as the competition's governing body has done with an annual grant of $1.4 million and now financial hope with the Carrara move.
Look at Carlton. The AFL lent the club money and sent in its favoured consultant-turned-AFL executive Jim Watts, along with commissioner-turned-AFL chairman-elect Mike Fitzpatrick and nothing really changed.
Certainly North's debts (about $2 million) are fractional compared with Carlton's and its on-field performances more impressive in recent years but Carlton's image and supporter base had not been totally damaged by the club's dreadful on and off-field performance.
New chairman ******** Pratt, who has pledged money along with a managerial makeover, at least offers hope.
The Kangaroos are desperately short on hope and even the club's most senior people believe the AFL is its only saviour now.
A share buy-out could be tricky. Under the present share structure, such a move would cost the competition $5 million but the commission is famous for keeping its hand in its
pocket and probably has a more economic plan.
The Age revealed last December that Andrew Demetriou had attended a Kangaroos board meeting and discussed a possible share purchase.
Rejecting comparisons with the South Melbourne of the 1980s, Demetriou said then: "We did discuss the possibility of buying shares at a board meeting. There were some shareholders who were asking whether we'd be interested in purchasing their shares and we said we'd look at it.
"This is a club that the AFL has completely supported with football money and continued to support.
"There is no sinister plot here but when we put money into a football club, we expect to have a say in its direction.
"It is the same as any investment. We put $1.4 million a year into North along with a lot of money into Carrara and the Gold Coast. It's a pretty serious investment and it's football money, as I say.
"The other 15 clubs would be disappointed if we didn't and they are well within their rights.
"Having said that, we are still a major shareholder in the Sydney Swans but we have never attempted to influence what they do."
The Broncos are the reigning premiers, the Gold Coast Titans are proving a publicity machine and A-League soccer is on the rise around Australia. The Brisbane Lions have money in the bank but look likely to lose money again this year and the competition up north is growing fiercer by the minute.
It would be untenable for the AFL to relocate — even partly — another team to Queensland without throwing every possible resource behind it including an administration in which it has total faith.
Channel Ten and pay television have thrown their support behind the code in Brisbane and the Gold Coast and the competition is flush with cash.
The Kangaroos are ripe for the takeover. And the time for the AFL to act is now.
