ManlyBacker
Winging it
The big news this morning is that the Sea Eagles application to Warringah Council for night games has been completely stuffed up. Apparently "someone" forgot to include Monday nights in the application. :roll:
Deadset, we lurch from fiasco to fiasco. No doubt that the decision to swap venues was based purely on dollars and that is the CEO's call but somewhere all the back office stuff like ticket packages already sold, fans plans and being actually allowed to play that night just keep dropping into cracks.
You can bet that the local groups are going to have a field day on this one!
On a wing and a prayer - Eagles' desperate fight to save game
Lisa Muxworthy
20Apr07
THE season's blockbuster clash between the Sea Eagles and the Brisbane Broncos at Brookvale next month is in jeopardy after a bungled bid for night games was lodged with the council.
An emergency meeting has been called to allow the Eagles to make a desperate plea for the game to go ahead on May 21.
Sea Eagles CEO Grant Mayer yesterday admitted to a ``massive administrative bungle'' which left the club without permission to host the match, which is on a Monday night and already scheduled by the NRL.
Manly second-rower Anthony Watmough, who said he loved playing at Brookvale Oval, was hoping the issue would be resolved.
``Players' play, administrators administer, they will sort it out,'' he said last night.
The Sea Eagles went to the council last month to request an increase from six to 12 night matches and it was approved with some conditions.
But Mr Mayer said he discovered last week that the application was for Friday and Saturday nights, not Mondays. He said the club's consultant had lodged the wrong application with the council.
``It was a massive surprise to us that the application didn't include Monday night football,'' Mr Mayer said.
``We were completely in the dark until last week, which is a huge concern.''
The CEO said the club went to the council early this week and ``apologised unreservedly''.
Warringah administrator Dick Persson said he realised the club had made a ``genuine error'' and agreed to hear the application for the Monday night match.
The development application will be placed on public exhibition for two weeks and heard at the May 8 council meeting.
Mr Persson said he would sidestep the Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel but allow both the club and residents to address the council over the issue.
``I wouldn't do it (avoid IHAP) if I thought the community was denied time to make their case,'' he said.
Under the normal process, the application would most likely return to the council on May 22 - the day after the night match.
Brookvale Valley Community Group president Christina Kirsch was shocked the application would not reach the independent panel.
``The DA process and IHAP have been created to overcome and prevent the corruption that was rampant in the previous council and now he (Mr Persson) is proving that this whole process is nothing but a sham and a Band-Aid,'' she said.
Ms Kirsch and other Brookvale residents, like Mark Baxter, are opposed to Monday night matches, which they say come with anti-social behaviour, rubbish, traffic and noise.
Mr Baxter said it was a ``pretty major departure from the status quo''.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said he was confident the council would make the ``right decision''.
But should the Sea Eagles not be allowed to host the May 21 match, he said the club was responsible for finding an alternative venue.
Deadset, we lurch from fiasco to fiasco. No doubt that the decision to swap venues was based purely on dollars and that is the CEO's call but somewhere all the back office stuff like ticket packages already sold, fans plans and being actually allowed to play that night just keep dropping into cracks.
You can bet that the local groups are going to have a field day on this one!
On a wing and a prayer - Eagles' desperate fight to save game
Lisa Muxworthy
20Apr07
THE season's blockbuster clash between the Sea Eagles and the Brisbane Broncos at Brookvale next month is in jeopardy after a bungled bid for night games was lodged with the council.
An emergency meeting has been called to allow the Eagles to make a desperate plea for the game to go ahead on May 21.
Sea Eagles CEO Grant Mayer yesterday admitted to a ``massive administrative bungle'' which left the club without permission to host the match, which is on a Monday night and already scheduled by the NRL.
Manly second-rower Anthony Watmough, who said he loved playing at Brookvale Oval, was hoping the issue would be resolved.
``Players' play, administrators administer, they will sort it out,'' he said last night.
The Sea Eagles went to the council last month to request an increase from six to 12 night matches and it was approved with some conditions.
But Mr Mayer said he discovered last week that the application was for Friday and Saturday nights, not Mondays. He said the club's consultant had lodged the wrong application with the council.
``It was a massive surprise to us that the application didn't include Monday night football,'' Mr Mayer said.
``We were completely in the dark until last week, which is a huge concern.''
The CEO said the club went to the council early this week and ``apologised unreservedly''.
Warringah administrator Dick Persson said he realised the club had made a ``genuine error'' and agreed to hear the application for the Monday night match.
The development application will be placed on public exhibition for two weeks and heard at the May 8 council meeting.
Mr Persson said he would sidestep the Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel but allow both the club and residents to address the council over the issue.
``I wouldn't do it (avoid IHAP) if I thought the community was denied time to make their case,'' he said.
Under the normal process, the application would most likely return to the council on May 22 - the day after the night match.
Brookvale Valley Community Group president Christina Kirsch was shocked the application would not reach the independent panel.
``The DA process and IHAP have been created to overcome and prevent the corruption that was rampant in the previous council and now he (Mr Persson) is proving that this whole process is nothing but a sham and a Band-Aid,'' she said.
Ms Kirsch and other Brookvale residents, like Mark Baxter, are opposed to Monday night matches, which they say come with anti-social behaviour, rubbish, traffic and noise.
Mr Baxter said it was a ``pretty major departure from the status quo''.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said he was confident the council would make the ``right decision''.
But should the Sea Eagles not be allowed to host the May 21 match, he said the club was responsible for finding an alternative venue.
