Usain Bolt!

[style_cafe]

Shaun was pretty good and looked sharp with a haircut and beard trim.

Couldn’t hear questions as poor audio for that but Shaun was good.

Points
Inundated with sponsors calling this morning
Is not a contracted player so no number no bolt shirts etc
Preseason games if he is fit enough
First test is to prove fitness to medical team for football however long that takes but got the feeling they want a preseason game
Good for the coast and it’s about the future of the club
Aware detractors think it’s a gimmick but we are small club and need to do it to make our club grow
Will live on coast

Shit,I`d better clean out the spare room in case he needs digs...

 

[Insertnamehere]

Will make an event out if it for sure. And it will be legit. Press and buzz will absolutely be there.

21 August will be the first. Gives him 8 weeks to be fit if he's suitable. Many sessions we can charge admission to. Members for free of course....

 

[bikinigirl]

Members for free of course....

. correct sentiment ... but good luck with that

 

[bikinigirl]

You are joking about the marketability part right?

. i don't quite understand the joke ... are you suggesting that the FFA would not try to find any reason to avoid sharing their marketing budget with us?

 

[tim...]

The real money is not there unless we sign him and nor is the expentiure.

But if we do, there quite frankly hasn’t ever been a player with as much commercial potential in the league as Bolt. It’s a truly unique occurrence. The celebrity level of Ronaldo or higher but at a price the little Central Coast Mariners can actually afford. Really because his celebrity pays for itself.

The points I made Re dollars is not make believe. Shaun’s going to need to take on another person and probably a PR firm just to handle and make the most of the opportunity.

I’m in a related industry. And almost everything turns on celebrity now.

If they sign Bolt but can’t effectively monetise him then we might as well pack up shop.

Imo, people are not seeing the forest for the trees if framing this all in the context of the football solution we all want and need. Be incredible if he pulled of the no limits fairytale with us.. But the reason victory, Sydney, City etc have consistently better rosters and are better than us, is 100% financial. And Bolt, should be viewed as commercially a very innovative and clever step to help try and overcome some of our financial and geographical disadvantage.

Here’s a thought that should warm half this forums toes at night. Bolts exposure is far more likely to see us attract another richer buyer than if we signed a 34 year old Dutch forward that we could hope has a great year with us.

Excellent post. Absolutely spot on.

 

[Woollybutt]

Forget guest role Hes a f**king mature aged rookie.

I know this is a joke, but it's still worth pointing out that mature age rookie only applies to someone 21 or older who hasn't played professionally in 18 months and last played in an Australian competition, so Bolt misses out on the last one but Macdonald, Murray, and Millar would all be eligible if we needed an extra spot in the squad. We also have Gauci and Kekeris as scholarship players, so we can already sign up to 26 players if we want to.

 

[Insertnamehere]

. i don't quite understand the joke ... are you suggesting that the FFA would not try to find any reason to avoid sharing their marketing budget with us?

I'm suggesting his marketability is money for jam and the referenced post was saying that he isn't marketable unless by some random gesture by the FFA

 

[Big Al]

The real money is not there unless we sign him and nor is the expentiure.

But if we do, there quite frankly hasn’t ever been a player with as much commercial potential in the league as Bolt. It’s a truly unique occurrence. The celebrity level of Ronaldo or higher but at a price the little Central Coast Mariners can actually afford. Really because his celebrity pays for itself.

The points I made Re dollars is not make believe. Shaun’s going to need to take on another person and probably a PR firm just to handle and make the most of the opportunity.

I’m in a related industry. And almost everything turns on celebrity now.

If they sign Bolt but can’t effectively monetise him then we might as well pack up shop.

Imo, people are not seeing the forest for the trees if framing this all in the context of the football solution we all want and need. Be incredible if he pulled of the no limits fairytale with us.. But the reason victory, Sydney, City etc have consistently better rosters and are better than us, is 100% financial. And Bolt, should be viewed as commercially a very innovative and clever step to help try and overcome some of our financial and geographical disadvantage.

Here’s a thought that should warm half this forums toes at night. Bolts exposure is far more likely to see us attract another richer buyer than if we signed a 34 year old Dutch forward that we could hope has a great year with us.

Yeah but he’s not signed so a sponsor is not sponsoring anything. If we sign him and he is shit then what. Australian idiol stuff. Everyone watches the final and no one buys the album the next day.

If we want this potential income we should just sign him and be done with the circus of maybe maybe.

Just sign him guarantee him 15mins a game and then you have something to sell to the sponsors, fans, t- shirts etc

 

[Big Al]

We have first rights to sign him. If another team wants to come in and take him we can sign him to stop him being poached. Good clause

https://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/central-coast-mariners-to-rivals-you-cant-catch-bolt-499865

 

[bikinigirl]

I'm suggesting his marketability is money for jam and the referenced post was saying that he isn't marketable unless by some random gesture by the FFA

. ok - then you may have slightly mis-interpreted my post

. i was not suggesting he was not marketable ... but if the FFA don't consider him to meet their "prescribed marketability criteria" then:

• we would receive no benefit from their marketing budget (we already know they don't want to pay)
• he would not be considered as a guest player (if we were to pursue that path)
• he would then take up a visa spot which we (as fans) don't want to lose

. so all of that could hinge on a ruling from the FFA - their prescribed criteria does not appear to be readily available ... so not very prescriptive

. the only question about his marketability from our point of view is how well the club capitalise on it (refer to FP's post)

 

[Big Al]

44 to 48 mins. Tony Rallis with the grill team. A very pro Bolt interview

 

[Josho Howe]

Thought i'd put in my two cents here -

Our club being mentioned on the first report of the sport section on free-to-air news and first up on Fox Sports News is only a good thing. Bolt gives us publicity and sponsorship opportunities. All off-field ventures to help the club move forward and boost us financially. It's only when you look at on-field where the criticism will come from and that's fair enough. If the trial is not paid by us, that's good, l would just say if it turned out he was paid just for the trial by us, then i'd be a little annoyed as that could have gone to a new player. If it's funded by sponsors and FFA, then happy days. Bolt gives us a lot of exposure overseas being the fastest human ever and he's a great character with a lot of personality. During his trial we will have plenty of new eyes on us and the product.

Now l will say if he is signed at the end of the day, l will be more than surprised...

 

[Insertnamehere]

. ok - then you may have slightly mis-interpreted my post

. i was not suggesting he was not marketable ... but if the FFA don't consider him to meet their "prescribed marketability criteria" then:

• we would receive no benefit from their marketing budget (we already know they don't want to pay)
• he would not be considered as a guest player (if we were to pursue that path)
• he would then take up a visa spot which we (as fans) don't want to lose

. so all of that could hinge on a ruling from the FFA - their prescribed criteria does not appear to be readily available ... so not very prescriptive

. the only question about his marketability from our point of view is how well the club capitalise on it (refer to FP's post)

Roger. On the same page now

 

[Josho Howe]

My thoughts on the whole Bolt situation. Give it a read if you wish.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Yeah but he’s not signed so a sponsor is not sponsoring anything. If we sign him and he is shit then what. Australian idiol stuff. Everyone watches the final and no one buys the album the next day.

If we want this potential income we should just sign him and be done with the circus of maybe maybe.

Just sign him guarantee him 15mins a game and then you have something to sell to the sponsors, fans, t- shirts etc

Actually BA this happily isn’t true.

Sponsors are all about exposure and they don’t even require him to be signed on a deal to achieve that. They would also want and need to be ahead of the others or miss out. I expect this will get very competitive and key sponsors are going to have to outbid each other.

From my understanding what has happened is very clever.

Trial helps retain our credibility.

But now it’s open ended is a clever win win,

The one thing that gets overlooked a lot is that Bolt is genuine. And six weeks training in differing professional environs will not help him truly develop enough to reach his goal. But this will, or at least has a much better chance of doing so. Win.

Club don’t want to sign him when he’s not good enough, but know that to capitalise they need Bolt to be here come season proper. Win.

It’s good stuff. I think we should be very pleased and excited about it.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Thought i'd put in my two cents here -

Our club being mentioned on the first report of the sport section on free-to-air news and first up on Fox Sports News is only a good thing. Bolt gives us publicity and sponsorship opportunities. All off-field ventures to help the club move forward and boost us financially. It's only when you look at on-field where the criticism will come from and that's fair enough. If the trial is not paid by us, that's good, l would just say if it turned out he was paid just for the trial by us, then i'd be a little annoyed as that could have gone to a new player. If it's funded by sponsors and FFA, then happy days. Bolt gives us a lot of exposure overseas being the fastest human ever and he's a great character with a lot of personality. During his trial we will have plenty of new eyes on us and the product.

Now l will say if he is signed at the end of the day, l will be more than surprised...

Yes but...
Club stooge

In before FFC

 

[FFC Mariner]

Yes but...
Club stooge

In before FFC

Number 1 intern as he prefers to be called

 

[NoDiggity]

Another point to consider is IF we do sign him and another club overseas sees the club exposure and benefits and decides to sign him, they would pay a transfer fee for him correct? $$$$

 

[FFC Mariner]

Another point to consider is IF we do sign him and another club overseas sees the club exposure and benefits and decides to sign him, they would pay a transfer fee for him correct? $$$$

Yup.
Akthough our modus operandi is to give him a year, he then leaves for free after we do the hard work

 

[Tevor]

Surely they will wheel him out at the fan day before the season starts. Will probably triple the attendance at this day with media every where as well. What is normally a pretty low key event will be a circus. Bring it on. We might pay a junior players wages for the year with a sausage sizzle alone.