Talking Footy

Nathan Tinkler faces further concern over his ownership of Newcastle Knights. Source: News Limited
NEWCASTLE Knights owner Nathan Tinkler and his Hunter Sports Group is under fire from the NRL following revelations at least 20 of the clubs’ players and staff have not been paid this month.

It’s understood the payments were due to be deposited in bank accounts on Thursday but by close of business on Friday, no money had changed hands.

In a statement, the NRL said it would take whatever action is necessary to protect the players and staff of the Newcastle Knights after being made aware of the situation.


Nathan Tinkler is currently dealing with an ICAC inquiry into allegations on political payments. Source: News Corp Australia

“The NRL will take whatever action is necessary to protect the Knights, the game and, most importantly, the players and staff as a result of these actions,” NRL CEO Dave Smith said.

NRL Head of Club Services Tony Crawford said: “The actions of the Tinkler-controlled Knights towards players and staff are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“The NRL has demanded that the situation is rectified immediately because there is no place in our game for this kind of behaviour.

“The NRL will be assessing all options to bring this to a resolution in the interests of the Knights, staff, our fans and the broader Rugby League community.”

The NRL said it would not speculate on what those options might include.

BRANDY'S BREAKDOWN: DARIUS BOYD MISFIRING FOR KNIGHTS

It is not the first time the club has come under fire for not making their monthly payments on time.

It is also understood some players and staff are in arrears for superannuation as well.

The future of Tinkler as owner of the Knights has been under question for more than two months after he missed a deadline to have a $10.52 million bank guarantee in place, which meant he defaulted on the terms and conditions of his privatisation contract.

The NRL has been in secret negotiations with Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group and the Knights Members Club in a bid to resolve the ownership wrangle.

Knights CEO Matt Gidley could not be reached for comment.

it will be interesting to see what the NRL does, as david smith been quoted before he would consider, having the NRL owning the licence to some of the clubs similar to what the AFL does, wanting to slowly go away from private ownership of the clubs

It's disappointing for Newcastle fans that it has gone this far. I suspect that Tinkler is putting all his finances into legal bills to deal with the ICAC. Not a responsible thing to do I have to say.

Cracker wrote:

It's disappointing for Newcastle fans that it has gone this far. I suspect that Tinkler is putting all his finances into legal bills to deal with the ICAC. Not a responsible thing to do I have to say.

I doubt it he just bought another mine for a 150 mil

Rabbit wrote:

Cracker wrote:

It's disappointing for Newcastle fans that it has gone this far. I suspect that Tinkler is putting all his finances into legal bills to deal with the ICAC. Not a responsible thing to do I have to say.

I doubt it he just bought another mine for a 150 mil

no he didnt.
he is broke and owing a lot of money to investers and has the liquidator’s after him


the coal mining industry is pretty much dead at the moment any way & will be for the next few years at least

I shall add to that by saying that for Tinkler, $150 million isn't much in an industry worth billions.

old rabbit is telling stories again
150 million wouldn't even pay for the machinery at the mine,

Mining magnate Nathan Tinkler is making another sortie into coal, purchasing Peabody Energy's Wilkie Creek mine in Queensland for $150 million, The Australian has reported.

The purchase comes less than a year after Mr Tinkler was forced to sell his stake in Whitehaven Coal for about half the price it was worth when he obtained it in 2011 after the company's merger with Aston Resources.

Mr Tinkler, who formerly topped the BRW Young Rich List, became embroiled in a stoush with creditors after increasing his debts and failing to make repayments. He was then forced to sell his stake in Whitehaven to make the repayments.

Mr Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group still owns NRL team the Newcastle Knights, but is likely to face a battle with members for the club after defaulting in March on his commitment to have a $10.52 million bank guarantee in place.

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The deal for Wilkie Creek will be funded through equity from Mr Tinkler and the support of Leucadia and Jefferies, as US-based investment and private equity firm, Mr Tinkler told The Australian .

The mine was closed last year following Peabody blaming the carbon tax, falling coal prices and increased costs of doing business as reasons for the shut down. Peabody hired UBS in 2012 to sell Wilkie Creek for around $500 million, but was unable to find a buyer.

"I looked at it 18 months ago ... at the time people in the market were saying they were looking for up to $600m and we probably weren't that far away from that number then," Mr Tinkler told The Australian.

Mr Tinkler said he would like to have the mine back into production by the end of the year, but has no intention of listing on the Australian stock market in the near-term.




Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-a ... z31xeBZOMc

Whats that dickhead?

leagueiscrap wrote:

old rabbit is telling stories again
150 million wouldn't even pay for the machinery at the mine,

Rabbit just showed how clueless you are.

He is a deadset dropkick has no idea

To be more realistic, that was a fine response to an insinuated claim challenge, Rabbit. Well done. It's much easier to buy a closed mine than an open one.

Piss funny, delete this too, I have all night. I will be working till 2-3am

Explain what is wrong with Rabbit's posting.

Cracker wrote:

Explain what is wrong with Rabbit's posting.

What the f are you on about, you have deleted heaps of my updates tonight and now nothing makes sense as you f'd it up. I mentioned nothing about Rabbits postings. How many sherbets have you had tonight

I only deleted your attacks on the moderator, and nothing else. Your comment in response to my congratulations to Rabbit was after the deletions were made, so the only way it could make sense is you don't agree with my congratulations. So are you able to answer the question?