Could someone please post this article
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp....16847a253f3cdc
Pretty please!!! I want to read this eagerly.
Last edited by Mr Bods; 07-06-20 at 11:13 AM.
Titans saviour Darryl Kelly has made a $25 million sacrifice to turn the club into an NRL powerhouse as Peter Vlandys vowed to not kill the Gold Coast with a new Queensland team.
The Sunday Mail can today reveal the remarkable contribution Kelly has made to ensure the long-term survival of rugby league on the Gold Coast.
Kelly and wife Joanne have offloaded a significant portion of their property and business portfolio to bankroll the Titans™ $25 million leagues club development.
In a competition where hands are permanently held out asking for money, the Kellys personal sacrifice is mind-blowing.
After initially losing more than $5 million in their first investment in the Titans, the modest family from Wagga Wagga joined Rebecca and Brett Frizelle to buy the battling club from the NRL in 2017.
Kelly has made it his mission to give the Titans a strong financial base to compete with the NRLs most successful clubs.
To do that, the Titans needed a consistent non-football revenue stream and Kelly settled on financing a leagues club development at Oxenford.
At 69, Kelly knows the loan will never be repaid in his lifetime, but says there are more important things in life than money.
“We want to be one of the strongest teams in the competition and we need financial strength to be able to do that” Kelly said.
“To make long-term decisions you need to know there is financial backing to facilitate those decisions.”
Its a concession from me, not a sacrifice. Im not giving it to anybody, Im doing an unsecured loan.
I am comfortable with it because Im at a stage of life where other things are more important.
Im not someone who aspires to great (financial) heights and Ive done a lot better than I ever thought I would. Im more than comfortable with my position.
Ive been committed to this club now for eight years, Im not going to walk away now.
I need to get it to a point in the next few years where it doesn’t need my commitment.
I am getting older. My usefulness is going to come to an end.
When the Titans face the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium tonight, there will be few keener observers than Kelly in the loungeroom of his Gold Coast home.
Darryl Kelly and Jo Kelly sit alongside former NRL boss Todd Greenberg, and Rebecca Frizelle. Picture Glenn Hampson He lives and breathes the clubs results, partly due to his investment in the Titans but also from his love of rugby league.
It has been 364 days since the Titans last tasted victory in the NRL, with the club on a 14-game losing streak stretching back to the 2019 wooden spoon season.
Coach Justin Holbrook has overhauled the Titans by axing representative players Nathan Peats, Jarrod Wallace and Shannon Boyd for the Tigers game.
When you look at Kellys investment in the Titans it is easy to see why it pains him to see the team losing and uncommitted players failing on the field.
The Titans lack of success regularly raises questions about the clubs long-term future, but Kelly is unequivocal in his support.
It is difficult I am a fan of the game he said.
Im a member of the Titans football club and we’re all feeling the pain.
Im very confident in Justin and our football department to get the results.
Weve come from a very low base. We need to do a lot to improve, but Im confident they will deliver.
The NRL have never wavered (in their support of the Titans) since the day they took it over (in 2015). They did six months of research before they took over the club.
They knew the Gold Coast was a key area for growth and is very important for the game. They shared our views. Thats why they invested the time and money into it and were carrying on from it now.
When Vlandys was appointed chairman of the ARL Commission late last year, one of the first goals he set was to bring a 17th team into the NRL from 2023.
If the NRL can emerge from COVID-19 in strong shape, the new team is certain to be located in south east Queensland, presenting the Titans with a new challenge on and off the field.
The straight-shooting Kelly fronted Vlandys about his expansion plans and how they would affect the Titans.
I caught up with Darryl at Christmas time and he expressed concerns, Vlandys said.
We value his contribution enormously. He is one of the real benefactors for rugby league. We have the ultimate respect for him.
There’s no way we are going to do anything that hurts the Gold Coast
They’re front and centre of our thoughts, there is no way we are going to do anything that will in any way harm them or the Broncos.
The business case has to stack up. Its going to have to have a very good business case and show how it doesnt affect those two clubs.
It’s got to make sense. Its got to tick all the boxes.
Kelly left his two-minute conversation with Vlandys confident about the future of the Titans and rugby league in Queensland.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the leagues club plans and a potential change in the NRL clubs funding model under Vlandys could mean the Titans are not as reliant on external revenue.
But Kelly remains committed to delivering the Titans the backing they need and embracing the competition of a new Queensland rival.
With the coronavirus we will wait and see what the impacts are moving forward,¯ he said.
Weve got to understand the impacts before we commit to spending $25 million.
We are very comfortable with where we sit at the moment.
I am about the game I always have been and always will be about whats best for the game¯
Thanks hanging.
Darryl and Rebecca are the greatest.
Rather than using wealth to just go after getting more wealth and/or power they are using it to build something valuable for their local community.
They are special.
Thanks for posting that article mate, I tried to this morning but couldn’t find a link.
Darryl Kelly, we would have folded without him.
It’s not worth $25 million but I hope Darryl enjoyed that win.
Congratulations to our very own Rebecca Frizelle on her well deserved OA ... a great day for the Titans family.
Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.
This is a great thing that Mr Kelly is doing for the club. We are very lucky to have a guy like him in the clubs corner.
#TitansThruNThru #WeAreReady
Does anyone know the current make up of our Board?
Rebecca Frizelle will forever be remembered for stating: “Rugby League is the greatest game FOR all” ... truly an inspiration.
Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.