Punt Road Oval redevelopment a priority rather than a stand-alone VFL side (Age)

[one-eyed]

Richmond has unofficially chosen to make the redevelopment of Punt Road its priority, pushing back any plans for a stand-alone VFL team for three years.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/deadline-looms-for-vfl-team-decisions-20110727-1i0ck.html#ixzz1TKojCaIT

As the recently restructured AFL Victoria moves to formulate a long-term plan for the perilous state of much of football's heartland, the state's chief, Peter Jackson, and Grant Williams have instructed clubs to complete their plans by Sunday, warning them that stand-alone VFL teams will become increasingly expensive to run as they help fund existing VFL teams.

The clubs have been told they must stick with whatever decision they reach for the next three seasons for the sake of VFL stability.

AFL Victoria is expected to significantly increase the annual licence fee - currently about $130,000 - meaning clubs looking to move to a stand-alone team could be faced with an annual bill increase of at least $100,000. The estimated cost of funding a stand-alone team this season is $500,000.

[Penelope]

The clubs have been told they must stick with whatever decision they reach for the next three seasons for the sake of VFL stability.

which would explain the decision to sign a three agree coburg, as there is no way they could have been in a position to field a stand alone team next year.

[Rodgerramjet]

Well there goes Essendon straight past us again, Mark Thompson knows just how vital this is and appears to have succeeded in getting it done, they will be three years on us before we even get to square 1, just not good enough Richmond.

[10 FLAGS]

Well there goes Essendon straight past us again, Mark Thompson knows just how vital this is and appears to have succeeded in getting it done, they will be three years on us before we even get to square 1, just not good enough Richmond.

AGREE 100%

[JVT]

Not much we can do if we dont have the coin. Hence the importance of the FTF. At least we are doing something about 'getting there'. 

[The Big Richo]

If we can't afford it we can't afford it but how long has Gary March been Pres/V.P and we are still on the bones of our arse.

The lack of effort put into this before this year is the issue, I think.

[Stripes]

Not much we can do if we dont have the coin. Hence the importance of the FTF. At least we are doing something about 'getting there'. 

You make a lot of sense here. We all know the VFL team is in the works but we just don't have the cash, plain and simple. Bringing in more stand alone seconds teams will certainly bring down the standard of the VFL competition too.

[10 FLAGS]

with all due respect saying we'd like to do something but not having the cash is ridiculous and sounds like some at tigerland are living on dreams of grandeur that cant be achieved. Its like saying Im gonna root a supermodel today and instead you tonk the next door neighbours mrs even though shes ugly. Either do the job properly or dont do it at all.

[Stripes]

with all due respect saying we'd like to do something but not having the cash is ridiculous and sounds like some at tigerland are living on dreams of grandeur that cant be achieved. Its like saying Im gonna root a supermodel today and instead you tonk the next door neighbours mrs even though shes ugly. Either do the job properly or dont do it at all.

The FTF is all about reaching that goal but with the timeline now and other improvements higher priorities (ie football department/coaches, facilities, a training ground, our debt etc) we will have to settle for making it a goal in the future.

Good luck with the Suoer model too!

[10 FLAGS]

STRIPES its been 30 years buddy. We dont have time. Time is of the essence. Its running out. A 50 year old 30 years ago is now 80 years old. Im 41 in 30 years Ill be 71. Stuff patience. We want action NOW! We want our reserves side NOW! Its time RFC admin went hard at achieving their goals NOW or they should go home!

[WilliamPowell]

STRIPES its been 30 years buddy. We dont have time. Time is of the essence. Its running out. A 50 year old 30 years ago is now 80 years old. Im 41 in 30 years Ill be 71. Stuff patience. We want action NOW! We want our reserves side NOW! Its time RFC admin went hard at achieving their goals NOW or they should go home!

Flagman: the FTF was step up for a reason, to firstly get rid of the debt and then create a 'war chest" of money for us to compete in areas (eg recruiting, player development, VFL team etc) where other clubs are ahead of us.

It was made very clear that to achieve all those things on the list they needed $6mil. We currently have $2.8mil half way through a 12 month campaign to raise the grand total. They also made it clear what the priorities would be based on how much they raise.

On top of that the AFL have obviously clearly changed the rules regarding stand alone VFL sides by saying that what ever you decide for 2012 you are locked into until the end of 2014.

So if you want VFL reserves side; what out of all the other things the Club's listed as wanting to do based on how much is raised by the FTF do they not do so they field a VFL side? 

Perhaps they not worry about paying any debt off and just keep paying $500k interest? Perhaps we continue to pay on 92.5% of the salary cap rather than paying 100%? Perhaps we don't worry about extra resoucres for recruiting or sports science and fitenss?

Bottom line is with out the $$$$ you cannot have/do everything, things need to be prioritised, that's what they've done.

If you honestly believe the stand alone VFL team is the most pressing issue they need to address then that is fair enough but then you cannot complain if the debt doesn't go or there isn't enough recruiting resources etc



 

[JVT]

with all due respect saying we'd like to do something but not having the cash is ridiculous and sounds like some at tigerland are living on dreams of grandeur that cant be achieved. Its like saying Im gonna root a supermodel today and instead you tonk the next door neighbours mrs even though shes ugly. Either do the job properly or dont do it at all.

Its not like saying that at all, its like saying, I plan on rooting a supermodel, putting a plan of hitting the gym for 12 months, once you have achieved that then you don't have to settle for the neighbours ugly mrs 

[The Big Richo]

Can someone explain to me why it costs so much more to be stand alone?

I wouldn't have thought Coburg would have 2 sticks to rub together and I would have imagined we pay most of the costs currently anyway?

[WilliamPowell]

Can someone explain to me why it costs so much more to be stand alone?

I wouldn't have thought Coburg would have 2 sticks to rub together and I would have imagined we pay most of the costs currently anyway?

TBR Geelong said a few years ago it cost them around $400k-$500k to run their VFL side

First thing is the licence fee for AFL teams fielding their own VFL team, Caro said in the article that it is currently around $130k and likely to rise. VFL teams pay considerable (read a lot) less than this.

The other costs involved include carrying the minimum number of VFL only listed payers (I think it is at least 8-10) outside of the normal AFL list. Then there is the extra staff for match day (eg trainers, doctors, physios) that are required. that's just a few things off the top of my head

Also, would argue strongly that financially Coburg are pretty strong now, their balance sheet certainly shows that, cash in the bank for example. Granted Richmond would contribute but I don't think it would be most of their costs

[the claw]

If we can't afford it we can't afford it but how long has Gary March been Pres/V.P and we are still on the bones of our behind.

The lack of effort put into this before this year is the issue, I think.

why dont we talk about since hes been president and actually had control.
seems to me a lot of posters want to repeat the leon daphne mistake all over. seems to me march has done many many good things for the club and yes along the way hes made his fair share of stuff ups.5.5 mil in debt and growing when march took over. it has gone down marginally. we had one man doing recruiting list management and running the footy dept. we had to get in part time recruiters to he;lp out. we had the worst facilities in the league we had few assitant coaches or develoment coaches. the list goes on and on and under march we have improved all those things and more while actually reducing the debt.yes he could have done things better and he could have made less mistakes but in the main hes done okay.i dont mind mistakes personally, i just dont want to see them repeated as long as those in charge learn from their mistakes and improve in the role they do im happy to have em.

to me there is one position twhere mistakes cant be tolerated and that is in recruiting. i dont have a problem with march but do have grave concerns about jackson and cameron.