2017 For NRL boss David Smith, not so beautiful numbers
Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 12:58 am
THE knock on the heavy mahogany door is barely audible. The man behind a desk the size of a banquet table tugs at the double cuffs on his Armani shirt which smoothly undercoats his Armani suit.
Come in, he says, come in. His voice is neither loud nor soft. Not quite welcoming but enough to put the man who had just made so little impact on the mahogany a bit more at ease. His mood changes from petrified to terrified.
The door is pushed open and the Armani suit rises from his chair and proffers his hand forcefully but without the thuggery of a Mark Latham handshake. The bones will eventually heal.
We have been expecting you, Mr Smith. It is Mr Smith, isn’t it? That’s what it said in the paper this morning but you can’t be too sure. And it’s David, too? Correct? Do you mind if I call you David? Dave sounds a little undignified for the chief executive of the NRL. We don’t go hearing about Drewy Demetriou or Davy Gallop do we?
You are not the first person to come here David, though that should be of little comfort. The first was a man from some sort of baseball association. Then, of course, we had a Mr Malcolm Speed. A basketball man. At least he kicked on even if the sport didn’t. We have made an appointment with the Sochi team management as well.
I’ll be frank with you David. The reason you are here at Reality House today is because you made a right git of yourself on Monday.
Look, here at RH we like ambition and optimism. A bit of get up and go. Ticker, spirit. Guts is an ugly word but you get the picture.
Nonetheless can I take you to The Australian newspaper and in particular some of your comments? This is where it gets a bit sticky for you, old chap.
Take this bit: “Rugby league is poised in a way it’s never been poised before and the progress and momentum we’re creating will make this game stronger and healthier than it’s ever been before. Wind the clock forward five years and we’ll be the biggest sporting community in Australia.” Before we talk about those observations David, you would tell us if you were on medication wouldn’t you? Prone to mood swings? We know you are not because you have done a very good job since taking over the NRL but David, David, David what were you thinking? You were thinking weren’t you?
The NRL has one team in Victoria and none in South Australia or Western Australia. And from that base you will be the biggest sporting community in Australia? Dear God, David.
And then what about this? By 2017 you will double club membership from its current number of 228,000 to 400,000. Now, David, this little thing is called a calculator. You need to get the hang of it quickly. Last year, that’s last year, David the AFL club membership was 756,717. Do you understand what that means?
Or what about this: increasing average crowds from 13,000 to 20,000 by 2017. The AFL’s average crowd last year? 32,163. Or this: increasing participation rates from 555,000 to 700,000. David, the AFL’s participation rate last year was 938,069.
And did you have to talk about social media? Really, David, social media? You want to increase the spread in 2017 to 5.8 million. Last year the AFL had 69.7 million unique visits.
There is one saving grace David. You talked finances, you talked profit, you talked bottom line. The AFL will not release their figures for another week so you have been saved more embarrassment at least for seven days or so.
But David, if we analyse all these figures your forecasts and the AFL reality — you are actually saying by 2017 you’ll only be about half as big as the AFL is now. That is not going to get you the bragging rights as the biggest sporting community in the country. On your own figures, by 2017 you won’t even be big in West Wyalong.
So on your way David, but remember our motto here at Reality House. To get ahead of yourself is the surest way to fall behind.
reality is sweet for AFL fans
Come in, he says, come in. His voice is neither loud nor soft. Not quite welcoming but enough to put the man who had just made so little impact on the mahogany a bit more at ease. His mood changes from petrified to terrified.
The door is pushed open and the Armani suit rises from his chair and proffers his hand forcefully but without the thuggery of a Mark Latham handshake. The bones will eventually heal.
We have been expecting you, Mr Smith. It is Mr Smith, isn’t it? That’s what it said in the paper this morning but you can’t be too sure. And it’s David, too? Correct? Do you mind if I call you David? Dave sounds a little undignified for the chief executive of the NRL. We don’t go hearing about Drewy Demetriou or Davy Gallop do we?
You are not the first person to come here David, though that should be of little comfort. The first was a man from some sort of baseball association. Then, of course, we had a Mr Malcolm Speed. A basketball man. At least he kicked on even if the sport didn’t. We have made an appointment with the Sochi team management as well.
I’ll be frank with you David. The reason you are here at Reality House today is because you made a right git of yourself on Monday.
Look, here at RH we like ambition and optimism. A bit of get up and go. Ticker, spirit. Guts is an ugly word but you get the picture.
Nonetheless can I take you to The Australian newspaper and in particular some of your comments? This is where it gets a bit sticky for you, old chap.
Take this bit: “Rugby league is poised in a way it’s never been poised before and the progress and momentum we’re creating will make this game stronger and healthier than it’s ever been before. Wind the clock forward five years and we’ll be the biggest sporting community in Australia.” Before we talk about those observations David, you would tell us if you were on medication wouldn’t you? Prone to mood swings? We know you are not because you have done a very good job since taking over the NRL but David, David, David what were you thinking? You were thinking weren’t you?
The NRL has one team in Victoria and none in South Australia or Western Australia. And from that base you will be the biggest sporting community in Australia? Dear God, David.
And then what about this? By 2017 you will double club membership from its current number of 228,000 to 400,000. Now, David, this little thing is called a calculator. You need to get the hang of it quickly. Last year, that’s last year, David the AFL club membership was 756,717. Do you understand what that means?
Or what about this: increasing average crowds from 13,000 to 20,000 by 2017. The AFL’s average crowd last year? 32,163. Or this: increasing participation rates from 555,000 to 700,000. David, the AFL’s participation rate last year was 938,069.
And did you have to talk about social media? Really, David, social media? You want to increase the spread in 2017 to 5.8 million. Last year the AFL had 69.7 million unique visits.
There is one saving grace David. You talked finances, you talked profit, you talked bottom line. The AFL will not release their figures for another week so you have been saved more embarrassment at least for seven days or so.
But David, if we analyse all these figures your forecasts and the AFL reality — you are actually saying by 2017 you’ll only be about half as big as the AFL is now. That is not going to get you the bragging rights as the biggest sporting community in the country. On your own figures, by 2017 you won’t even be big in West Wyalong.
So on your way David, but remember our motto here at Reality House. To get ahead of yourself is the surest way to fall behind.
reality is sweet for AFL fans
>
