WTF - you left a couple of people out in your 'who saved the Club' tale.
Ken Arthurson ensured, prior to the JV with Norths, that the licence would revert to the Manly-Warringah club if the JV fell over. That is the key to everything that followed.
Sure Thomson played a role in getting Delmege on board as a sponsor, but the fact that Arthurson agreed to an injection of cash from the Leagues Club in 2003, but on the proviso that Magilla and his pal Vautin had to go, is the best indicator going that Thomson was a barely competent administrator. The guy was a former bankrupt ffs, how does a plumber go bankrupt? Oh and he was a bull**** artist as well. He told the board in 2002 that he had Preston Campbell's signature for the 2003 season and beyond, when he didn't. Campbell signed with Penrith instead.That did not go down well at board level and may well have been the beginning of the end for Ol' Mate Thomson.
The other man you left out was Paul Cummings, former boss of Fujitsu General Australia, who developed (in company with Scott Penn) the blueprint for the private ownership construct. Delmege, not wanting to be left out, then threw a spanner in the works and demanded to be part of that deal. We all know what eventually transpired. Cummings, through his contacts, got people like Joe Cross, a senior News Ltd executive on the board as well.
So please, nothing is ever as simple in recent Sea Eagles history as the idea that Ian Thomson and Max Delmege saved the joint. That's what they'd have you believe, but it's only part of the story. There is more of course, but you should go away and do your own research.
Ken Arthurson ensured, prior to the JV with Norths, that the licence would revert to the Manly-Warringah club if the JV fell over. That is the key to everything that followed.
Sure Thomson played a role in getting Delmege on board as a sponsor, but the fact that Arthurson agreed to an injection of cash from the Leagues Club in 2003, but on the proviso that Magilla and his pal Vautin had to go, is the best indicator going that Thomson was a barely competent administrator. The guy was a former bankrupt ffs, how does a plumber go bankrupt? Oh and he was a bull**** artist as well. He told the board in 2002 that he had Preston Campbell's signature for the 2003 season and beyond, when he didn't. Campbell signed with Penrith instead.That did not go down well at board level and may well have been the beginning of the end for Ol' Mate Thomson.
The other man you left out was Paul Cummings, former boss of Fujitsu General Australia, who developed (in company with Scott Penn) the blueprint for the private ownership construct. Delmege, not wanting to be left out, then threw a spanner in the works and demanded to be part of that deal. We all know what eventually transpired. Cummings, through his contacts, got people like Joe Cross, a senior News Ltd executive on the board as well.
So please, nothing is ever as simple in recent Sea Eagles history as the idea that Ian Thomson and Max Delmege saved the joint. That's what they'd have you believe, but it's only part of the story. There is more of course, but you should go away and do your own research.
