Titans Ownership

[Mexican titan]

I will be speaking with Smith on Friday to find out where everything stands. Only being cautious as I don't want media using stuff I say to beef up there stories mate.

I'm sure you are comforted by not believing much of what is in the media. There are a whole host of reasons why the NRL would not sell at the moment. The main one is probably that the Titans will be far more marketable in the future than they are now and that they want to get the club to the best possible position in the interim. They also may not like the idea of playing a number of games away from the Coast and handing a lot of clear air to the Suns. A part move to Rockhampton may also compromise the bid for a new licence up there, not that I think they will get it.
The bloke from Griffith Uni seems to have read the landscape pretty well to me.

[DIEHARD]

Titans coach Neil Henry says club should look at games in Rockhampton as stadium talks intensify

GOLD Coast Titans coach Neil Henry says there is merit to taking some of the club’s home games north to Rockhampton on the same day the Queensland Government told the NRL club that it would not help financially with their battle for a better stadium deal.

In what has been a whirlwind couple of days for the Titans, Rockhampton-based construction magnate Geoff Murphy admitted he wanted to buy the Gold Coast club off the NRL.

The sport’s governing body took control of the Titans earlier this year when it became clear that the club was struggling financially.

Murphy said at the very least he would like to invest in the club and explore bringing some of their games to central Queensland.

The move comes at a time when Titans management and the NRL are locked in intense negotiations with Stadiums Queensland over a lease agreement to allow the club to play it’s home games at Cbus Super Stadium in Robina.

One of the first issues the NRL hoped to address when it took over the Titans was the stadium deal, understood to be the most expensive in the competition.

So far this year, the club has been forced to negotiate short-term deals for the hire of the ground.

But any hope of the Queensland Government stepping in to help out with the negotiations involving their stadium management arm and the Titans or providing financial assistance were well and truly dashed.

A government spokesman said any subsidy would expose it to millions in funding requests from other clubs at various venues around the state and it was not willing to pass those costs on to the taxpayer.

“We want to see the Titans on the Gold Coast for a long time but we’re not in the business of getting their financial house in order using taxpayer funds from around the state,” he said.

“The government made a serious investment with the $160 million Cbus Stadium for the benefit of the NRL, the Titans and Gold Coast league fans.

“They’ll be able to get the best possible deal on terms that are commercial and fair.”

A Stadiums Queensland spokesman said this week’s game was under no threat with tickets still on sale as it works with stakeholders to host the game at the venue.

And while the NRL have moved to play down the chance of the Titans taking their games away from Robina, yesterday Henry said the idea should at least be looked at.

Having, spent five years in charge at the North Queensland Cowboys, Henry has seen first-hand the way in which a regional centre can embrace an elite team.

“It will be up to powers bigger than me to make any decisions on that,” Henry said.

“The club has taken games away before by playing Penrith in Darwin a few yeaNeil Henryrs ago and other clubs do it.

“It’s for a bit of financial reward but also to take the game to a country area where they love their rugby league.

“I can see merit in taking games up to Rockhampton and playing there cause it is a rugby league area and if it’s financially beneficial to the club and cuts some costs I haven’t got a problem with that.”

Henry said the move would also help boost crowd figures for the club which has so far averaged 11,444 at home this season, the fourth lowest of the competition.

“You always have teams you struggled to draw a crowd to when they come to the Gold Coast so you could certainly look at taking a couple of those games away,” he said.

“As for the relocation or selling of the license it’s not going to happen.

“We are here and on the Gold Coast, it’s Gold Coast license and we are here to stay.”

Murphy has championed the push for NRL in central Queensland for six years but said by no means was it his intention to push for a relocation of the Titans to Rockhampton.

Rather, the respected businessman said he intended the proposed deal to be a “win-win” for the Gold Coast and central Queensland.

Despite the NRL’s reluctance to look at new suitors for the Titans at the moment, Murphy told the Bulletin he was willing to wait the 12 or 18 months.

But he warned the longer the NRL waits, there was a risk that his plans could change.

“The timing is acceptable to me, I don’t think it needs to be rushed any sooner than that,” he said.

“That’s what the NRL have said… that they feel it’s going to be 12-18 months down the track.

“There’s a chance that I’ll move on, there’s no question about that. All of that will depend on some sort of early finalisation of discussions.

“I would certainly suggest that if we could play about four games in Rockhampton and central Queensland that would be in the vein of what I’m sort of looking at.”

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/nrl

[Numbers]

Titans coach Neil Henry says club should look at games in Rockhampton as stadium talks intensify

I think this headline is bogus. I heard Henry canvassed on this issue on the radio on Monday evening and the crux of what he said was that decisions on where the Titans play their home games don't involve him. Yes he was happy to discuss some of the positives that flow from playing games in areas that don't have regular NRL footy, but in no way did he suggest that it was something he thought the club should be looking to do.

[Mexican titan]

[B][U]“We want to see the Titans on the Gold Coast for a long time but we’re not in the business of getting their financial house in order using taxpayer funds from around the state,” he said.

When will these pr1cks realise that it was my/our taxpayer funds that built it and ever since they have made it hard for the taxpayers that paid for it to properly enjoy it with all the various restrictions they have imposed.

[DIEHARD]

When will these pr1cks realise that it was my/our taxpayer funds that built it and ever since they have made it hard for the taxpayers that paid for it to properly enjoy it with all the various restrictions they have imposed.

Absolutely it is a public asset and it needs to be accessible to the public.

[Numbers]

And it is particularly annoying as there doesn't seem to be any debate that the we're paying a lot more to hire the stadium than other teams in the comp. do for their grounds. I don't expect us to get it on the cheap but it seems the Govt want us to pay overs because it is the only ground in town.

[Titanic]

Conversely, we can't expect the ground to lose money on one club's financial model … praise to Searle for another tangfu.