Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

[LongWait]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

This is the perverse and sickening part of it all as far as I'm concerned.

Our club and supporters are being ground to the bone by the horrible stadium deals negotiated for us and by our club when we had no alternative home venue, all the while not getting any exposure or favourable fixturing, and when the AFL buys the stadium for $1.00 we're likely to be relocated or extinguished!

I appreciate where Guido is coming from, though I'm not sure he appreciates just how hard Smorgon and Co. have had to work to turn the ship around to get us to a point where we can seek and invest in alternative revenue streams.

We have been a club that has throughout history continually proven itself to be poor financial managers, and I think some credit needs to go to those at the helm over the recent decade who worked hard to make us a club worthy of lending to, and backing.

I appreciate your views Jeemak, however Guido gives Smorgon zero credit and doesn't acknowledge any of the points you make in your post above.

We all know that our club is being screwed by the AFL and we all would like the club to be less financially dependent upon direct payments from the AFL, but when we debate these things we should first have our facts right before making sweeping statements as if they are gospel, and we should be balanced in our assessment of individuals who have contributed far more to the club than Guido or any of us on this forum ever have or probably ever will.

[boydogs]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

I've acknowledged their effort, but whatever their time and effort has gone into, the club is still on the brink, completely reliant on a third party (the AFL) for it's day to day survival.

As is every club.

If you can't see what Smorgon has done for the club and continues to do for the club, head on down to training one day.

Check out the $31m redevelopment of Whitten Oval, whilst Essendon is homeless and North gets by with a $16m effort that included some of their own money. Tour the building, and see the mission elite learning centre and mission sponsorship on our training singlets.

See the club owned community child care and basketball courts, generating revenue for the club. See the boardroom table made by Victoria University students, in a partnership that boosts membership and allows us to use their expertise and facilities.

See the club museum, and the Western Bulldogs name that came from a desire to expand the club across the wider western suburbs.

With all that done, he is still tackling ambitious projects like the Edgewater Club including a drawn out legal battle with the council which we won, the Peninsula Club, Bulldoze the Debt, and now a VFL side.

The man deserves a medal, not the sack.

[jeemak]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

I appreciate your views Jeemak, however Guido gives Smorgon zero credit and doesn't acknowledge any of the points you make in your post above.

We all know that our club is being screwed by the AFL and we all would like the club to be less financially dependent upon direct payments from the AFL, but when we debate these things we should first have our facts right before making sweeping statements as if they are gospel, and we should be balanced in our assessment of individuals who have contributed far more to the club than Guido or any of us on this forum ever have or probably ever will.

I can see the need for us to strive to stand on our own two feet, much like Guido does, because I understand how fickle support from the AFL can be, and I can understand that all forms of media might expect a different type of value from the league by the time the next broadcasting rights roll around. The most recent negotiations were based on value being extracted from 18 teams, the next might not.

We also have the spectre of the AFL buying Docklands prior to the 2025 target initially outlined when the stadium contract was devised. The fact that we're relying on AFL "special assistance" is a worry for us in light of that, because afterall, all of the other clubs irrespective of their preferable exposure and favourable fixturing positions couldn't care less if we were marginalised to the point where our viability was questioned.

While we have made significant inroads towards viability, we still need to be extremely dilligent moving forwards in our quest towards being sustainable without AFL assistance.

[chef]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

How about jeemak like our "blockbuster" type of games to be played at the G.

We can't pack out ES, why do we need to move these games?

Sadly we are not a blockbuster team, we just don't have that many supporters.

[LongWait]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

As is every club.

If you can't see what Smorgon has done for the club and continues to do for the club, head on down to training one day.

Check out the $31m redevelopment of Whitten Oval, whilst Essendon is homeless and North gets by with a $16m effort that included some of their own money. Tour the building, and see the mission elite learning centre and mission sponsorship on our training singlets.

See the club owned community child care and basketball courts, generating revenue for the club. See the boardroom table made by Victoria University students, in a partnership that boosts membership and allows us to use their expertise and facilities.

See the club museum, and the Western Bulldogs name that came from a desire to expand the club across the wider western suburbs.

With all that done, he is still tackling ambitious projects like the Edgewater Club including a drawn out legal battle with the council which we won, the Peninsula Club, Bulldoze the Debt, and now a VFL side.

The man deserves a medal, not the sack.

You expressed this far better than I did gogriff. I'm sure that you reflect the feelings of the vast majority of supporters on this matter.

[Eastdog]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

We can't pack out ES, why do we need to move these games?

Sadly we are not a blockbuster team, we just don't have that many supporters.

That's the reality we have a relatively small supporter base. I reckon though if we were doing well we may get more game at the G.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

First of all there's no doubting we'd love the AFL Assistance to be on the same level or non existent.
However what code do you have a team who gets under 20 thou and makes quadruple the amount the other clubs make at Etihad, with larger attendances.

[Eastdog]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

First of all there's no doubting we'd love the AFL Assistance to be on the same level or non existent.
However what code do you have a team who gets under 20 thou and makes quadruple the amount the other clubs make at Etihad, with larger attendances.

Why did we get a bad deal with Etihad in the first place.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

Why did we get a bad deal with Etihad in the first place.

We were in a hopeless negotiating position.

Etihad (Colonial?) management knew we were going to play our home games at the new stadium, it had been marketed that way from the get-go.

If we were going to play there anyway, why would they offer us anything to do so?

That is why we got the AFL to negotiate the deal for us, at least they had some leverage with regards to fixturing.


Unfortunately, it appears the AFL negotiation went along the lines of:

'How about upping the ante for the Bulldogs guys?'
'No.'
'Bugger.

'SORRY GUYS, NO GOOD'

[ledge]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

We were in a hopeless negotiating position.

Etihad (Colonial?) management knew we were going to play our home games at the new stadium, it had been marketed that way from the get-go.

If we were going to play there anyway, why would they offer us anything to do so?

That is why we got the AFL to negotiate the deal for us, at least they had some leverage with regards to fixturing.


Unfortunately, it appears the AFL negotiation went along the lines of:

'How about upping the ante for the Bulldogs guys?'
'No.'
'Bugger.





'SORRY GUYS, NO GOOD'

But didn't we just get a revised better deal a couple of years ago?

[Eastdog]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

We were in a hopeless negotiating position.

Etihad (Colonial?) management knew we were going to play our home games at the new stadium, it had been marketed that way from the get-go.

If we were going to play there anyway, why would they offer us anything to do so?

That is why we got the AFL to negotiate the deal for us, at least they had some leverage with regards to fixturing.


Unfortunately, it appears the AFL negotiation went along the lines of:

'How about upping the ante for the Bulldogs guys?'
'No.'
'Bugger.

'SORRY GUYS, NO GOOD'

How much revenue do we get out of this compared to the other clubs at Etihad or is it a similar amount.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

How much revenue do we get out of this compared to the other clubs at Etihad or is it a similar amount.

Essendon had Etihad and the MCG fighting over them, throwing buckets of cash at them to sign on.

What we make out of our deal would just about cover Essendon's corporate lunch.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

But didn't we just get a revised better deal a couple of years ago?

We did, but all we did was swap over to a fixed amount per game. It meant we didn't have to write a cheque for the Freo game but it also meant we didn't make a killing on the Collingwood game either

[jeemak]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

We were in a hopeless negotiating position.

Etihad (Colonial?) management knew we were going to play our home games at the new stadium, it had been marketed that way from the get-go.

If we were going to play there anyway, why would they offer us anything to do so?

That is why we got the AFL to negotiate the deal for us, at least they had some leverage with regards to fixturing.


Unfortunately, it appears the AFL negotiation went along the lines of:

'How about upping the ante for the Bulldogs guys?'
'No.'
'Bugger.

'SORRY GUYS, NO GOOD'

Essendon had Etihad and the MCG fighting over them, throwing buckets of cash at them to sign on.

What we make out of our deal would just about cover Essendon's corporate lunch.

We did, but all we did was swap over to a fixed amount per game. It meant we didn't have to write a cheque for the Freo game but it also meant we didn't make a killing on the Collingwood game either

Pretty much.

Being coerced into playing at an AFL specified stadium and having to negotiate our own deal was what set us back significantly at the turn of the century.

I just can't understand how the AFL has turned into such a stupid and disconnected organisation that views certain clubs and the people that follow them as being second class.

The AFL is owned by the people, but yet, it lacks accountability to a level that is so ridiculous that it's almost funny.

[ledge]

Re: Smorgon Leadership Challenge update

We were in a hopeless negotiating position.

Etihad (Colonial?) management knew we were going to play our home games at the new stadium, it had been marketed that way from the get-go.

If we were going to play there anyway, why would they offer us anything to do so?

That is why we got the AFL to negotiate the deal for us, at least they had some leverage with regards to fixturing.


Unfortunately, it appears the AFL negotiation went along the lines of:

'How about upping the ante for the Bulldogs guys?'
'No.'
'Bugger.

'SORRY GUYS, NO GOOD'

We did, but all we did was swap over to a fixed amount per game. It meant we didn't have to write a cheque for the Freo game but it also meant we didn't make a killing on the Collingwood game either

But I presume it would be a big improvement on previous contract