News: Leadership and the state of play, an opinion piece

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Dan

Kim Jong Dan
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In any normal business executive performance is often measured by shareholder return and shareholder value, in any normal corporate body this is an easy way to measure performance, but it can also be misleading.

Read the full article
 
A good read.
Along the same lines of the fans insisting on a daytime GF, to me one of the big issues is the way the media is completely controlling the game, and why we can't have the year's schedule published in advance. It works for the AFL just fine. As it is we have Manly vs Knights as the pick of the round for Sunday tv this weekend and most other fans would go who cares as they are both struggling.

It is just another piece of the NRL puzzle where the fans come last. I am travelling to Brisbane and have kept tabs on airfares and have missed some of the best deals. People like to go to the footie but things like weddings, birthday celebrations etc are planned many, many months out and no matter how careful the planning is done it always causes clashes because we just don't know when the games are being played. Sure, MNF is a ratings success but it does nothing for the supporter. We are stuck with an administration going nowhere.
 
Thanks. I forgot to mention the scheduling, that was originally my gripe. I have to come to Sydney in late may the weekend I get there manly have a home game, flying in on Friday is hard but I would do it if they had a Friday night game or early sat as it is I am going to have to gamble on the game being Saturday night and fly in Saturday morning
 
Dan, your childhood memories are similar to mine. I was influenced by being taken out to Brookvale at a very early age. The Mighty Eagles won of course, and I've been hooked ever since. I just couldn't wait for every second Sunday to come around.
For the game to secure a future today's kids need the opportunity to share the great moments of successes and the pain of losses first hand. That's where the passion begins.
Day time Grandfinals are a must and more daytime weekend footy matches so that families can get out there at suitable time. The way the comp runs now there are 5 night matches and only 3 daytime ones. This places limits on a lot of families.
If we want today's kids to develop the passion for the game that we adults did 20-30 years ago, the tossers up the top have to stop thinking about the dollar and start thinking about the fans who the game really belongs to.
Unfortunately it seems unlikely that this will happen.
 
Well it won't happen as long as we let it not happen.

How we start getting the NRL to listen to us I don't know but it is important that if they ever have a fans forum, or any groundswell movement from the media to get the fans listened to we get there in numbers.

If they ever have a forum with the fans I will be doing everything in my power, either to get myself there and in the group, or will be getting someone there as my proxy.

It is currently and absolute joke and we are treated like we dont matter and what we want doesnt matter, when in actual fact it matters more than any other person. As Beaver said in his books, we are the ones that let the players live their dreams and we are the ones that keep them with people to play for.

I will hopefully be writing a follow on article about Gallops reaction to drinking and a bit of a comment on that situation of players drinking. These articles take a few hours to write, so its finding time to sit down and do them. I am cleaning the house today, as my parents are flying up next week, so likely wont get the chance to sit and write it
 
Dan I represented the Eagles at the Fan Forum and had a fair bit of "one on one" time with David Gallop. There is not doubt that he (and the NRL) are greatly hamperedd by the TV deal, we dicussed the AFL (v NRL) and as he rightly pointed out that's VERY different.

1) They are national, every state is covered (as far as a watching audience is concerned), so they set the rules and the TV people just have to go along (and pay huge money for the rights)

2) The NRL is very much the "poor cousin", pretty much a NSW / QLD watching audience so to get the big bucks they (TV) set the rules.

As much as I don't think his expansion ideas are good fiscal choices at present, that's what it is all about, making it a national game and then getting greater control over what we want!!

Wether it will happen in my lifetime or not who knows, maybe some of the younger ones that post here will see that happen...I hope so!!
 
Mark from Brisbane link said:
Dan I represented the Eagles at the Fan Forum and had a fair bit of \"one on one\" time with David Gallop. There is not doubt that he (and the NRL) are greatly hamperedd by the TV deal, we dicussed the AFL (v NRL) and as he rightly pointed out that's VERY different.

1) They are national, every state is covered (as far as a watching audience is concerned), so they set the rules and the TV people just have to go along (and pay huge money for the rights)

2) The NRL is very much the \"poor cousin\", pretty much a NSW / QLD watching audience so to get the big bucks they (TV) set the rules.

As much as I don't think his expansion ideas are good fiscal choices at present, that's what it is all about, making it a national game and then getting greater control over what we want!!

Wether it will happen in my lifetime or not who knows, maybe some of the younger ones that post here will see that happen...I hope so!!

Mark, with all due respect, it sounds like you accepted his usual BS stories hook line and sinker.

A strong leader and a strong CEO would overcome those obstacles fairly easily. If the TV deal is no good, find a way out of the contract or a way to improve it by offering extension.

The fact is Gallop sees a problem and decides its too hard then looks at what others do and either decides it's for him to copy or that what they are doing is a different story.

The guy needs to lead better than he does at the moment.
The problem with the fan forum is perhaps they don't have enough corporates in there asking corporate level questions. I will be happy to go head to head with Gallop and ask the questions that need to be asked, and not accept answers that I believe are excuses.

Gallops sees us as all as a bunch of bottom dwelling toothless red necks and is happy to pander to that beliefs and pull the wool over our eyes
 
I can assure you Dan he WAS under the pump, the fact that Chanel 10 interviewed me after the forum was testement to that.

And the hard questions were asked, I am just simply stating what he said back, and if you compare NRL with AFL we ARE the poor cousin!!

They'll have more people watching and attending games this weekend than will will have in a month of the NRL.

You can ask as many hard questions as you wish BUT them's the facts!!

He did say (after some pressure put on by me and others on the day) that he hopes in 2010 that we can actually set the dates for all games PRIOR to the start of the year, that would at least be a small win (f it happens!!!)
 
That AFL chestnut is bs when it comes to pay tv

NRL matches almost double the viewers on pay tv than afl.

end of the day it comes down to subscriptions
people get fox and austar for rugby league not AFL

My mother works in the paytv industry and that is a common fact.
 
I don't understand how from where I sit, but there has to be a way that fans can be more proactive concerning what happens with the game. Pencil-neck Gallop can think we're all toothless rednecks but without satisfied fans there is no game.
 
Nicci

The held a fan forum last November.

Myself, Vidmar and another lady attended, they even flew me down from Brisbane for the meeting so it was at no cost to myself to atten (made it really worthwhile). Three fans frome each club were invited, the Sea Eagles nominated us, every club was represented, they even flew three form New Zealand.

The day started with a 15 minute video, the highlights of the 2008 year, must say the BEST bit of the day was sitting near Laurie Daley and watching him squirm as it got to the Semi finals and then the Grand Final, and when it finished with the Sea Eagles on the stage the three of us got up an applauded, the look on Lauries face was priceless!!

Then we got down to tin tacks and I can assure you 150% David Gallop was hammered on many many topics and areas....two people was asked for TV Interviews afterwards, I was one of those.

Yes Cliffy the Pay TV issue did come up and you are 110% right it is the NRL that drives this.....BUT that's only half the equation, Chanel 9 is the other.

And it's the chanel 9 coverage in all of the capitol cities that's the issue, as you'd be aware Melbourne get NRL games at 2.00am in the morning (the free to air variety), and therin lies the problem.

Hope that helps a bit???
 
We are being sold out by our owners. The problem is when we negotiated our contract we went in as if we needed Pay TV instead of Pay TV coming to us wanting our product. We sold out and accepted one of the worst commercial agreements I have ever known
 
Mark from Brisbane link said:
Nicci

The held a fan forum last November.

Myself, Vidmar and another lady attended, they even flew me down from Brisbane for the meeting so it was at no cost to myself to atten (made it really worthwhile). Three fans frome each club were invited, the Sea Eagles nominated us, every club was represented, they even flew three form New Zealand.

The day started with a 15 minute video, the highlights of the 2008 year, must say the BEST bit of the day was sitting near Laurie Daley and watching him squirm as it got to the Semi finals and then the Grand Final, and when it finished with the Sea Eagles on the stage the three of us got up an applauded, the look on Lauries face was priceless!!

Then we got down to tin tacks and I can assure you 150% David Gallop was hammered on many many topics and areas....two people was asked for TV Interviews afterwards, I was one of those.

Yes Cliffy the Pay TV issue did come up and you are 110% right it is the NRL that drives this.....BUT that's only half the equation, Chanel 9 is the other.

And it's the chanel 9 coverage in all of the capitol cities that's the issue, as you'd be aware Melbourne get NRL games at 2.00am in the morning (the free to air variety), and therin lies the problem.

Hope that helps a bit???
i think the league missed their chance when the AFL went to 9 and 10
seven were keen as and they seem to have a different theory than 9
they used to play VFL into sydney and brisbane well before it even rated.

i think both the TV rights and Radio rights need to be spilt up over all networks

i think there would be more money and more exposure for the game.
 
I understand the money issues surrounding television broadcasting and viewing. I just wish they'd try to satisfy the customers they have already instead of trying to create new ones in areas that it's not going to happen. Rugby League will never compete with AFL in certain states.
 
Gallop's ridiculously simplistic and erroneous diversion onto states covered to explain the disastrous TV deal is utter rubbish.  The NRL is OWNED by the media.  The AFL is not.  Therein lies the difference when negotiating.  NRL has ZERO negotiating power in comparison, and will always be in this position until ownership changes. Being independent, the AFL can and does negotiate from a position of power.

If Gallop truly believed his explanation, and was authentic, he would be finding ways to move the game into other states.  Yet his proposed expansion plans are for Sydney (Central Coast) and Brisbane.  Enough said.

His answer was simply disingenuous.

If we had a leader with balls he would set the ground rules for bidding, not sell out without conditions.  Rights don't need to be sold Australia-wide in one lot.  Ground rules should have included conditions that the League be displayed during watchable/peak hours in Melbourne, country centres, capital cities, etc, or the rights be forfeited to a network that would be prepared to show it during those hours.  A free-to-air digital TV station would snap this opportunity up. e.g. The ABC would lap that opportunity up.
 

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