Lions are "the League's Strategic Disaster"

[POBT]

So says Jake Niall in this article on equalisation.

It is hard to argue with him.

 

[Haso]

He doesn't seem to go into too much more detail though.

 

[POBT]

He doesn't seem to go into too much more detail though.

It struck me as a throwaway line but one that he's thought about. I tend to think that our plight is ignored by the footballing world but Niall seems to have some understanding of how Brisbane has been tossed under the bus by both the League and its own (previous) administration/s.

 

[Ironmonger]

My problem with describing us as the 'AFL's strategic disaster' is that implies that the AFL is more to blame than the club for our predicament.

Since Bowers came in all those years ago we've completely failed to advocate ourselves and our interests to the AFL, and I really don't think they can be blamed for not anticipating what we need better than we can.

I think our issues are more to do with implementation, and failures of communication and management, rather than the AFL's strategy.

 

[POBT]

I think that is a factor but I also think in a league with only 18 teams at the elite level, there should be an expectation on the peak body to be aware of the differing needs/challenges of all its clubs and to respond before things get critical.

However, I agree that we should have been more in control of our own destiny.

 

[Judge]

My problem with describing us as the 'AFL's strategic disaster' is that implies that the AFL is more to blame than the club for our predicament.

Since Bowers came in all those years ago we've completely failed to advocate ourselves and our interests to the AFL, and I really don't think they can be blamed for not anticipating what we need better than we can.

I think our issues are more to do with implementation, and failures of communication and management, rather than the AFL's strategy.

Do you think so Tom?

In relation to Brisbane, what, exactly, has been the AFL's strategy?

I've seen/heard plenty of lip service from AD and others about the imperative to protect and promote the Brisbane market, due to the introduction of the Suns etc, but I can't say that I have noticed anything specific in terms of implementation. Easter Thursday games? Gee, thanks....but what else?

My son has been playing AFL juniors for 5 years now, but apart from free Lions GA tickets (which I assume is a Lions initiative) you never see any communications from head office aimed at entrenching players/families in the AFL ranks.

So, I'm just wondering exactly where Brisbane stands with the AFL. My provisional view is that for commercial reasons we receive the bare minimum of attention - we've already won some flags so the focus instead is on promoting the interests of GC and GWS, as well as saving Melbourne from bankruptcy/irrelevance.

I agree that we've been our own worst enemy at times (thanks to Bowers, Kelly, Johnson et al), but it seems to me that if we're going to make up ground we can't count on the AFL for any great leg-up.

 

[Viceregal]

Considering that the 'status quo' was already known to be unsustainable back in 2001 (if that is when Leigh made the comments about the Gabba arrangements etc) and that was before the league wide retention allowance was removed and before the addition of our little bastards cousins down the road ... what elements of strategic thinking from the House have been thought of of implemented that would have mitigated the 'disaster' ... the only one that springs to mind is the Academy ...

 

[POBT]

I would also say that, irrespective of the cause/s, a struggling and irrelevant Brisbane club is a major strategic issue for the AFL.

Smaller Melbourne clubs could fold and the benefits (the opportunity to place a team somewhere which is a higher priority) would equal or outweigh the losses for the AFL.

The AFL simply won't let Brisbane fold or, at least, won't let the Brisbane area go without a senior team. Brisbane needs to be represented in a national comp and this is too big a population to ignore. I think that's why we are strategically so important....and how our ongoing issues (self-caused, caused by external factors like the economy/natural disasters or caused by the AFL taking their eye off us) are a significant problem for the AFL.

 

[Ironmonger]

Do you think so Tom?

I think the AFL would’ve expected the club to drive the strategy in Brisbane from the start of the 2000s onwards. I don’t know how the AFLQ’s marketing strategy works on the ground but I don’t think it’s unreasonable that the Lions would be expected to take responsibility for their own patch in Brisbane, including the odd free ticket for juniors.

And until 2010 that seemed like a reasonable plan. The AFL would’ve assumed that the decisions to sign Voss as coach, to trade for Fevola, and to change the logo and jumper, were all based on a local understanding of the Brisbane market that they weren’t in a position to second-guess.

The most recent example of targeted support we’ve gotten from the AFL is the commitment to the Springfield training facility. And now it seems we didn’t understand the status of the Federal Government support. So on that score it seems like the AFL has come to the party on a project we’ve spearheaded, and we haven’t managed it well enough to capitalise on that, at least to this point.

There's a balance here. Greater support from the AFL means more intrusions on our autonomy in our backyard. We'd probably get pretty upset about that if it hadn't become abundantly obvious that the club's last two generations of management had been so poor.

 

[dlanod]

Reading Leigh's autobiography (and obviously it's one side of the story), it strongly came across that the Lions burnt their central office bridges several times over when they could get away with it, but the attitude carried on at the Lions through the Bower years even after it became more apparent that we were nowhere near the powerhouse we once were. Our chickens were coming home to roost, and it's probably not until the last couple of years that the communication had improved.

 

[Tassie4ever]

Money conquers all. We need some big corporate sponsors on board, bringing with them the big dollars.

The main reason there isn't an AFL side in Tassie is that there is simply not enough corporate support there [I could go on to my usual rant about the Greens at this point but I will resist]. This is not the case in Qld.

For heavens sake, the two States doing best by far are WA and Queensland. Sponsorship should be far easier here as a consequence, what with $ billions being invested right now by multinationals.

Our game offers national coverage with excellent media support [Brisbane excepted] in every capital city. This is our key selling point when compared to alternative codes.

We will never be able to compete with Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn etc in basic membership numbers, and while there might be some form of equalisation put in place, while Eddie's arse points to the ground we will never get anything like a fair share of the total revenue cake to offset the difference. Why would the major power players give us a fair leg up? It's just not in their interests.

Lastly, as is recognised here, we need to sort out the Gabba rental rip-off. How is that the Lions provide most of the moola to keep the place running while at the same time we are told what sort of surface we will play on.

 

[POBT]

The issue with getting corporate support is that we are up against 2 very strong brands in the Broncos and the Reds. The Broncos enjoy mass popular support while the Reds manage to capture much of that professional sector due to the old rugby school ties etc.

Add to that our lack of success for 10 years, the complete lack of media coverage and our low profile even within our own sport, and we're not exactly an attractive option for the corporate heavy hitters (hence why we're sponsored by an insurance brand most hadn't heard of and a storage company).

Whenever we talk about what we need to fix this club, we turn into a dog chasing its tail. The reality is that we need a combination of exceptional management and genuine, long lasting structural support from the AFL. Things like sponsorship, better on field performances etc are outcomes rather than strategies for dealing with the situation we find ourselves in.

 

[Tassie4ever]

The issue with getting corporate support is that we are up against 2 very strong brands in the Broncos and the Reds. The Broncos enjoy mass popular support while the Reds manage to capture much of that professional sector due to the old rugby school ties etc.

Add to that our lack of success for 10 years, the complete lack of media coverage and our low profile even within our own sport, and we're not exactly an attractive option for the corporate heavy hitters (hence why we're sponsored by an insurance brand most hadn't heard of and a storage company).

Whenever we talk about what we need to fix this club, we turn into a dog chasing its tail. The reality is that we need a combination of exceptional management and genuine, long lasting structural support from the AFL. Things like sponsorship, better on field performances etc are outcomes rather than strategies for dealing with the situation we find ourselves in.

Correct me if I am wrong as per, but I don't recall overwhelming corporate support even in our halcyon days, so I don't accept that on-field success will of itself lead to the big dollars coming on board.

I agree that we need a real injection of management expertise, and the fact that we haven't had this is evidenced by our continuing parlous financial position.

Don't we have a local [shudder] variant of Eddie- someone who can take the game on at the corporate level? Ok, Collingwood is the biggest AFL name in the business but AFAIK Emirates isn't based out of Melbourne but I get the clear sponsorship link.

Involved right now in Gladstone [ie, not Melbourne] are: Santos, Petronas, Total, Korean Gas, British Gas, QCLNG etc. A few big names there I'd have thought.

I know bugger all about tying up sponsorships, and I would expect that if it was as simple as I am putting it it would have been done already, but it seems to me that there is at least some potential.

Whenever I watch matches out of Perth or Adelaide, I can't help but notice the multinational sponsorships on sideline video banners. What do we have? Devine Homes and National Storage [not to denigrate their support, but multinationals they ain't].

I repeat- Tassie would give its right arm to have Queensland marketplace conditions, and I can assure you that if Tassie had more than trees [oh that's right- apart from in the 50% of the State already reserved, there aren't any trees], Cadbury's and can't think of anything more seeing tourism has gone down the chute, we'd have a team there for sure. As it is, Tassie is left to hoping that some Melbourne benefactor might come on board. Ain't gunna happen, just as nothing monumental is going to arrive out of the power centre for us.

Love to see us once again in the position where the Big D is flying up here to rein us in rather than patronising the crap out of us.

 

[POBT]

Correct me if I am wrong as per, but I don't recall overwhelming corporate support even in our halcyon days, so I don't accept that on-field success will of itself lead to the big dollars coming on board.

Vodafone and AAPT were involved IIRC.

I am involved in sponsorship so can speak with some knowledge about this issue. Even highly visible, trusted organisations have to work incredibly hard to obtain sponsorship dollars. In my experience, there is not a latent group of corporate heavy hitters waiting to attach their brand to just anyone. My area of expertise is in community and not for profits. We find things a little easier because there is a corporate social responsibility benefit attached to sponsoring groups doing good things. Even then, sponsors want high visibility - they don't hand over money just because you have your hand out.

It is a lot harder for most sports organisations.

 

[Brisbane2013]

You know a team is irrelevant when national storage is our sponsor

 

[Haso]

You know a team is irrelevant when national storage is our sponsor

Thanks for sharing some of your business acumen.

 

[Judge]

You know a team is irrelevant when national storage is our sponsor

I dunno, their cash is as good as anyone else's.

I'm not sure how big National Storage is ( although I assume they operate across the nation) but I'm happy to accept and support any company that's prepared to put money into our club. More power to them!

 

[Viceregal]

I'm happy to accept and support any company that's prepared to put money into our club.

Let's have a round of applause as the Justin Bieber Lions come onto the field!!!

 

[western royboy]

My understanding of the situation is this - post 1997 - AFL goes in heavy helps negotiate Lethal as coach and sponsorship CUB & Coke from memory. 2001-2003 Triple premiership Era - rivers of cash - strong balance sheet - good corporate support - AFL pats itself on the back "Our work here is done". Bowers appointed CEO at end of 2001, immediately gets AFL offside by attempting to sell pourage rights at Gabba to Schweppes over AFL corporate partner Coke (and our one time saviour) Immediate post 3peat era - Corporate support drops off significantly - initially corporate boxes, then extends further through all levels. AFL doesn't see warning signs - neither does club. 2007 GFC - Investment made from golden era turn to dust, on field and off field things turn to s**t - AFL announces entry of Suns. 2010 - Rock bottom - the Fevolution and Paddlepop are introduced in an attempt to turn the tide, but like the floods that would engulf the city early the next year, rather than turn the tide it merely provided more rubbish to clean up later on.
2013 AFL finally realises they have a serious problem - Internal Board infighting, the threat of an EGM - AFL intereference - "negotiated settlements".

It's hard to disagree with Jake Niall's assessment - certainly those journo's close to Vlad (of which Jake is not one) up until very recently would not hear anything to the contrary that all responsibility lay at the foot of the administration. Certainly the club must take a large part of the blame, but the AFL continues to underestimate what a tough environment the club operates in. As a guide if you watch Fox Sports News there is very little coverage givejn to the Lions compared to the Broncos or the Reds. Growing up in Brisbane and playing aussie rules doesn't mean you barrack for the Lions, but in Perth its predominantly the West Coast and to a lesser extent Freo.

With the suns down the road all the afl have done is splinter the support for the club. They will never admit it but internally they know they have. Propping us up they must do, but they didn't factor it in hving to do so in anyway shape or form.

 

[POBT]

Top post western royboy - failure all round.

 

[Ironmonger]

Surely at the start of 2010 the signs were positive? We went from 23k members in 08, to 26k in 09, to 30k in 10. I really don't think the Fevola recruitment and the Paddlepop jumper were about 'turning the tide'.

 

[POBT]

Surely at the start of 2010 the signs were positive? We went from 23k members in 08, to 26k in 09, to 30k in 10. I really don't think the Fevola recruitment and the Paddlepop jumper were about 'turning the tide'.

It would have been interesting if we'd somehow made the finals in 2010. Would it have been delaying the inevitable decline or would it given the club some breathing space and some extra dollars to allow it to get back on its feet?

 

[Ironmonger]

It would have been interesting if we'd somehow made the finals in 2010. Would it have been delaying the inevitable decline or would it given the club some breathing space and some extra dollars to allow it to get back on its feet?

I think some kind of fall was inevitable, but you'd like to think we didn't need anything quite as drastic as the 2010 collapse to take a good look at ourselves.

2008 is the real 'what-if' season, for mine. We lost some very winnable games in the second half of the year and just missed the eight. Leigh might've been motivated to stick around a bit longer, and maybe push through with the mooted Voss succession plan idea. Would've given Voss a better chance of being successful as a coach, and give him some PR cover from the tough decisions that needed to be made.

 

[western royboy]

Surely at the start of 2010 the signs were positive? We went from 23k members in 08, to 26k in 09, to 30k in 10. I really don't think the Fevola recruitment and the Paddlepop jumper were about 'turning the tide'.

I was 100% at the time and remain adamant that the rebranding and the Fevolution were an ill thought plan to try and position the club prior to the entry of the Suns. It would take a fair bit of evidence to the contrary to convince me otherwise.

 

[Haso]

Stunning of true. You would think that the smart money would have been on sticking firm to the traditional Lions brand, what with the new plastic franchise down the freeway. SEQ didn't need two plastic clubs.