I have had more than enough of George Piggins and his tiresome rants about South Sydney. Like the proverbial dog and bone, George keeps yapping away, flatly refusing to let go, let alone bury it.
This week’s revelation that Russell Crowe plans to sell his stake in the club set old George off again, creating more than a little panic among the South Sydney faithful.
Old “rent-a-quote” George again seized the chance to sink the boot into Crowe and the Rabbitoh regime with a preposterous suggestion the club might have to relocate to the Central Coast, or even Perth, to remain viable.
Errant nonsense, from where I sit. Souths are going nowhere.
Through hard work and sound business practices, the once-skint Souths have re-emerged as one of the more affluent clubs in the competition with a rock solid sponsor base, a burgeoning membership, a powerful playing roster and a modern home ground.
If Souths are vulnerable then heaven help the other clubs around the nation.
They say that Piggins acts and speaks from the heart and that he harbours an unshakeable ardour for the famous old club he played for, coached at and ruled as president.
Fair enough, but this is the ‘new and vastly improved’ South Sydney model which finished third in 2012 and pays its bills comfortably, even without assistance from the parent Leagues Club.
Success has returned to the inner city club thanks largely to the personal input and drive from Crowe and his mates. George saved the club once but then found he could not do it a second time.
I have never met or spoken to actor Crowe but I admire and appreciate the job that he and partner, Peter Holmes a Court, have done to turn the club around. It seems obvious they were the men Souths needed in a crisis.
And, over a six year period, they came through with flying (red and green) colours.
Sadly, Souths did not manage a premiership win in that time but the foundations have certainly been set for a golden run and I believe that winning the 2013 title is a distinct possibility.
When reporters contacted George Piggins for a reaction to the Russell Crowe news, I say he should have acknowledged the club’s exciting revival and congratulated Hollywood’s second most famous rabbit (since B Bunny).
Instead, Piggins kept the blinkers on and stumbled down the same old path which used to be lined with insistence but is now paved by ignorance.
turbodewd
Roar Guru
Piggins thinks HE is South Sydney. The nerve of the guy...he needs a dose of humility and a reality check.
rabbits72
Guest
godfrey and towards 21,have a look at the thread "a view from the top" wrote.do you get it?you two a like a pack of hyenas and vultures waiting for the meat to rot so you can tear it apart.the only reason you lot popped up again including GP is to try and affect souths membership drive with innuendoes and crap and put the fear into fans.everytime souths are in the spotlight you bring out the same crap and figures from 12 months ago and beyond.the only facts and figures that you bring up are the ones to suit your argument,which by the way is full of holes.and GP is not to be blamed for anything ?seriously?not even a man of your low intelligence believes that.both of you.
rabbits72
Guest
wow,nice comeback.and you even talk to yourself as a third person.fantastic.facts and figures?mate you wouldnt know them if you tripped over them.insults?have a look at your own threads.i should learn not to reply to crap but i get a laugh when people like you, after all this time are still tugging .i admire your perserverence.
Godfrey
Guest
As always, you can't argue the facts and figures. That's what I'm about. All you have is puerile insults. Every time you open your mouth, Godfrey wins again.
rabbits72
Guest
godfrey and towards21,wow,you guys are still breathing.fantastic.i missed you guys since your last contribution from earlier this year.it was irrelevant then as it is now.all you say is blah blah blah.no one cares for your opinion,i am going to make an assumption and assume that your IQ is higher then a room temperature in winter,so here goes and see if you understand.we all know that if GP was still in charge this club would not exist.you can make all the comparisons you want.anybody with any common sense would and does know otherwise except for people like you.keep up the good work TIM and SHANE and NICK.we are all proud of you
Godfrey
Guest
Tim - Piggins was never voted out of office. He stepped down from the football club in March 2003. That's 10 years ago. Where have you been?
Godfrey
Guest
Tim, your time in journalism passed a long time ago, too. Go gracefully, dude, instead of making a goat of yourself.
Godfrey
Guest
That's what experts like you said about John Singleton's involvement in Newtown in 1981. Where's the Bluebags now?
Godfrey
Guest
Tim, the Piggins reign ended in March 2003.You need to catch up a decade. The club isn't making money. It is losing it hand over fist. Read the club's financial reports. I have. The club has liabilities of $11 million and couldn't pay its loans last year. So they finished 3rd this year. Where did Newtown finish in 1981? 2nd? And where are they now? Journalism passed you by a long time ago, didn't it. That you label yourself an "expert" is the funniest thing I've read all year. Your attempt at wit fell flat. You made a dope of yourself. I gather than's not a new experience for you.
Godfrey
Guest
Tim. You should do your homework, dude. Mr Piggins was NEVER voted out of office. In fact, he stepped down as chairman of the football club in March 2003 and was replaced by Nick Pappas who has been there ever since. Shane Richardson joined the club in 2004. So, all the failure and misery you mention happened on the watch of Pappas and Richardson. It's 10 years since Mr Piggins was in office at the football club. Frankly, dude, you have to stop parading yourself around as an expert and just accept the fact that journalism passed you by a long, long time ago. Calling the bingo is more your go.
oikee
Guest
Hope the old dinosaur does not think he can walk in and run the damm thing into the ground again.. Carr is the last of the dinosaurs.
Tim Prentice
Expert
You call yourself towards 21 - but I reckon your twisted logic is the reverse of that. Are you a 12-year-old Roarer? If Crowe and Holmes a Court did not come into the picture, South Sydney - at best - would be battling Newtown, Wenty and the Windsor Wolves in the Metro Cup. Richardson and Pappas, in my opinion, have done a sterling job as administrators backing up the Russell Crowe team which provided and/or arranged the finances. They brought Souths more than 'towards 21'. They are a successful, viable franchise you should be proud to support. And as for spitting on so-called Muppets? Rape and pillage? Super League? I ask, respectfully: What are you on?
Tim Prentice
Expert
Godfrey, you really shouldn't drink when you contribute to these websites. Souths proudly boast an ultra modern home base and they choose to play at other venues where the proprietors PAY for the privilege to host the mighty Rabbitohs. The current administrators know how to make money from the SS brand and that's one of the reasons why your club is not going backwards, and can buy the likes of Greg Inglis to boost their player roster when the need arises. They finished 3rd this past season. Surely you must realise that if the Piggins reign continued, Souths would be struggling to be competitive on on off the playing field. Perhaps you don't like a little travelling? Poor diddums. If you havde a passion for Souths, you will surely do your best to see their games, wherever possible. Footnote: My profile says my favourite team is the North Sydney Bears. Sure, I'd like them back in business but that probably isn't going to happen in my lifetime. Enjoy what YOU have. And please, do what George P did not do ...... acknowledge Russell Crowe and friends for their efforts to restore your club to a position where they can seriously compete with all clubs for the title.
Godfrey
Guest
Mario Fenech, Bob McCarthy, Craig Coleman, John Sattler, Sean Garlick, and Ron Coote are always expressing their opinions in the media, too. Just as much as Piggins does. Yet you never take them to task. Obviously, if they agree with you, it's okay for them to speak. If not, we must shut up. You need to open your minds to the views of others and stop trying to censure.
towards 21
Roar Rookie
So Tim, what do you make of the fact that In Crowes time in charge 2006-2012 he has sold $20,000,000 in assets of both the leagues and football club and on top of that has run up a debt of inexcess of $10,000,000. Who would want to buy a club where you have to pay off the previous owners debts and have nil assets from where to start. Soon a s Shane Richardson, Nick Pappas and the kiwi and south african took over the bells have been tolling. 4 games in 2013 have been sold to pay for Crowe and Hac's debt of 2013. There is no such thing as a homeground or a full season membership if you are a souths fan in 2013. As a member of the South Sydney League and football club I would spit on the 4 muppets who have raped and pillaged us. Richardson finally has achieved what he could not as one of the main protaganists of Super League by killing us off.
Godfrey
Guest
Ryan - the club's financial figures don't support you. The club has liabilities of over $11 million. It couldn't pay its debts before the 2011 annual report and had to renegotiate the loans. Had it not done so, it would have gone into administration. One of the biggest expenses for the football club is that it is now paying office rental of $737,678 a year. When George Piggins was running the leagues club, the football club got free office rent, free merchandise space, free maintenance and electricity, free dedicated refrigeration, free dedicated parking spaces, and free contra from leagues club suppliers. The leagues club also sold a $1 million stake in the Narallen Golf Club to pay the football clubs tax debts 20 years ago. On top of that the football club had a second leagues club (Souths Juniors) which gave it nearly $20 million over the last 17 years. All these facts have been censured out by the Crowe Huggers.
Godfrey
Guest
Piggins has earned a right to express his opinion. He was a one club player who knocked back bigger offers from other clubs. He coached the club for 5 years without charging a cent. He won two coach-of-the-year awards, and a club championship, with a playing roster below that of other clubs. He put his hand in his own pocket to keep Mario at the club. As an administrator he lent the leagues club $3 million. He didn't charge interest, unlike the 9.7% that Crowe and Holmes a Court are charging. The media approach Piggins asking for a comment. He doesn't approach them. And the dangers of private ownership which Piggins warned members about are all coming true. That the football club is question mark bankrupt is obvious from its accounts.
Godfrey
Guest
The South Juniors have stated publicly that it isn't interested in buying the football club. And the Member Company has no money to buy it for members. Which leaves likely buyers like, say, Alan Bond, Rupert Murdoch, Rick Damilien, John Ibrahim, or maybe even John Elias. If they stump up the dosh, the club's theirs. This is what happens when you sell your soul.
Godfrey
Guest
Tim, you need to do some research. Here's the football club's profit and loss under your hero Crowe: 2007 - $2.759 million loss; 2008 - $4.135 million loss; 2009 - $258,527 loss; 2010 - $60,644 operating profit; 2011 - $864,226 loss; and the forecast in the annual report for 2012 is a loss of $204,318. Not very rosy, is it? Now look at the liabilities and assets. In 2006 the club had liabilities of $1.909 million and assets of $3.179 million. After 6 years of Hollywood, here are the 2011 figures: liabilities $10.643 million and assets of $4.652 million. How is it turning the club around by averaging increases in liabilities of $1.4 million a season? How are these balance sheets strong? And you do know that the club's property arm, High Concept, a 50:50 partnership with a developer, is in administration unable to pay its debts? A 4 level building, 198 space car parking station, and 10 home units, all assets it took the club 50 years to acquire, all gone after just 6 years of Hollywood. If you want to express an opinion, Tim, do some research for chrissake.
Godfrey
Guest
Tim, If your Bears had someone with the courage of Piggins, you'd still be in the competition. That you didn't have the guts to fight as hard as Piggins is evident from the fact that you don't have a team in the big league. That Souths do is because Piggins fights harder than cream puffs like you. You say Souths won't relocate with Crowe gone, yet we already have. We are based in western Sydney, well outside of our heartland. And 3 of our 12 homes games, 25%, are played outside of Sydney. It's a 9,000 kilometre round trip to Perth, 6,000 to Cairns, and 200 to Gosford. To be a Bunnies fan under Crowe we all need travel insurance. We have to change our watches to fit local time zones. Wake up to yourself, Tim. If the Bears had Piggins, you'd still be alive.