Question & Answer: Michael Searle

[Ryan]

Gold Coast Titans' Michael Searle says AFL's new Suns are no threat
The Sunday Mail (Qld)
January 30, 2011 12:00AM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/...-1225996565814



LIVING IN HARMONY: Gold Coast club CEOs Travis Auld (Suns); Dave Claxton (Blaze), Clive Mensink (United) and Michael Searle (Titans). Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)



THE Titans reached the NRL preliminary final last year despite off-field dramas surrounding their Centre of Excellence. This year, they will have to contend with the rise of the AFL's Suns at Carrara.
Steve Ricketts catches up with managing director Michael Searle:-



SR: Will the Suns be viewed as good neighbours or bitter enemies?

At the end of the day it's about the Gold Coast, it's not so much about rival codes. I'm a passionate rugby league person but I'm also aware we're both in the town for the long haul . . . I've got a great relationship with (Suns chief executive) Travis Auld. The stability of the codes is important for our brand. We were the first ones to come back and try to destroy the myth of the 1980s that national clubs couldn't survive here. We now have four codes here and I think a great outcome in five years would be that we still have four codes.


Is it an unfair fight when the AFL has so much money ($20m a year) behind the Suns?

From day one we've never asked for any concessions under the salary cap, we've never asked for any exceptional opportunities. The NRL have been good in the marketing stakes and have been very supportive with concepts our club has activated like the Indigenous All Stars match. You cannot manufacture that sort of passion. It's really important for the Titans, as much as it is to rugby league, that the All Stars match stays on the Coast, because that becomes a real asset for us at the start of the season to create that hype around our region. Would our club be happy with $20m? I don't think anyone would say no, but we've been able to do incredible things in the community, with limited resources. I think that has come about because of our wonderful playing group which understands how important the community is for us.

So the Suns have a tough job?

The Suns have a massive job. When we were starting out there were more risks than rewards. There was only one reward and that was to be successful on the field. The risks were player behaviour, fans' disengagement, fan fatigue, the hype of the honeymoon and then decline.

The bookies have written your side off as too old. Can you improve on last year's preliminary final?

Definitely. I've never agreed that the age factor is a bona fide key performance indicator. The techniques in training these days add years to their careers . . . Let people write us off.

Was last year your toughest yet?

I learned that even in the darkest times some of your greatest supporters are those you don't expect. We had an incredible wave of support last year. Some got enjoyment out of what happened (the protracted legal battle between the Titans and Centre of Excellence developers Simcorp) because it was the first scandal they could attach to this club. The same people who were saying there were going to be drunken orgies in Surfers Paradise (when the club formed) were rubbing their hands together through this story. Test of character? Yes. Test of faith? Definitely. What we did prove was that tenacity, passion and commitment were all the things that got us the licence for six years. We had a lot of mud thrown at us, but we still came in Monday mornings.

So the financial picture is firm?

It cost us $4 million and it's going to take us four or five years to work our way through that. I don't know too many organisations that could have gone through what we went through last year. Fortunately I have a very supportive board and the Centre of Excellence is an incredible community asset. It's the most cutting edge facility we have in professional football. It dwarfs what AFL has and we don't do that in many spaces. Players don't want to leave when you have facilities like this. It's not all about money. A lot of the quality kids we have here have not gone to market. Five years ago it might have gone to a Dutch auction. This centre will repay itself in spades.

You've been at the forefront of plans for a new Independent Commission. Where is it at?

The clubs have got to a position where we've come to some sort of agreement between News Ltd (publishers of The Sunday Mail) and the ARL. Our role was to facilitate an outcome for the game. The urgency has always been around the new TV deal and I think the appointment of the commission would greatly assist (NRL chief executive) David Gallop and his staff to make sure the best possible deal is secured for rugby league. Delaying the commission's appointment would be disappointing if it meant missing out on that opportunity, particularly with the AFL moving as quickly as they are.

Are you still confident the commission can take the game to another level?

Independent people will bring a new slant to the game. It won't always be a positive slant for the clubs or players. But you have high levels of expectations when you have people with strong corporate governance who are going to implement procedures and policies that may not be popular.

What are a couple of areas where the average fan might be better off under the commission?

Our game is currently under-funded and some of the angst we receive is around players changing clubs, around players being poached by other codes. I think this model will make the game more efficient. NRL fans will see a more stable playing roster because we will have more resources to keep players. There will be a more unified approach to development and fan recruitment. The fragmentation of the leagues has made it difficult in those areas.

[DIEHARD]

Thanks for posting this Ryan.

I definitely agree with everything Michael has said here. I applaud the way he isn't hostile towards the AFL, at least openly. Surely he is a strategist behind closed doors. But Rugby League was always the sport of inclusion which got savaged by others. I'd feel uncomfortable if we played the game by the rules RU and AFL uses. And I hope we continue a friendly attitude when expanding in Perth and pushing ahead in Melbourne.

It is also pretty cool to see the four sporting code CEOs/Managing Directors in that picture and I think that that only exists because of the Gold Coast Titans. Very satisfying for the sake of the Gold Coast.

[TITAN PETE]

Thanks for posting this Ryan.

I definitely agree with everything Michael has said here. I applaud the way he isn't hostile towards the AFL, at least openly. Surely he is a strategist behind closed doors. But Rugby League was always the sport of inclusion which got savaged by others. I'd feel uncomfortable if we played the game by the rules RU and AFL uses. And I hope we continue a friendly attitude when expanding in Perth and pushing ahead in Melbourne.

It is also pretty cool to see the four sporting code CEOs/Managing Directors in that picture and I think that that only exists because of the Gold Coast Titans. Very satisfying for the sake of the Gold Coast.

You are exactly right Brad & Searley looks genuinely happy where there is a little look of Fear & Arrogance on couple of the other dials

I love reading anything Michael says & it instills confidence in our future

[lonegull]

cant agree more titan pete well said