Michael Searle must resign to save Titans

23 million dollars. Wow, when they have just signed a 1.2billion TV deal and started up a new club and another team in it's second year. And remember the Suns had a profit in 2011 to. I, personally, think the AFL is going all right. Now, the Titans in a 35 million dollar debt. The NRL is a trainwreck waiting to happen.

Would appear from yesterdays news that Titans are in more trouble than let on - apparently massive debt in the football department and alledgedly some cooked books.

Firstly, is that a 2008 article?? Can someone get some more up to date figures?? Secondly, on those figures alone, that's pretty good for so called RL heartland wouldn;t you think - roughly just under half - maybe 40% of RL numbers? Thirdly, The AFL do not control how many clubs are set up - it is up to locals to fgorm the club- the AFL may provide asstance to get going - but no club would survive without the volunteers and parents who put the hours in. And you have to have the kids to play too. The Sharks have 2 under 10 teams - for second year running (2 under 9's last year). There are some clubs that have strong numbers and some that struggle a bit - such as the newer ones. I imagine the two new clubs this year, Buedessert and Mt Tamborine will struggle in their first year - but hopefully grow. And just to update you - on my drive to work I see no Titans or Suns badges on cars or flags or anything. And there were heaps on the road that time of morning. I did see a Man U sticker though that made me laugh and I did hear an Advertisment for Grand Motors Toyota and at the end said - "proud sponsor of the Gold Coast Suns" - having just brought a car there I know the boss is a mad Suns fan. So to have nearly 2000 juniors in 2008 would suggest some supporter base and that people are interested in AFL on the Gold Coast. God only knows what the numbers are now.

Good comment.

How revealing! "The 4485 registered junior rugby league players on the Gold Coast play out of 14 local clubs between the under-6s to under-17s. The 1936 registered junior Aussie rules players on the Gold Coast play out of 11 local clubs between the under-8s to under-16s." If the Aussie rules organisation on the Gold Coast spread1,936 juniors across 11 clubs -- while 4,485 rugby league juniors are packed into 14 clubs -- then questions must be asked about the other organisations around Queensland and NSW. I wouldn't be surprised if the AFLQ is doing the same in all areas to make it seem like their game is more popular than it really is. Aussie rules fans always compare the amount of junior rugby league clubs with junior Aussie rules clubs. I guess we now know why.

"In what is an interesting insight into the true health of each code throughout the district, The Gold Coast Bulletin can reveal rugby league currently has 4485 registered junior players in weekly club competitions compared to 1936 for Australian rules." http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/07/26/14200_gold-coast-sport.html

Well I drive through it several times a day (not through it once or twice a month) and can tell you there are plenty of Suns stickers on cars - and there are heaprs of support for the Titans also - no doubting that. I guess it may be what you look for or notice - what your orientation is maybe - but to say the Suns have no interest on the coast is purelyt wrong - simple as that. I also have never seen a Titans flag flying from a house or car - although I am sure there are plenty who do - this does not mean there is no support for the titans as is your logic re: the suns. I will count on my way to work today - a 7 minute drive to southport - how many Suns and Titans stickers I see - but again, I rteally do not think it is an indication of support. Ands not all Suns are Expat Victorians, South Austrlalians or Tasmanians although there are likely plenty. Even if it was - what does that matter - they live here now - they bring their kids - there IS a strong junior comp and that is growing (my son has two under 10 teams - there is even a new Junior team starting in Beaudessert this year - which is amazing, and another in Mount Tamborine re-starting). The get good crowds, they have high participation at local level, and definetely have interest - so your statement just is simply wrong that they do not.

I've lived in south-east Queensland all of my life. It's not as if I've never been to the Gold Coast. I drive through the suburbs every few months. It's a big city -- it's classified as a city, not a town -- and it is diverse enough to have affluent suburbs that prefer rugby union and Aussie rules, but in most suburbs the sport of choice is rugby league. I see plenty of people driving around the Gold Coast suburbs with Titans' numberplates and flags hanging from their doors. I don't see too many Suns flags and numberplates. I recall heading down to the Gold Coast on four occasions in 2011 for TAFE. On each occasion I saw people wearing Gold Coast Titans merchandise and Foxtel advertisements that used the Titans to lure in customers. I've kept an eye on the Gold Coast-based sporting teams that play in the statewide competition since the mid-1990's.I can honestly say that the Burleigh Bears are infinitely bigger than any of the Gold Coast-based Aussie rules clubs that play in the QAFL/NEAFL. The Burleigh Bears regularly draw a upwards of one thousand to two thousand spectators to their home games. The junior rugby league base on the Gold Coast dwarfs the junior Aussie rules base. I don't have the figures on hand, but I can honestly say that rugby league dwarfs junior Aussie rules on the Gold Coast. Of course there about 8,000 to 15,000 Aussie rules fans on the Gold Coast. Thousands of Victorians have settled there since the 90's. They are the core of the Suns' fanbase. But please don't mistake that as proof the game is making inroads in the area. If 30,000 hardcore rugby league fans from Queensland were to settle in Melbourne next week then the Storm's attendances would rise considerably, but it wouldn't mean the sport has made sudden inroads among the locals.

The ARLC said it might look into closing the club and replacing it with a new team based on the Gold Coast, but ony if it's deemed that the current club cannot be restored back to its original health. I doubt the ARLC will do that considering the Titans' football department has been profitable. I read in one article that their football department made a profit of $1.5 million last year and is poised to make another $1 million profit this year. The problem is the Titans' property arm is causing them to lose more money than the football department is able to make. Selling off the Centre of Excellent will allow the Titans to pay off their debts and reap the rewards of their profitable football department.

In the "local" news today there was talk that the NRL may let it go under??? Any more on that?

I'm not saying the leauge is the main sport - but gold coasters follow a lot of sports - which is good but maybe the difficulty of having a team here. You said that 8,000 of the Lions supporter base were gone due to them being from the coast - well - 8000 as a base is pretty good- that is even before they had a team here in the AFL? You can't have it both ways. You think you know the coast without even living here - reading the daily news, watching the local news etc etc. No one is saying NRL is not big - but Union is big too here with a decent following. AFL also has a following - a decent one at that. I think the thing is that you probably get less of the "i'm NRL" or "I'm AFL"... people can and do like a number of sports - the AFL is not seen as a threat - but an enhancement to the city and its people - as it should be. Again, living here - yes I actually live in this town - not observe it from afar - I can tell you as fact that AFL does have a strong support base - as you point out with the 8,000 number you mentioned.

Michael Searle has complete and utter final say on everything at the club, except when he is told by a certain financial backer that the financial backer wants his nephew to be football manager - suddenly the old football manager is dismissed for improper conduct with a staff member (the same improper conduct that was done by both head coach(with a staff member) and ceo that now sees them both wifeless) The Gold Coast Titans are a joke if you want to be paid for anywork you do take payment up front or better still the Titans love paying with bartercard. The Titans will be gone by the end of this season

The Titans will not go under. Even if Searle is forced to resign, there will be plenty of people willing to save them.

Rugby league is the main sport on the Gold Coast by a country mile. Daylight is second. The participation rate for Aussie rules on the Gold Coast is well below rugby league. I know the Gold Coast area fairly well. I've lived in south-east Queensland all of my life. I've seen Brisbane, Logan, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast grow significantly over the last 25 years. But if you wish to believe the wishes of an ex-pat Victorian who has only been here a few years, then go ahead.

If titans go under will this impact on the TV deal with less games or will it faciltate a new team coming in - possibly expansion?

That's simply not true - I live here - and there are plenty following the Suns. There are also plenty of ex-pats like myself of my age- not retirees - who have brought their family with them. There is a strong juniour comp -and they will come through as adults. NRL is still the main sport in schools, or my son's school, although everyone plays soccer at lunch time? Suns get plenty of publicity and are broadcast on the local radio station when they play at home. There is certainly a lot of support - whether they be ex-pats or not is irrelevant - there are local kids playing too. Rugby Union is also strong here - so NRL competes with that too, as to does aFL - but being totally different.

Go Back to The AFL site, The AFL has just announced a 23 Million dollar loss, Yea theyre pulling everybodys pants down, The AFLs a a trainwreck waiting to happen.

Pretty arbitrary assessment, conclusion and prediction there, QGIRL.

It isn’t my theory it is yours. My “theory” is that as the key decision maker it was his decision to enter into a business not consistent with running a football club. Yours is that without the GFC he’d be fine which assumes that commercial property on the gold coast is only susceptible to one in 70 year economic super cycles (making it the most stable asset class in the world). My problem is that you are giving him credit for the entire increase in TV revenue without benchmarking it against anything else whilst absolving him of responsibility elsewhere. If you believe they are totally different then you disagree with Searle who has repeatedly said that the club’s legal team has engaged in efforts to claim compensation or defended against counter claims. If the club was completely separate it would have no grounds to enter into these claims. I get how a layman looks at it and says well the accountant said they are legally separate entities but this is why you a required to consolidated accounts that represent true commercial positions. By the extension of your rationale Woolworths doesn’t actually sell groceries because that is done by a separate legal entity to Woolworths Limited along with the other 100+ subsidiaries it has that are considered part of Woolworths by the world at large. This once again is right there in the annual reports you so helpfully pointed me towards earlier – typically it is one of the last notes to the financial statements.

No he was one of the architects arguably the architect of the iC. The IC in place is involved in the negotiations.When News Ltd was a 50% owner of the game,they played sill bs with themselves in negotiations. Your second line shows you have not bothered to read my comments.You got it wrong. The CofE was planned/ developed before the GFC,so that stuffs your theory. The footy club was not the property developer,the trust did the developing ,gee it;s hard to sink in. Its just like the last development application at cronulla,the leagues club was going to be the developer,the football club had zilch to do with it. If Searle had set up the football club as the developer,yes big problemo. If the dump is a long term dump and produces fruit,then I would have won the lottery.I doubt you would know a dumpp had landed on your door step,as you don't appear to notice.