Swayed Demetriou says Dogs off endangered list

[GVGjr]

Swayed Demetriou says Dogs off endangered list

Caroline Wilson | March 8, 2009

IT STARTED out as a run-of-the-mill AFL club meeting, one of hundreds league boss Andrew Demetriou has attended over the journey. And yet by the time an hour or two had passed, Demetriou knew he had witnessed a revelation, a remarkable story that had been unfolding for several years and was now complete.

It is a story, Demetriou admitted last week, he questioned would ever be written — that of the rebirth of the Western Bulldogs.

The club has faced extinction more than once over the past two decades, but has now — according to Demetriou — officially been removed from the endangered species list.

The meeting took place at the Whitten Oval three days ago and included a tour of the club's new facilities, community set-up and an honest appraisal of the Bulldogs' books.

President David Smorgon, chief executive Campbell Rose and their team presented the AFL with everything they had achieved since the club's famous and — in football terms — revolutionary $8 million deal with the Federal Government, and threw in some ambitious plans for the future as well.

Demetriou admitted to The Sunday Age that his visit was no normal AFL club tour. The competition's CEO, who prides himself on reading the play better than anyone, said he left the Whitten Oval in a state of glorious disbelief.

"I was flabbergasted," said Demetriou. "They were a club which articulated a vision which was pooh-poohed by many people, including us. I remember being in meetings thinking they had no hope of ever getting more than 20,000 members and yet this year, they should get more than 30,000.

"In many ways, they now own the western suburbs of Melbourne. And their facility staggered me. What they've produced from a football perspective is a state-of-the-art facility which has moved them ahead of other clubs. The same goes for their community facilities."

The Bulldogs were a top-four club last season that produced a profit, albeit one that included a $1.7 million boost from the AFL's special assistance fund. Their aim is to sign 32,000 members this season; the current total stands at 21,000 — 2000 ahead of the same time last year.

Recently, the club signed a $4.5 million three-year sponsorship agreement with Mission Foods, and Rose — described by Demetriou in somewhat affectionate terms as a "nutty professor" who continues to confound the AFL with his achievements — is budgeting for a small profit in 2009.

No longer, said Demetriou, do the Bulldogs deserve to be bracketed in the category of the weaker clubs. Certainly any talk of mergers or relocation seems relegated to the club's history.

"Unfortunately, when you look at the industry they've been branded a weaker club," said Demetriou, "or a struggling club. They are not a weak football club.

"Had they received a decent stadium agreement from the time they relocated to the Docklands, they would have paid off their debt by now and been able to invest their money."

Demetriou compared the Bulldogs with the Brisbane Lions. The latter's average home attendance at the Gabba last season was about 27,000 and the club boasted 27,000 members. He put the Bulldogs' attendances and membership at about 30,000 apiece and yet the Lions yielded about $5 million more than the Victorian club that calls Etihad Stadium its home ground.

"That's nothing against the Lions," said Demetriou. "Their figures are good and they are a successful club, but the Bulldogs deserve to be the same."

Of course, there is the matter of the $4 million debt and the fact the club is forced to sell games interstate to make ends meet. Between May 30 and June 13 this year, the Bulldogs take on Sydney at Canberra's Manuka Oval — no home ground advantage there — and Port Adelaide at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Smorgon and Rose told Demetriou their club did not want to sell games interstate beyond 2009. The AFL CEO promised the earliest possible response to what amounts to not only a club policy change but a sign the Bulldogs regard themselves worthy of a genuine tilt at becoming a powerful AFL club.

Their dreadful deal at the stadium whose name the AFL refuses to mention is holding them back, and so is their ongoing lack of success in September. Only one of the above is in their control; the other the AFL must fix and has prioritised at the top of the order.

The good news for the Bulldogs — and probably for all the Victorian clubs — is that when Demetriou finally saw the finished product of that club's lofty ambitions on Thursday, his resolve to fix the stadium problem, which the AFL took far too long to identify, was only strengthened all the more.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Demetriou has just realsised we've developed the Whitten Oval?

And this guys in charge of the whole shooting match.

God help us.

[LostDoggy]

Demetriou has just realsised we've developed the Whitten Oval?

And this guys in charge of the whole shooting match.

God help us.

Demetriou will have seen the development before. That isn't what Wilson says moved him, it's the whole picture. She mentions the opened books and the "owning" of the western suburbs, that'd mean much more to him. Assuming the change of heart is as Wilson records, it illustrates that perception is everything. The historical image needed to be overcome before the penny dropped. If we'd been a Carlton or an Essendon, arguably, the AFL would have gone in to bat for us for a better deal several years ago. What's really heartening is the reported increased determination to fix up the Docklands deal. Assuming that Wilson wasn't there on Thursday, she must have got the last paragraph from someone close to Demetriou. It reads like the penny has dropped. For this club, that's huge.

[azabob]

This is a major and positive step on all accounts. Now all we need is the players to keep up their end of the bargin.

[mjp]

Demetriou has just realsised we've developed the Whitten Oval?

Vlad is a nightmare SS, but I am pretty sure he knew what was going on...in fact, he was there at the ground breaking iirc...and he is all over the financial matters, so he would remember contributing to the thing.

Are you sure you aren't sharing a logon with Ernie? :-)

[LostDoggy]

That is the best piece of journalism Caro has ever written. No more away games next year - yes. Bit of a bummer for NT though

[GVGjr]

No more away games next year - yes. Bit of a bummer for NT though

It's great news but no more interstate home games means the Darwin venture is another one of a long line of failed club initiatives we haven't been able to capitalise on.

[azabob]

It's great news but no more interstate home games means the Darwin venture is another one of a long line of failed club initiatives we haven't been able to capitalise on.

That is true, but I only saw the interstate games as a means to an end. We as a club never fully embrassed the interstate communitites properly. Are you refering to other initatives also?

[Dancin' Douggy]

Thank you lord Demetriou for your benevolent mercy.

[mjp]

Love your new avatar GVGjr. Who is the player (or generic)?

[GVGjr]

Love your new avatar GVGjr. Who is the player (or generic)?

I was just having a browse on google at Western Bulldog images and came across it. Thought it looked different enough and worth a run. Not sure if it's supposed to be any specific player. Actually I've been looking for something else to replace it.

[Scraggers]

Was it just me? ... I read this article with a tear in my eye ... no longer looking over our shoulder for the cloak and sickle ... it's time to move forward as a force in the AFL ... now bring on the premiership

[bornadog]

It would be nice if we could be debt free.

[KT31]

The facts are if we had a decent agreement with Collins Stadium we would not be in the shit.
How long is our current agreement with Collins Stadium ?
And what if we got a better deal from the G ?

[Sockeye Salmon]

The facts are if we had a decent agreement with Collins Stadium we would not be in the shit.
How long is our current agreement with Collins Stadium ?
And what if we got a better deal from the G ?

It wouldn't matter. We don't draw enough people to our games so the AFL have straight out said we would be scheduled to play our home games at the end of Footscray Rd.

The MCG also realise that there is a limit to the amount of games they can hold and they would rather that those games involve Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn and Carlton (perhaps Richmond when they're winning).