Austadiums Forum

Rewind 5 or so years when all the sporting codes wanted in on the Gold Coast, thinking it's the next big market. 2 brand new stadiums, the Titans, GC United & Gold Coast Suns, to add to the Gold Coast Blaze playing at the reasonably new GC Convention Centre. Doesn't look so rosey now does it with United as good as gone & Titans in the sh1t.

Does the Gold Coast community really give a stuff about sport?

cam wrote:Rewind 5 or so years when all the sporting codes wanted in on the Gold Coast, thinking it's the next big market. 2 brand new stadiums, the Titans, GC United & Gold Coast Suns, to add to the Gold Coast Blaze playing at the reasonably new GC Convention Centre. Doesn't look so rosey now does it with United as good as gone & Titans in the sh1t.

Does the Gold Coast community really give a stuff about sport?

In all fairness, the Titans crowds don't seem that bad. They don't draw under 10k, whereas there are plenty of NRL teams that do now and then. It seems that their problems stem from incompetent management who thought they could spend a shitload on some absurdly extravagant 'centre of excellence' and now they can't service their debt on it.

If they go under, they wouldn't be the first company to do so because they overspent on big capital projects. ABC Learning is one that immediately comes to mind.

Gold coast is at best a holiday strip for families in reality is is a retirement village,yes it has a population base but not one that was going to suport sport...by the time they get into it they die.

the crow wrote:Gold coast is at best a holiday strip for families in reality is is a retirement village,yes it has a population base but not one that was going to suport sport...by the time they get into it they die.

maaaaatlock

Dave Taylor's homesick wife has done the Titans a favour, with the Origin rep set to sign for GC at the end of this year after his stint with Souff Shitme.

Phuck Souffs.

Dodgey property developers getting into financial trouble on the Gold Coast - that's a new one

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1vkcq.html

so what's the 1996 GC club? I don't recall anything between the Seagulls and Giants and Chargers...

The 1996 club was the Gold Coast Gladiators. They existed for a pre season.

Here's the background. The Tweed Heads Seagulls build a massive club in Tweeed Heads West. They take advantage of being a border town next to a state that has no pokies. People from Qld are literally bussed in and the club makes shitloads (see Queanbeyan Leagues, Twin Town Services Club and Lavington Sports Club for other examples). Seagulls do a big reno in the 1980s. They take over the Giants in 1990. Shortly after Qld introduces pokies. The club still does well but they've overextended themselves when you think about the new competitive environment. At the end of 1995 Seagulls could no longer cope. They sell Chris Cunningham Field (Seagulls Stadium) for housing to help pay the debts and they are later taken over by North Sydney Leagues Club. Businessmen Jeff Muller purchases the football club's licence. The club's name is changed to Gold Coast Gladiators. They adopted that clipart emblem and colours of teal and purple (the only thing that survived into the Chargers era). The Muller era is plagued with stories of woe. Players didn't have water bottles provided at their first training session/selection trials. Apparently Muller's wife was urging him to pick players that had a "nice arse". For a trial they played at NSO, they didn't even have kits and the ARL supplied them instead. After a few months, the ARL revoked the licence and set up the Chargers, which they wholly owned and got some of their own men (Paul Brouughton and Tom Bellew) to administer.

Interestingly, the Gladiators won the Plate comeptition at the 1996 World Sevens, so they weren't totally unsuccessful.

See the article below for more context.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-l ... 15mv5.html

BTW the claim that the Chargers were a failure is a bit hard to swallow. They were collatral damage as part of the NRL peace process of rationalisation. Like Super League giving up Hunter, Perth and Adelaide, the ARL gave up the Crushers and Chargers. The difference between the Chargers and the other clubs was that they were profitable. They had $2m in the bank at the end of 1998 when the NRL terminated their licence. The account continued to be managed by the ARL and Broughton for several years after. If memory serves, they used it as a short term lending account for clubs that had cash flow problems in the intervening years.

The Chargers were also on the bubble. Didn't they scrape into the ARL finals series amid a wave of genuine excitement?

also:
GC RL ca.1996 = GC A-League ca.2012

As the article above said, before there was Clive Palmer, there was Jeff Muller.

The Chargers made the finals in the 12 team ARL competition of 1997. It was a top 7 that year and they finished 7th. They knocked out the Steelers in week 1 before being eliminated by the Roosters in week 2.

Interestingly, Michael Searle, who owns 80% of the Titans played 55 First Grade games for Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls from 1988-1995.

Jeffles wrote:Interestingly, Michael Searle, who owns 80% of the Titans played 55 First Grade games for Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls from 1988-1995.

Another example of an ex-player who thinks he can be a good administrator because he "knows the game". The sooner clubs get rid of ex-players running (and sometimes coaching) the joint, the better off everyone will be.

I think that's a bit harsh. I don't have a problem with ex players, as long as they are properly qualified. Dimetriou's an ex player. He goes all right to say the least. And Searle is an accountant (make of that what you will) who was able to raise the start up finance for the Titans. At least these guys know business.

It's a lot better than the days of old. Certain ex-players were simply out of their depth. Newtown's last Secretary Manager during their First Grade era was an ex-player. His occupation - brickie. FFS!

So if the Titans are supposed to be in financial trouble, why are they splashing cash on Taylor and Cronk?

Because their owner is in denial. The Daily Telegraph reports today a consortium (is their any other collective noun) of businessmen are looking at investing in GCT if Searle gets out of there.

I doubt he'll go for that. It stuffed up my tipping (along with a few other games) but how good is it to see Wests Tigers fans disappointed? I really hope Canberra have a good year.

On the stadium front (that's why we're all here), Parramatta Stadium has copped a belting from Sydney press and Ivan Cleary following last Friday's game. Both papers today devote big space to the "emergency repairs" that had to take place yesterday so they can play this weekend. Contrast this with Monday's Daily Telegraph which praised ANZ Stadium for its ability to turn around after the AFL on Saturday. When the DT starts liking ANZ Stadium, you know things have changed.

From the Matt Rendell files, Ch 9 news reported some ex-Parra players self-styled as "experts" were blaming an oversupply of Polynesian players for Parramatta's misfortunes. I find that hard to accept given the Warriros made the GF last year. I think Parra's problems come down to an oversupply of players not playing to their reputation. On paper, they are a top 8 side.

Jeffles wrote:how good is it to see Wests Tigers fans disappointed?

Heaven, basically.