View Full Version : Searle getting nervous
CoastBhoy
21 May 2009, 10:23
Long time AFL hater Micheal Searle starting to get a bit worried:D and i could'nt be happier.
Main threat AFL not union
May 21, 2009
Article from: The Australian
GOLD Coast Titans chief Michael Searle says he fears the AFL more than any new rugby union team being established in southeast Queensland.
Searle's call came a day after The Australian revealed a new team could be established on the Gold Coast as part of rugby union's Super expansion.
And yesterday, as the battle lines were drawn, Australian Rugby Union deputy chief executive Matt Carroll said rugby league was likely to be a major source of players for the new side.
But Searle fears an AFL attack much more.
"I look at union and see the code more as a cousin of rugby league. The Gold Coast A-League doesn't worry me, but by far the biggest threat to my football code on the coast is (AFL chief) Andrew Demetriou's expansion plans," Searle said yesterday. "So are we expected to compete when Demetriou underwrites the Gold Coast AFL side to the tune of $20million a year. I'd kill to get that kind of money out of the NRL.
"The formation of an AFL side at Carrara has created the most unlevel playing field in professional sport in this country.
"This is shaping up as a battle of a David and Goliath proportions."
As for the threat a new Gold Coast union side would be to league's player resources, Searle said the "rah-rahs" would only be interested in chasing outside backs and halves.
"The formation of an AFL side at Carrara has created the most unlevel playing field in professional sport in this country.
"This is shaping up as a battle of a David and Goliath proportions."
I mean honestly, surely someone from the GCFC has to address this. You've got a membership based club part of a not for profit sporting league up against a corporation owned by multi millionaires part of a league owned by the biggest multinational media organisation in the world, and that fat **** is comparing his team to David?
You have got to be joking.
Goldcoast Goliahs anyone ?
.
Stereophonic
21 May 2009, 13:55
Let him worry :cool:
Sounds like he is trying to get money out of the NRL. Though so much for his "AFL" will not work statements. :D
"The formation of an AFL side at Carrara has created the most unlevel playing field in professional sport in this country.
Have to laugh at this comment, since when is there a level playing field when comparing two different sports?
CoastBhoy
22 May 2009, 11:17
Sounds like he is trying to get money out of the NRL. Though so much for his "AFL" will not work statements. :D
Have to laugh at this comment, since when is there a level playing field when comparing two different sports?
Yeah i got a laugh out of this as well , it sounds like a kid saying " pick on someone your own size"
Don't see why he has to be worried. Sounds like smoke and mirrors to me.
They've got a great team, a brand spanking new stadium and in the next few years, the best training facilities in Australia.
Don't see why he has to be worried. Sounds like smoke and mirrors to me.
They've got a great team, a brand spanking new stadium and in the next few years, the best training facilities in Australia.
Ahh it shits me that I can see that Stadium from my house...if only it was an oval field.
jimmy_clement#8
22 May 2009, 17:16
Goldcoast Goliahs anyone ?
.
"Goliaths" but credit for outside the box thinking. That's the kinda thing that'll stick and become the nickname, something that crops up for no reason, and it'll stick, much like the Cats did for Geelong all those years ago.
Beaussie
23 May 2009, 16:07
Hang on, isn't Searle all for a successful Gold Coast AFL team? :eek:
Searle said he would prefer to see a Gold Coast AFL club flourish rather than perish like the Brisbane Bears did in the 1990s when the region had the unwanted tag of being the place where sporting teams went to die.
"I think the biggest threat to us is a team coming here and collapsing," he said.
"It damages our brand as much as it does the national sports brand because it affects sponsorship across the board and consumer optimism goes out the window.
"I'm happy for national teams to come here provided they're competitive, well structured and they're here for the long-term.
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=446288
PumpyChowdown
24 May 2009, 12:29
"Goliaths" but credit for outside the box thinking. That's the kinda thing that'll stick and become the nickname, something that crops up for no reason, and it'll stick, much like the Cats did for Geelong all those years ago.
I get the feeling that what you have said is precisely what the GC board hope happens. It would be great if something like what you said occurs.
raymond35
26 May 2009, 02:30
Hang on, isn't Searle all for a successful Gold Coast AFL team? :eek:
No, he certainly isn't. He is a demented fat ****, the very worst kind of rugby league cretin, who spews hatred at followers of all other sports.
The absolute shite he has spoken in the GC newspaper for the past few years has been beyond belief.
Beaussie
28 May 2009, 07:29
No, he certainly isn't. He is a demented fat ****, the very worst kind of rugby league cretin, who spews hatred at followers of all other sports.
The absolute shite he has spoken in the GC newspaper for the past few years has been beyond belief.
LOL, I know what your saying having read some of his crap over the years about AFL expansion on the Gold Coast. Was simply pointing out what a liar he is with the comments above about being supportive of the new Gold Coast team. Haven't seen him ever attack the A-League's plans for expansion on the Gold Coast. Going by that, it's clear the AFL is his biggest threat.
Mount Nebo
28 May 2009, 12:29
Definitely smoke and mirrors from this guy again. He's playing the underdog card in an effort to win sympathy.
He should be more concerned about the other pillock that is leasing his stadium. Palmer is hell-bent on converting everyone to soccer and I wouldn't be surprised if there comes a time when Skilled gets double-booked and the Titans have to play second fiddle.
LOL, I know what your saying having read some of his crap over the years about AFL expansion on the Gold Coast. Was simply pointing out what a liar he is with the comments above about being supportive of the new Gold Coast team. Haven't seen him ever attack the A-League's plans for expansion on the Gold Coast. Going by that, it's clear the AFL is his biggest threat.
Or perhaps he's too gutless to take on a multi billionaire.
Kind of ironic given the size of his guts.
gostk86
30 May 2009, 18:46
ive lived on the gold coast and league and afl have the biggest followings, soccer has junior numbers but i would be shocked if they averaged close to 15k for soccer..and most would be league and afl fans too
Father Jack
31 May 2009, 11:36
so an AFL club starting up in RL heartland has an unfair advantage? I know everyone always tries to paint themselves as the underdog, but jesus ...
so an AFL club starting up in RL heartland has an unfair advantage? I know everyone always tries to paint themselves as the underdog, but jesus ...
He's talking about money, what part of that don't people understand?
In terms of the money that has been tipped into both the AFL and NRL team, the AFL will dwarf the NRL in terms of pure expenditure ...
mediumsizered
31 May 2009, 17:58
He's talking about money, what part of that don't people understand?
In terms of the money that has been tipped into both the AFL and NRL team, the AFL will dwarf the NRL in terms of pure expenditure ...
Searle is entitled to tip more of his money in if he wants to. His comments point to him wanting the NRL to provide significant financial support to a privately owned team. You can't have it both ways.
Maybe Searle & his fellow Titans' owners could hand in their licence & let the club become a member based club & then the NRL might be a bit more interested in injecting significant funds to the Titans.
He should be happy he got a free stadium on the back of my taxes.
He's talking about money, what part of that don't people understand?
In terms of the money that has been tipped into both the AFL and NRL team, the AFL will dwarf the NRL in terms of pure expenditure ...
Yet he's a very wealthy man himself as well as playing in a league owned by a company that turns over billions a year.
Nothings stopping him and Rupert tipping in similar amounts. Or more.
CoastBhoy
3 Jun 2009, 16:32
so an AFL club starting up in RL heartland has an unfair advantage? I know everyone always tries to paint themselves as the underdog, but jesus ...
Good point , funny he does'nt bring that up.
Father Jack
5 Jun 2009, 23:48
He's talking about money, what part of that don't people understand?
In terms of the money that has been tipped into both the AFL and NRL team, the AFL will dwarf the NRL in terms of pure expenditure ...
If the GC is RL heartland then money shouldn't be a problem either way. Are the Titans broke?
Beaussie
13 Jun 2009, 11:36
Searle is at it again, this time joined by the chairman of the Gold Coast junior rugby league. League fans are apparently working class whilst AFL fans are the elite. :rolleyes:
Let the games begin
June 13, 2009
The Gold Coast may be taking on more football codes than it can juggle, writes Cosima Marriner.
When Gold Coast United soccer players recently were shown waiting in vain to sign up members, rugby league was accused of a clumsy attempt to undermine the rival code. Such an accusation missed the subtlety of intercode rivalry in what quickly has become Australia's most fought-over sugar patch in elite team sport.
Gold Coast rugby league administrators are engaged in more softly-softly subversion of the competition. Brisbane Lions AFL players are given tickets to Titans rugby league games and the different codes often train together.
Subtle or overt, the motivation is the same - to sabotage the chances of new professional teams succeeding in Australia's fastest growing city.
Searching for growth, the four football codes are converging on the Gold Coast. Gold Coast United, the new A-League side, plays its first match in August, while the AFL's 17th team, Gold Coast Football Club, kicks off in 2011. Now rugby is poised to join the throng, with a push to base the newest franchise in the Super 15 competition on the Gold Coast.
"It's about market share for the other codes," says Gold Coast Titans chief executive Michael Searle. "There was always a gentlemen's agreement that we would coexist. Now it's all about broadcast dollars and sustaining growth."
Sixteen thousand people move to the Gold Coast each year. It's Australia's sixth biggest city and its fastest-growing. Tourists flocking to its famed beaches can swell the 500,000 population by up to 20 per cent some weekends, providing a ready-made spectator crowd.
The Gold Coast City Council set up a sports taskforce to encourage more teams and boost the local economy. Now that pay-TV gives all codes a national audience, corporates pay big money to sponsor teams. But does the Gold Coast have sufficient players, fans and deep-pocketed sponsors to sustain four professional codes, particularly now? "If rugby comes in, two will definitely fall over in the first five years," says Peter McGrath, chairman of the Gold Coast junior rugby league.
Who falls will depend on business models but "I can guarantee it won't be rugby league".
The Titans' success sparked the other codes' interest. Since their NRL debut three years ago, the Titans have become a marquee club, selling more merchandise than their rivals, attracting the second-highest number of spectators and some of the highest sponsorship. "Other codes look at that and say, 'Why aren't we there?"' says McGrath. "They all want a piece of the action."
Former Australian Rugby Union director and local businessman Terry Jackman is convinced the Gold Coast should be home to the Super 15th side.
"The Gold Coast is the third-biggest city in rugby heartland [after Sydney and Brisbane]," he says.
"With league, AFL and soccer all having national teams [on the Gold Coast] by 2011, if you don't [have a team] you're going to have difficulty keeping the minds and souls of young people in rugby. We're concerned that if we don't do it, we'll lose kids to other sports."
The AFL considered Darwin, Toowoomba and Tasmania before deciding on the Gold Coast. Construction will soon start on a $130 million, 27,000-seat stadium.
The strategy is to increase AFL support so that Queenslanders can get an AFL match each week, regardless of whether the successful Brisbane Lions or the Gold Coast is interstate. Says Scott Munns, the new Gold Coast club's chief operating officer: "We certainly don't like having a void when the team is playing away."
To protect and expand their franchises, the various codes are ploughing tens of millions of dollars into Gold Coast teams. Much to the envy of the NRL, the AFL is subsidising Gold Coast with $20 million a year - equivalent to the Titans' annual turnover. "Even if no one turns up, there is no corporate sponsorship, no membership, they'll break even," Searle says. "It creates the most unbalanced playing field in the history of sport."
Mining tycoon Clive Palmer is bankrolling the Gold Coast's A-League soccer side. He is the fifth-richest man in Australia, his fortune doubling to $3.4 billion last year.
Gold Coast United chief executive Clive Mensink says Palmer saw the club as a vehicle to further his business interests in soccer-mad Asia. Searle estimates Palmer will underwrite Gold Coast United's licence by up to $10 million a year.
Long-term viability of Gold Coast teams will depend on strong support. Each football code claims the population mix most favours its competition. Gold Coast United hopes to tap into the one in four Gold Coasters born overseas, soccer's status as Australia's highest participation football code and the A-League season running outside the winter timetables of other codes.
The Gold Coast already hosts Melbourne AFL teams. Munns says: "There are lots of [Victorians] here. We hope they continue to support their Melbourne team but adopt the Gold Coast as their home team, where they're living." But league administrators claim Victorian club loyalties are so ingrained that the Gold Coast AFL club will struggle to attract a committed following. "Queensland is a rugby league state, full stop," says league's McGrath. "It is a working man's sport. There are far more working families in Queensland than there are elite."
Yet rugby's Terry Jackman says 50,000 Islanders between Brisbane and Tweed Heads are "all rugby fanatics", as are the one in 10 Gold Coasters born in New Zealand. "If you're going to grow the game, you have to go to where the people are," he says. "It's too dangerous to go away from your heartland."
Queensland Rugby Union chairman Peter Lewis, however, says Melbourne is the "logical place" for a Super 15 team. A second team in South-East Queensland would split supporters and sponsors. "It makes it difficult for both parties."
Titans boss Searle says it will cost $75 million a year to keep all four Gold Coast football teams afloat. "They've all come at once and they're in danger of collapsing," he says of his rivals.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/let-the-games-begin/2009/06/12/1244664847618.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Beaussie
13 Jun 2009, 11:38
If the GC is RL heartland then money shouldn't be a problem either way. Are the Titans broke?
According to Searle:
"It creates the most unbalanced playing field in the history of sport."
:rolleyes:
sausageroll
18 Jun 2009, 14:30
I'd like to see all the major sporting teams on the Gold Coast getting together with GCCC to promote a bit of all the GC teams.
Joint TV campaigns urging GC residents to get behind "our" teams.
Players/officials from each of the codes/sports supporting their so-called rivals to generate huge support in GC sport. All sporting clubs and Gold Coast in general could thrive on it.
It probably sounds a bit lame but something along these lines...
"We love Gold Coast and we love our sport. Let's show the rest of Australia some of that Gold Coast pride and support the great sportsmen and women who are repsresenting our great city"
Like I said, my effort is a bit lame but I'm sure someone in GC publicity could come up with something much better
gostk86
18 Jun 2009, 16:32
not silly at all, but all sports want to dominate, they dont really want to be friends with eachother...when all 3 footy codes will have fans following all 3
not silly at all, but all sports want to dominate, they dont really want to be friends with eachother...
Really, all clubs should really just want to be successful in their own right.
An arrangement where GCFC and the titans could arrange it so that they would play home games in alternate weeks would benefit all parties. A product like a dual membership could be sold.
However I doubt fatboy searle would let that happen. Not much point teaming up with Mineralogy soccer club, they don't have any fans anyway.
sausageroll
18 Jun 2009, 21:09
I like the idea of dual membership and trying to get games on separate weeks. Even different days on the same weekend would be ok if opposite weeks couldn't work.
My thoughts weren't restricted to the football codes though, basketball and other sports could all be involved. It's all about GC pride. Get the people behind ALL teams involved in the Gold Coast.
Father Jack
19 Jun 2009, 12:07
I reckon they should do a deal where a membership of one club allows free entry into one home game of the other club. I'd go to a Titans game if that was the case.
Gibbo_88
19 Jun 2009, 16:17
Does anyone know if the AFL ever really considered Toowoomba because I find that really difficult to believe? Gold Coast and Tassie are definites, Darwin is too small but Toowoomba is a very working family(in Mcgraths words from the article) town than elite.
gostk86
19 Jun 2009, 16:32
I like the idea of dual membership and trying to get games on separate weeks. Even different days on the same weekend would be ok if opposite weeks couldn't work.
My thoughts weren't restricted to the football codes though, basketball and other sports could all be involved. It's all about GC pride. Get the people behind ALL teams involved in the Gold Coast.
totally agree..there is good support for all sports on gold coast, they will all do well, which is a far cry from 1998
Funny if you read over at morons unlimited he is the NRL saviour. :o
gostk86
31 Jul 2009, 12:23
Funny if you read over at morons unlimited he is the NRL saviour. :o
he actually could be..
Titans are one of the best run clubs in Australian Sport..new center of Excellence and his ideas ie: Commission and All star games are something fans are liking...