Hi all,
I attended tonight and to be honest felt pretty grim walking in expecting an ugly scene at some point.
I’ve left pretty optimistic that the guys at the top at least can recognise and articulate what members want. I still feel the dollar will make the final decision at some juncture, disappointing fans; but there is a lot of hope.
Those who reported above are accurate. The report from Facebook which was reposted had the tone that things like Marty Taupau and Matt Ballin were definites, but I didn’t get the same impression. I think some appointments will rely on other pieces being in place which may or may not happen (Scott Penn referred to an excel file Des used to have with about 150 tabs, each one reflecting a different possible scenario of which players were bought at what price and what the consequences of that purchase would be. I think this is the case now with coaching and some retention).
To the meeting. I read Scott Penn as a “Bruce Wayne” character. Idealistic, confident, and willing enough to be open which surprised me. Lyall Gorman was a kind of country politician. Diplomatic and had a prepared response for everything but delivered it with genuiness and good humour.
To add to the points already reported, Penn has plan A (Centre of Excellence and 3000 new seats, I’m guessing in front of the hill) loaded ready to fire. It requires State and Council approval and $35m in funding, $22m of which is already promised. Jean Hay spoke and assured us that Abbott is kept to his promise and wants to deliver. Plan B follows A and is more grand and may not be achieved but is more realistic than several of the many previous plans (he acknowledged it’s been a drawn out process with lots of kites being flown). Plan B is what he described as a new “Boutique Stadium” seating 15k plus, funded by State, Council and private money. It will include a “lower” -rise residential development of about 10 storeys and will include community space, apartments, a sporting ground and will generally give Brookvale a wow factor. Make it a local hub.
Penn said there is a shortage of quality stadiums in NSW of that size and that there’s a strong argument to have it as an asset for things like Soccer World Cup bids. But it’s still only a dream.
Lyall spoke well about repricing tickets and membership and putting out a tender for a new ticket partner to avoid price gouging and long queues.
Gorman wouldn’t address personnel issues about individuals but spoke in general terms. “Read between the lines” stuff.
A big plus was the commitment to Brookvale. Also the recognition of former players (Max Krilich was there as a member and was referred to with respect several times).
Lots of little tidbits were mentioned that will come back to me over time. It was good to see these people operating and I would say it’s the best value I’ve had for my membership dollar in at least 3 years!