Talking Footy

Phil Gould put the NRL bosses in his sights and did not hold back
Rugby league great Phil Gould has torn shreds through the NRL bosses over their handling of expansion clubs and their lack of planning.

ugby league great Phil Gould taken NRL bosses to task over reports one club could be shifted into Brisbane.

Cronulla, Manly and the Gold Coast are reportedly at risk of being axed from the NRL as the Nine Network pushes for a new Brisbane rugby league team.

The reports of the attempted relocation strategy didn’t sit well with Gould who ripped into the league bosses over their lack of forward planning when compared to that of the AFL.

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“The first thing I’ll say is that every time this subject comes up, people comment on about 10-seconds thought about what could be possible,” Gould said on Channel 9’s 100% Footy.

“There is no one that has actually done research or gone into any market viability or looked at the financial structures of individual clubs or what it costs to run an NRL franchise.

“I said to (former NRL CEO) David Gallop 15 years ago ‘What’s the game look like in 15 years?’. You just get a blank expression. I’ve said it to (Gallop’s successor) David Smith, I’ve said it to (former ARL Commission Chairman) John Grant, I’ve said it to (current NRL CEO) Todd Greenberg. I don’t think they’ve done any work on this whatsoever.

When GWS were coming into Sydney the AFL had done two decades of research on the demographic of Sydney on the financial viability of this organisation, on what the game and what Sydney was going to look like in that time.

“And I can remember them going to ANZ Stadium, looking at the future of ANZ Stadium and the bookings and those sorts of things. The ANZ Stadium boss said to me they knew more about rugby league than rugby league knew about itself.

“It had done more research on rugby league and these demographics than rugby league had ever done … they’ve had a cradle to the grave type of mentality with this, they’ve had a really long-term strategy.

“With us, we (the NRL) put (expansion clubs) somewhere where they don’t go any good and we say ‘Oh well that was a mistake’.

“I just don’t know if the NRL over the last 10 or 15 years has done enough work to plan where it should go, or what it’s going to look like when it gets there … not just for the short term but for the long term as well.”

Gould acknowledged that while relocation may not be the key, he did detail a radical plan for the league.

“I think we’re still a long, long way away from making this decision,” Gould said. “But personally I’ve always believed the future of the game was a two conference system. That there needs to be nine teams in Sydney and nine teams outside of Sydney.

“Play it as a regional competition in two-conferences and then perhaps you’ve got your Sydney grand final, your regional grand final and you meet for a super grand final at the end of the year.

Gus took aim at the NRL and detailed his plan for the future.
Gus took aim at the NRL and detailed his plan for the future.Source:Getty Images

“If you’re going to relocate, I don’t think the new area will accept a team that has been relocated. I don’t believe in relocation. I think you’ve got to start a new franchise that is their own. And if you do that then you’ve got to have more teams in the competition.

“Given the history in our game I don’t think it can afford to lose a current club. I think it’s the traditional club brands in Sydney that makes the regional clubs more viable.”

The former Penrith Panthers General Manager wasn’t done there as he went back in on the league over their handling of clubs and not setting them up for future success.

“The fact is that the majority of our clubs trade in a position of insolvency anyway,” he said. “Most of them lose money, many of them are supported by either private owners or by poker-machine income from licensed clubs, who’s days are numbered.

“Having been in clubland I know how much it costs to run a club. Not just for one or two years, it’s got to be ongoing. There is no financial incentive.

“Not enough work has been done by the rugby league to help these new and expanding franchises. They’ve done nothing to help the Gold Coast. It’s a basket case and it shouldn’t be … they’re burning their money because they haven’t got it right from the start.

“They need to get it right from this day and they’re not going to get it right, you can see what they’ve done already.

“They’re going to keep burning money there until people say ‘nothing works on the Gold Coast’ … something’s got to work. The Gold Coast can work. They’ve just put the wrong people there the whole time.”
https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/phil- ... 4926569f2c

Yes watched this live. Basically he was saying in a nutshell AFL professional ... NRL ammature hour.

this thread need some invaluable input from those philanthropist TF league fans

Lol one mans opinion .
One man who has had an agenda & he's not shy of saying it on ch 9 weekly .

No evidence of insolvency .
Just an opinion .
Lol

...

Fred wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:36 pm

Yes watched this live. Basically he was saying in a nutshell AFL professional ... NRL ammature hour.

what he was proposing is two competitions! What part of that don't you and your Metho swilling mate struggling with?
While many of your teams have to rely on millions of dollars in extra handouts outside of the grant each year? Some, like the Suns are in free fall and require more and more $ to keep there heads above water each year. All Rugby league clubs require zero funding from the head office outside of the central grant, evenly distributed to all clubs! Which competition sounds more amatuerish???????????????????????????????????????????????

But yeah, I guess Gus is entitled to have a swipe at the NRL after his fantastic efforts at Penrith over the past 6 or 7 years.

Okay - not sure what rant you are going on with here or why - but, Gould was referring to most RL clubs being or trading insolvent. Gould also expressed that from his experience that the NRL administration do not have a forward plan. Is is common for most businesses to have a strategic plan which includes where they would like to be in 1, 5, 10, 15 years - even longer and set tasks/outcomes to measure progress - which is reviewed each year. This is really basic business. Gould was expressing that from his experience, when he has asked NRL people in charge - that they do not have such a plan (which, personally, I find amazing for such an organisation) - this may reflect the criticism often made by RL folk I sometimes read that the NRL Administration is not future focused and too risk adverse (usually around expansion) which I would have to agree with. He also compared the 20 years of work and research the AFL did in setting up the Giants to that of the NRL plans. Now in expressing those opinions, I take from that that he is really saying the NRL are unprofessional (amatures) and comparing this to the AFL process which he holds up as a standard. So have a go at Gould. Crapper is right for once, it is one mans opinion (I have no idea if he has an agenda). As an aside, the conference thing I have never been a fan of - they talk about it an AFL too. But that was a separate issue.

Also, there wasn't too much push back from the panel on what Gould was saying. So what is the NRLs strategic plan - or is it policy on the run? Is there a copy? I also noted the discussion on a lack of talent/depth to extra team/s.

So to reiterate, my taking on what Gould said - NRL administration are not up to the job - and illustrated this by comparing it to the AFL. Whether he is right or not I don't know. If they do not have a 15 year plan as he says - he may well be.

AFLcrap1 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:23 pm

Lol one mans opinion .
One man who has had an agenda & he's not shy of saying it on ch 9 weekly .

No evidence of insolvency .
Just an opinion .
Lol

...

“The fact is that the majority of our clubs trade in a position of insolvency anyway,” he said. “Most of them lose money, many of them are supported by either private owners or by poker-machine income from licensed clubs, who’s days are numbered.

“Having been in clubland I know how much it costs to run a club. Not just for one or two years, it’s got to be ongoing. There is no financial incentive.


maybe look at some of the nrlol clubs finances and running costs!

https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/thre ... ub.474712/

several nrlol clubs financials stacked up against make GWS and GCS looklike the west coast eagles and collingwoods of the football world!

parramatta eels rl club has made a loss of 26 million over 3 years

No proof of trading insolvent .
If so please provide
Thanks

Yes, what is Gould’s definition of insolvent ?

crapper has nfi as usual!

afl club looses money he mocks it & club is in great financial trouble
nrlol club looses money its totaly fine, somehow its totaly fin for the owners just to continue to throw millions down the drain or leagues clubs to just continue to throw poke money at the club!

the parramatta eels the NRLOL club has made a 26 million dollar loss over three years with the leagues club making up the short full! those sort of figures are beyond what any afl club is doing even taking in the much higher running costs of an afl club compared to an nrlol club
how much longer will an owner do that!
gould also stated the poker ownership and money days are numbered

but everything is perfectly fine on looney league land

Why do you post utter shit .
All I said was show where they're trading insolvent .
You go into a big rant about crap I never said .

I'll,ask once again .
Where is the proof they're trading insolvent .
Now concentrate ..
That's the only question .
So answer it without deflecting .

Yep!
As I said has nfi at all!

Bhaaaa . So that's a no .
At least you're consistent with your inability to back anything up with a source .

Like shooting fish in a barrel .

lol
your the one trying to argue against Phill goulds claim!
you do know Phil has run clubs before and would have great insight and info on the running of the nrlol clubs!

compared to a tinfoil had loon of a RL fan in you who seems to argue differently

So that's a no for the second time
No proof of trading insolvent .
Keep up the good workVI