Summary
* $3m profit done with the support of fans, supporters, members and corporate supporters. It was a team effort. Still a lot of hard work ahead of us though. We're looking forward to the challenge.
* A strong result nevertheless but it's a marginal business. Depends on on-field performance. If we do the right things and make the finals we'll be looking at another robust result off-field next year.
* A lot of it is from the FTF. We've always said if we can get the football dept. right then that would drive the rest of the business. Part of that FTF raised has gone towards the redevelopment of Punt Rd Oval that you see driving past along Punt Rd. We've invested in cutting edge fitness equipment (treadmills etc...). More assistant coaches (Tim Clarke's returned). The football dept. is the biggest of the business and we want to continue to invest in it going forward.
* Never comment on other clubs (re: 3rd party deals) but it does give you the opportunity to look at yourselves. We're confident we're okay. Financial deals are independent of the club. Up until this year we had none. They are uncommon. It's usually a deal done between player managements and associated partners (club cannot be involved). In our case Jeep wanted to use a couple of our players to promote their products.
* AFL needs to needs satisfied that the deals are independent of the club and that it's bonifide (a fair and reasonable deal for what has been agreed). 12-18 months AFL told the clubs they were going to be more rigourous.
* Melbourne tanking and Adelaide salary cap - once again it makes you think about what you'd do in that situation. There's a solidarity towards those involved as we all work in the same field. Benny then basically said we pretty much just focus on us and what we're doing.
* Hardwick has the full support of the board. We've acknowledged from day one it's a team responsibility rather than the old days of putting the coach out there on the chopping block. We are all behind him as demonstrated by resigning him.
* When we entered the Cairns deal we were 0-8 and looking to strengthen the club financially. We thought that was the best thing we could do for our supporters. The problem was we lost both games when we shouldn't have. One more sold home game to go next year.
