In wartime, NRL must throw out the welcome mat for Gil

i did say throw out the welcome mat, i didnt say let him raid the fridge. now he has declined, its fair enough. who knows what goes on behind closed doors. the Daily Telegraph stirs, whispers are heard. He was just one candidate of many. The process goes on.

worth a thought tho, he may be even better now

i think so, def worth consideration

No Matt-S.He was at the Warriors some time ago,and hardly set tthe world on fire.

I think the main reason for Gilligan or anyone from the AFL for that matter is they are a beacon for what needs to be done.Ground rationalisation,a state of the art stadium.a fixture set and slanted towards the fan,Live footy on tele,revenue away from the broadcaster,expansion, grass roots programs,government handshakes and player renumeration.These tricky little scenarios have all been dealt with by the AFL and our game needs to do the same to be competitive.On top of that they are light years ahead in establishing there own production house and Media arm.We have to stop patting ourselves on the back and get on with the job of becoming what we all know we can.And a guy that has seen it all done before is surely worth his weight in gold.The idiots who run our game have had there chance now move aside and let the big boys play.

Tbe papers are talking about the Essendon CEO now and i think he would possibly be a good idea given his knowledge of league here & abroad. Worth consideration?

That is rubbish Ian.the club retains the retail land on a long term lease basis to the tenants,they own the football stadium and the land on which the licenced club is situated.The club secures income (rental) of at least $1m pa from the retail site.That is the first part of the development to take place. The developers secure the football grounds for juniors on which residential units are to be built. The Suns don't own their ground the Sharks do,lets get that straight.Meaning the club can rent it out to other sporting organisations during the summer,and receive the money. And having an outside development company,means the club has not an ounce of exposure to their problems and or financing. If per chance the company goes belly up,the club retains the lot and what has been developed to date.They can then get another organisation to develop.The club does not outlay one monetary bean. The ARLC wil be moving to a disequal funding model apparently,depending on need and essential the club has the management infrastructure in place in order to secure such funding.The ARLC under Grant has already mentioned the fact,and the Broncos I undestand have no objection. Why? Because the Storm owned by News are getting $5m extra pa as a special grant. The club received the $10m up front based on the developers securing profits on the first 316 units out of 600 to be built.Its a win win for the Sharks,and not as you typically try to portray it,time and time again.. Please you are comparing a one off match at Launceston with the Titans whose averages vary from 20,000 down to 9,000 this year.The NRL play a pre season in Hobart(non rl territory) and pack the ground,with 11,000 paying and up to 3,000 kids with freebies. Care to check the GC averages when they were going well and not involved in a development stuff up. And Cronulla unlike the Dogs will not be reliant on grants ,emanating from poker machine profits.

Whilst I agree with you as to Irvine not suitable to run the NRL,I completely disagree with your weird notion,he was hit in the bottom by a rainbow.It was he and the board of the club,that put wheels into motion to get the new development application up,and indeed deposited the 3A application to the DOP,before all applications went to local councils by law. if you knew how close the club came to extinction and was through the efforts of the board (including Irvine) that delayed the bank foreclosing and getting the application successfully through. I find your description of him completely unfair. The previous admin whilst well meaning got the club into the debt situation it was in,by crazy decisions on paying out coaches and a prveios D/A involving a hotel and seniors units to be developed by the club(with no such experience).The hotel would have been a loser for starters,and the seniors units would not have brought in annual revenue as the retail will do.

But mentioned time after time in Sydney for Sydney consumption .

Ok The Cattery Please advise the last time the NRL got 1bn dollar windfall.Although you did stae this time you would be 99% confident the NRL will not reach $1bn and 95% that they would not reach $900m.I rest my case. I suggest you dont try to make comparisons what anyone else might be doing,because you have no idea. 1st years syndrome for GWS and 2nd year for the Suns at prior year comparisons,before getting oneself into a lather. The Swans are coming first playing no2.they have had 30 years to get it right,and a SL war as a boost. People in Sydney are patient for a certain length of time,but when they see kids continually get beaten by a country mile,on a regular basis,patience wears thin.Dont take people for suckers,if a team can't beat a tin can,they will look for one who can. The ARLC has now a $1bn plus windfall with more to fill the coffers,so I guss there would be some unease out there.

come on oikee, you don't believe the 1.6million following - it's like when they say the Swans are the most followed team in Australia! The Storm are unique though - the have more followers outside their home city, yet would not be one of the top 10 teams in it - although the Giants may join them with that unenvious record.

Matt S Couldnt help myself Doesnt the NRL keep tabs on its biggest competitor the AFL. They would be derelict in their duty if they didnt and you are relying on a Waterboy anecdote as your evidence. Good grief...

Oikee Grant had nothing to do with cronulla project - if he was a genius then the Balmain Leagues Club development would go thru.. Matt- S Everyone else ignores you but in the interests of education. In the one paragraph you say 2 completely opposite statements (in fact in adjacent sentences). You say- "Again, disgusting insular Victorian mentality that allows the Storm to struggle for crowds." "people like Malthouse, Haffy etc, who have no pressure to follow the Storm, do. They are AFL sporting brains who see past the Thugby League lines, and their (sic) are many AFL stars who go to Storm games" Which is it?? Some are insular and some are open-minded... Speaking of open minds and sweeping statements - you say "QLD, NSW are great pluralistic sporting/football markets. AFL seems to struggle in that environment and needs huge financial incentives behind it."?? Last time I looked Melbourne had 10 AFL teams, 1 RU, 1 RL and 2 A-League teams. What about private school bias and the French Vichy government??? They havent had a run for a few days...

Australian Rules, the Storm were on Pay tv on Monday night mate. Monday night footy is a rugby league institution. No game all year delivers like this game. Yes yes, Lions Swans, one city teams. Mate if their was 20 thousand average to Lions games this year, i would be asking for my money back. Look, i counted a few dozen to each Lions games. Not alot, and nothing to write home about either, They probably got the good overseas students crowd. Very nice, very softcore. Bronx, mate come-on, a team on life support this year. No Lockyer, Petro on his last legs, not one superstar in the team, 35 thousand average. Come on mate, we are kicking the life outta Sydney, a city twice the size. Mate go by crowd passion, not numbers. Sitting doing the knitting does not count. ;) Come back with hardcore numbers, i am talking 50 thousand origin hoards, huge crowds all on the same page, i am talking world record wig wearers, like the Blatchey's Blues, Australias largest supporter group, This is hardcore son, not 15 thousand at a game on the coast. Come on. Living in a bubble is well and good, taking it on the road, now that is the new black.

AR, you do know the massive amount of advertising directed at Lions, Swans, & Suns? Compared to the Storm? Wait til the contra advertising kicks in for Storm etc. Again, disgusting insular Victorian mentality that allows the Storm to struggle for crowds. As mentioned, people like Malthouse, Haffy etc, who have no pressure to follow the Storm, do. They are AFL sporting brains who see past the Thugby League lines, and their are many AFL stars who go to Storm games. Again, in Melbourne know need to. Good indicator that the general public need to get over their sporting prejudices. Rugby league is a great product and gets that endorsement by other sports. Rugby league exists in places where their is great sporting diversity. The big clubs of Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, Warriington etc thrive in the shadows of Man U, Liverpool, Everton, for example. QLD, NSW are great pluralistic sporting/football markets. AFL seems to struggle in that environment and needs huge financial incentives behind it.

LOCAL FTA RATINGS FRI night Storm v Broncos - 18k in Melb (on Gem) SAT night Swans v Hawks - 85k in Syd (on 7Mate) GC v Carlton - 40k in Bris (on 7Mate) AV.HOME CROWDS for 2012 Giants - 11,238 Storm - 12,685 Suns - 13,645 Lions - 20,549 Swans - 24,981

Come on Clipper, the Storm get huge veiwers on Monday night footy, do a comparision to that game. Your being silly now. As for the Swans, mate just goes to show how embaressed Melbourne should be, calling themselves a sporting capital and the Storm, a major international team only get 13 thousand, Come on mate, nothing to brag about. You do realise the Storm have played 2 World club Challenge matches in England. ? I think their are start-up teams in England now called the Storm. Please mate, dont put the Storm and Suns in the same boat, its a non evwent. The Storm have a following of 1.6 million, i read it today with the new Crown Casino sponsership. Nobody gives a dogs bullocks about the Suns, maybe a few expats on the Goldie.

oikee - the big difference is the Suns are in the bottom two, in their second year, yet they still get way over double the viewers the Storm gets who are in the top two in their eighteenth year and are down 10% on attendances this year. Plus the Swans have the biggest average of any club in Sydney this year.

I never mentioned the Suns profit, but hey, i will play along with you. Look, it costs a fortune to keep a AFL club alive. So they made a profit this year, they run near last mate. 15 thousand, the coast is full of expats, they should be getting that amount. Perth drew 20 thousand to a league game, big deal. As for your other remark, Lancheston, i never knew they had a team, but i know a few turned up to a non NRL game, a trail match. And maybe you do some homework, the ongoing equity is 1 million a year roughly for Cronulla once built.

Oikee, You're displaying a Johnno-level contempt for the truth there. Suns made a profit last year, cored around their control of their ground - they have the management contract for Metricon, as opposed to renting it when they need it. This means when concerts or whatever are held there, the club gets the money. Brisbane Lions' accounting loss was due to building their leagues club. Quick guess - what had a better average crowd - Launceston in the AFL, or Gold Coast in rugby league ? The Cronulla development is controlled by an outside company - Cronulla essentially get $10m in debt wiped, but they dont get ongoing equity in the project. Penrith, Canberra, Cronulla (yes, even without the debt) have significantly lower non-grant income than Cantebury and Brisbane. Unless the NRL is willing to move to a disequal funding allocation model - and that would take an Independant Commission thats willing to stare down News Corp, who owns the Broncos - I cant see that changing.