Smoke/Fire ???

[FFC Mariner]

Not sure which thread for this but looks like the Knights are having a row with their landlords.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25271804-23209,00.html

Newcastle Knights face being booted out of EnergyAustralia Stadium

    By Todd Balym
    March 31, 2009

Newcastle faces the prospect of being evicted from their home ground with Hunter Venues issuing the club a notice of default for $792,000 in outstanding rent.
Just five days out from their first home game of 2009 at EnergyAustralia Stadium, the Knights have confirmed they owe money and have until the end of next month to settle the debt.

But the Knights are refusing to pay and instead claim Hunter Venues owe them more than $1 million for maintenance and compensation due to the stadium redevelopment.

In an extraordinary move, Knights chief executive Steve Burraston went public with the negotiations because he believes Hunter Venues leaked the default notice to the media, breaking an agreement for private negotiations which have been ongoing since December.

Burraston recorded a video message to sponsors and fans on the club's website to reassure them that the club was still operating business as usual''.

We are of a belief that Hunter Venues owes the Knights money and we're of the understanding that we were still negotiating and would be for at least the next two months,'' he said.

To receive the default notice was a surprise, but the breach of confidentiality by putting this in the public arena through the media is extremely disappointing.

We have been in negotiations since December on not only this issue but also outstanding monies we believe Hunter Venues owes the Newcastle Knights.

Our claim and invoice is for in excess of $1 million, a greater amount than the claim Hunter Venues has on the Newcastle Knights.

As of our last meeting on the 23rd of March we were of the understanding we had two months to further negotiate these issues before any action would be taken.

One can only guess at what games are being played, I don't want to speculate.''

 

[tuftman]

Newcastle and administration of sports just don't go together do they

 

[~Floss~]

Wonder how much Con owes them?

 

[clarence]

Con's involved with the stadium management Trust or something isn't he? That was why he set about ruining the Breakers, cause they used another venue and he set up his own club to use the venue he had an interest in & take the leftovers from the Breakers demise?

 

[Jimmy]

Lets just hope that they don't decide to move to Blue Tongue.

 

[Ben]

can we start a fund to stop them moving to bluetongue, i will pay to keep them away from us

 

[bjw]

Someone should start a "Say NO to a NRL team on the Central Coast" facebook group...

 

[Peachos]

Do it Brenno

 

[fedelta]

Someone should start a "Say NO to a NRL team on the Central Coast" facebook group...

datz wakk!

 

[bjw]

Someone should start a "Say NO to a NRL team on the Central Coast" facebook group...

datz wakk!

just scrolling through facebook- just found a '50,000 people who want Central Coast Bears in the NRL' group... so far they have 147 people 

reckon if someone made a 'Say no to a central coast NRL team' we could easily get more than 147.

 

[mariners4ever]

Someone should start a "Say NO to a NRL team on the Central Coast" facebook group...

datz wakk!

just scrolling through facebook- just found a '50,000 people who want Central Coast Bears in the NRL' group... so far they have 147 people 

reckon if someone made a 'Say no to a central coast NRL team' we could easily get more than 147.

you know you want to

 

[bjw]

Someone should start a "Say NO to a NRL team on the Central Coast" facebook group...

datz wakk!

just scrolling through facebook- just found a '50,000 people who want Central Coast Bears in the NRL' group... so far they have 147 people 

reckon if someone made a 'Say no to a central coast NRL team' we could easily get more than 147.

you know you want to

alas- i have no idea how too.

 

[midfielder]

The CC Bears will play in the NRL in 2013, I have this on excellent advise maybe even 2012. 25% chance 2012..75% 2013.... the NRL are checking who will be the other team... choices Perth, a second Brisbane team, Wellington & PNG...

The reasoning they only want 1 risk team and a CC team is not considered risky... funds in place already so we will have a RL team in either 2012 or 2013 more than likely 2013.

 

[clarence]

The CC Bears will play in the NRL in 2013, I have this on excellent advise maybe even 2012. 25% chance 2012..75% 2013.... the NRL are checking who will be the other team... choices Perth, a second Brisbane team, Wellington & PNG...

The reasoning they only want 1 risk team and a CC team is not considered risky... funds in place already so we will have a RL team in either 2012 or 2013 more than likely 2013.

Midfielder, I don't obviously know your source for this info, but I would have thought that the NRL would have regarded a CC team as risky.

They couldn't have raised a crowd of zombies at a voodoo congregation in the Caribbean when they tried with the Beagles. And by then the CC Bears had failed, too (although a lot of their demise was actually due to the build of the stadium, the weather, and the upping of the ante with the Super League war + politics and the charming David Hill, I think?).

By 2012, the Mariners would have been using the stadium for 7 years.

The NRL cannot discount the favour that will be shown to an established club (by then) like the Mariners, by both the dual code fans and the stadium management. The CC NRL team will possibly be told that they won't be able to stage a game on the stadium til the A-League season is finished - and by then our season will extend into March, at least.

If the Mariners get another ACL campaign, that should also take precedence over any early season NRL fixture.

Being second fiddle is not in the NRL's culture and they will take it very badly. They have been given a lot of opportunities to buy into the stadium's rights over the years and have turned that down too.

On the other hand, there is continuing conjecture about the Mariners getting actively involved with the stadium management business. Should the Mariners actually set about doing that, the NRL will definitely be the one shifted about to fit in with Mariners fixtures, not the way the NRL would like to see  it happen.

Meanwhile, this continuing conjecture about the Newcastle Knights has some de ja vu about it. This was a similar scenario that faced the Knights in about 2005/06. And back then, it was interesting to note that big mouth Con was saying he'd be interested in buying into the Knights to 'help them out'.

I tried, I really tried, to watch the late night NRL game last night involving the Roosters and the Eels out at SFS. There was a vocal-ish crowd, but the shots of bay upon bay of empty seats really told a sorry tale. After not watching so much of that football code for so long, it did kinda look pointless with guys running with the ball and attempting to dodge their opponents and pass it legitimately to another teammate. The commentary was full of American - like stat talk, the pop up displays on the screen, ditto. In the end it bored me to tears and I hit the bed.

 

[dibo]

NRL will by then have some practice - they'll be second fiddle in Melbourne, there's direct competition (as in there are NRL and HAL clubs as co-tenants) in North Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney, Gold Coast and Newcastle, in the longer run there may be another at Parramatta or Penrith, another at Canberra, another in Wollongong, even in Perth...

Frankly, the ARL and the FFA have largely common interests as far as facilities are concerned*, the two should work together wherever possible. If we want to host the World Cup, having NRL teams working with us to lobby for ground improvements and providing another 11 or so match days a year is the only way it can happen.

* Very similar pitch sizes help (116m x 68m vs 105 x 68, adding safety and other margins it's pretty much 125-130m x 85m for both). This compares to the elbow patch brigade whose grounds are up to 30 metres longer.

 

[FFC Mariner]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is absolute bollocks

 

[dibo]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is absolute bollocks

which this are you talking about?

 

[tuftman]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is absolute bollocks

which this are you talking about?

The whole CC bears thing I would assume??

 

[clarence]

I understand your points raised Dibo, but while they have accepted their second billing in places like Victoria, they will not accept such billing in an area like the Central Coast.

And with someone like Singo being involved with the stadium they'll play out of, I wonder how he is going to treat them after so many years of them snubbing his venue. It could go either way: he may tell the NRL that the Mariners have priority because they came to him when he was snubbed by the NRL and have been here first, or: he could shout "hallelujah" and rejoice in the Central Coast having a NRL team and give them all sorts of priority.

Judging by past performances of his stadium management team, and in particular, the mess that was offered as a pitch last season and the woeful excuses about grass not growing in summer etc., I suspect the Mariners will have to play hardball and demand priority.

BTW, it would be interesting to hear of John McKay's experiences with the stadium  management, and how that compared to the usual treatment the Mariners get, when he ran the Central Coast Rhinos for that one and only season of ARU national domestic comp.

 

[dibo]

I think it really depends how the A-League goes over the next 5-10 years. We know where the NRL will be - right where it is now. Since the turn of the century it's been steady at its present level. I feel there won't be any big rise or drop in public interest, crowds or media attention.

For us though, the range of possible outcomes is much wider - we might stay where we are, we might boom, we might have new clubs falling over and the collateral damage taking old clubs with them as the league as a whole is dented.

If we're in prime position, we get to make the calls. If not, we've got to take whatever we can get.