Wests Tigers reviews games at Campelltown

[Muffstar]

NRL club Wests Tigers reviews games at Campelltown after row over ground fees
Date
November 26, 2013
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There is a question over whether Campbelltown Stadium will remain an NRL venue.
There is a question over whether Campbelltown Stadium will remain an NRL venue. Photo: Jonathan Ng
The Wests Tigers will consider abandoning NRL matches at Campbelltown Stadium after an ugly spat over an unpaid hiring fee became public.

The joint-venture club was $55,735 in arrears in payments to Campbelltown council for two of this year's home games as of last week. Speaking to Fairfax Media last week, councillor Paul Lake, also a director on the board of Wests Leagues Club, described the payments for the lease of the ground as ''well overdue''.

His comments, published in the Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser, incensed Tigers officials, who are still weighing up where to allocate their home matches next year. The Tigers have indicated they will shift from Allianz to ANZ Stadium as one of their home grounds, while it is expected some games will again be scheduled at their spiritual home of Leichhardt Oval.

It is probable the final allocation will be made public after the ARL Commission releases its draw for next year. However, there is a question over whether Campbelltown Stadium will remain an NRL venue given other suitors offer the Tigers more lucrative commercial terms as an incentive to shift games.
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Lake described the late payment as ''rude'' and said ''there should be no special treatment'' for the hosting of the Tigers. ''My whole concern is that at no stage have they come to us and said they've got cash-flow problems and need to meet with us to sort something out,'' he said last week. ''If someone hires a hall, they have to pay the cost. It's council's property but it's also the community's property. Just pay it. Or if you've got problems, come in and tell us.''

The comments drew a terse response from Tigers chief executive Grant Mayer, who insisted the outstanding moneys had been repaid. ''The story where deputy mayor Paul Lake was quoted extensively has been forwarded to the Wests Tigers board for consideration,'' Mayer said.

''To suggest that our board are bemused, if not a little horrified, is an understatement. We have a long history with Campbelltown council and, in fact, spend many, many hours in the south-western area promoting the great game of rugby league.

''I have no idea why he believes this should be played out in the press. We received a letter outlining the outstanding funds 48 hours after the story hit the newspaper. I'm not sure that's the right way to conduct business. All money has been paid.''

There was already a cloud over Campbelltown Stadium which, like all suburban venues, will struggle to raise the funds needed to remain at NRL standard.

Pressed on whether Campbelltown is assured of hosting NRL games next year, Mayer said: ''Our JV [joint-venture] agreement says we must play the same amount of games at both venues. However, the deputy mayor's comments in the paper recently have put that before the board to debate.''
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-club-wests-tigers-reviews-games-at-campelltown-after-row-over-ground-fees-20131125-2y65k.html#ixzz2lemlwDWd

 

[Sabre]

Our JV [joint-venture] agreement says we must play the same amount of games at both venues.

As it should.
If one goes they both go.
That is until we have a location where we can play all 12 games.
And I say that as someone originally from the Balmain side.
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If this is the fault of the council I don't think Leichhardt should miss out because of Campbelltowns actions but an arrangement that is fair and satisfying needs to be made.

I can see this getting ugly.

 

[system]

Wow! How completely ignorant of the council. After all the promoting of the area, relationships formed & what having the club there would bring to the are & locals..just wow!
Looks like those wanting a Magpies resurrection have got their wish now!
What a shitty thing to do to the club.

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[happy_tiger]

So the Council is saying the money hasn't been paid and the Tigers are saying the funds have been paid

I suppose if the Council always acts this way , no wonder the Tigers aren't going to let them know they have money issues

It would be front page news the following day

But when push comes to shove we need to make the right financial decisions and if it isn't financially viable to play games at any ground whether it be Campbelltown ,Leichardt or ANZ we need to seriously look at it

No doubt sometime in the near future all clubs will need to show they are financially responsible to survive or they will need to relocate ,merge , remerge or die

 

[Knuckles]

Mayer's 10 year arrangement with ANZ is now starting to look a bit clearer …. I thought it was strange at the time locking in for so long. If the clubs plan is to base itself at Homebush for all home matches, then the intention of the deal takes on new meaning.

 

[LaT]

Either the council or the club/Mayer are going to end up with egg on their face. Someone is either telling porkies or just plain clueless. Hope it turns out to be the council.

 

[Irvine]

My money is on Mayer having egg on his face.

 

[happy_tiger]

They still couldn't be deciding where they were playing their games could they ??

The draw would be out within the next two weeks worse case scenario

 

[Fraze23]

The joint-venture club was **$55,735** in arrears in payments to Campbelltown council **for two** of this year's **home games** >

It costs us $55,735 to play two home games? No wonder we are in financial strife. It'll be a sad day when it happens, but maybe it is time to say goodbye to both Leichhardt and Campbelltown.
I'd rather have a team to watch play at ANZ that is financially stable than stick it out at Leichhardt and Campbelltown and watch the club slowly bleed out.

 

[stevetiger]

The joint-venture club was **$55,735** in arrears in payments to Campbelltown council **for two** of this year's **home games** >

It costs us $55,735 to play two home games? No wonder we are in financial strife. It'll be a sad day when it happens, but maybe it is time to say goodbye to both Leichhardt and Campbelltown.
I'd rather have a team to watch play at ANZ that is financially stable than stick it out at Leichhardt and Campbelltown and watch the club slowly bleed out.

I totally agree.

 

[Guest]

The joint-venture club was **$55,735** in arrears in payments to Campbelltown council **for two** of this year's **home games** >

It costs us $55,735 to play two home games? No wonder we are in financial strife. It'll be a sad day when it happens, but maybe it is time to say goodbye to both Leichhardt and Campbelltown.
I'd rather have a team to watch play at ANZ that is financially stable than stick it out at Leichhardt and Campbelltown and watch the club slowly bleed out.

I totally agree.

Same. Ultimately the club needs to make money in order to secure long term longevity. If it is the case of having to pay $55k for 2 games well the wests tigers should ditch both grounds and stick to homebush where they are guaranteed a profit.

 

[innsaneink]

Mayer's 10 year arrangement with ANZ is now starting to look a bit clearer …. I thought it was strange at the time locking in for so long. If the clubs plan is to base itself at Homebush for all home matches, then the intention of the deal takes on new meaning.

You could be right.

Sounds to me initially like the story has forced WTs hand and theyve paid up in a hurry

WHEN they paid would be an interesting insight

Maybe the clubs been waiting for something like this, a ''influence'' outside of the club forcing their hand into a move that many would see as unpopular….

 

[littletiger]

Get rid of campelltown. No one turns up to games. Move the games to Liverpool or something.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Personally, I believe that if the club is in as much financial strife as it claims to be in, they really shouldn't be paying two grounds to host two thirds of their games. In the very short term they should be hosting all games at one ground, particularly one we get paid to play at. It doesn't do much in the way of tying the club to either of it's previous heartlands (especially the Macarthur which is an area that is exploding,) but the alternative is far more grim. I can only imagine what Leichhardt council charge them for LO.

 

[supercoach]

You would think this one is pretty simple, the council obviously charge a ground rental fee and you would imagine if in fact we have paid the money their would be a electronic banking record. So I cant see where their could be any doubt.

My guess the amount is in dispute as the ground rental may be based on a lot of variables,such as crowd size,day of the week who knows what else. Anyway the bottom line all these things give us a bad look of a club that is always having disputes over money. Not a good thing, when you are trying to attract big names to a battling club

 

[Poppa]

:sign: Is this standard fees for all venues.Is it dearer at other venues.So are all clubs are in the same boat ?.Thanks
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:sign:

 

[Benjirific]

Personally, I believe that if the club is in as much financial strife as it claims to be in, they really shouldn't be paying two grounds to host two thirds of their games. In the very short term they should be hosting all games at one ground, particularly one we get paid to play at. It doesn't do much in the way of tying the club to either of it's previous heartlands (especially the Macarthur which is an area that is exploding,) but the alternative is far more grim. I can only imagine what Leichhardt council charge them for LO.

Balmain RLFC have the lease to Leichhardt so I don't believe they pay any fee to the Council to play games there. They would have to incur other costs as a result of that obviously, but not a ground hiring fee and nothing to the council.

 

[Ed_Reschs]

My understanding is they owe a few more organisations than just the council as well.

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[phil1986]

Get rid of campelltown. No one turns up to games. Move the games to Liverpool or something.

Haha! Mate, where in Liverpool? Mounties? Lol

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[phil1986]

It's a dangerous proposition, we have a further 10,000 homes to be completed in the MacArthur region in the next 3 years. That is the quickest growing supporter base I have ever heard of.

It would be a risk to leave the area in its development and growth stage, I definately could see Phil Gould making the trek down the m7, once or twice a year to clean up te mess we would have left!

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