Bear Market: Singo Sums Up Gosford Bid And Says It Won't Cost A Cent
By ROY MASTERS
THE SYDNEY MORNING HEARLD - 30/4/2004

With the NRL’s decision over the possible admission of a 16th club looming, the hopefuls are doing some last-minute number crunching. Roy Masters reports.

With six days left before the NRL Partnership board makes a decision on a 16th team, Gold Coast delegates have arrived in Sydney for grip and grins, while Sydney businessman John Singleton has commissioned more research in a desperate bid to show his Gosford club won’t cost the code a cent.

A paper has already been pre pared by the executive staff of the NRL for presentation to the partnership board, outlining the options. Presumably the board will ask NRL chief executive David Gallop for his recommendation.

Should Gallop back an extra club and the board agree, a later choice will be made from candidate cities Gosford, the Gold Coast, Wellington, or consideration given to Perth, Adelaide and a second Brisbane club. Singleton suspects the ARL half of the partnership will vote to keep the competition at 15 clubs.

“If it’s left to the ARL, they will either not make a decision or defer it,” he said this week.

“They are custodians of the game yet are ignoring a foundation club, North Sydney, whose colours and Bears logo would be worn by the Gosford team. Of the three ARL directors, Cohn Love [ARL chairman] won’t coment, John McDonald [ chairman] has gone on record as saying he prefers to tread water, while Nick Politis [ chairman] has been terrific.

“In terms of the News Ltd half of the partnership, they will make a straight business decision and we’ve put a strong business case.”

Singleton has ownership rights to Gosford stadium until 2021 after a deal with North Sydney Leagues Club, holders of the original lease. His antipathy to the ARL perplexes directors, who maintain their principal concern is that a 16th club doesn’t draw money away from the grass-roots development of the game.

To allay ARL concerns, Singleton has commissioned further research from Ernst and Young, preliminary data indicating an extra home game per dub would yield $135,000 net. Russell Tate,

CEO of Singleton’s advertising agency and the man who has pitched the bid, dismisses arguments of any diversion of money from development.

“The only junior-league development money on the Central Coast is ours,” he said.

NRL clubs, although expressing surface support for Singleton, are privately concerned about a Gosford club. At a recent meeting of club CEOs, the prevailing opinion was there were already too many Sydney clubs and Gosford is perceived to be part of greater Sydney.

Newcastle are understood to be concerned about the potential loss of sponsors and spectators if a 16th club is based in Gosford. The Gold Coast bid, led by former Chargers chief executive Paul Broughton, argues Queensland needs a third team in order to stop the player drain to NSW a talent erosion that will hurt the Maroons in the long term in State of Origin.

The pragmatic Tate asked: “Why can’t they choose their state from their birth certificates?”

Undermining the chances of both coasts - Gold and Central — is a recent $2.5 million court action the ARL and its “loyal clubs” lost to Optus as a result of the NRL Partnership entering into a sponsorship agreement with Telstra to acquire naming rights to the competition.

If the ARL is left with the debt, it will cut into the $8m it draws annually from the game’s profit pool to fund its operations. News Ltd now takes out $lOm annually. $8m, equivalent to the ARL drawing, and another $2m in deferred profits from previous years.

Despite the ARLs insistence the decision on the 16th club is all about money, Singleton’s attitude to the ARL has antagonised some.

ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said: “If it is true Singo is casting doubts on the capacity of the ARL partnership committee directors, I want to make it clear we all have a high degree of confidence they will, after considering all the facts, make a decision, along with their News Ltd counter parts, in the best interest of the future of rugby league.”

While Singleton casts the ARL as the baddies, others suspect News Ltd may be diverting blame. After all, there may still be opposition to Singleton after his unsuccessful battle with the media giant for control of the Broncos.

Furthermore, News Ltd is anxious to contain costs, with some of its $lOm drawing already being re-routed back to support its three clubs: Brisbane, North Queensland and Melbourne. Cost concerns led to the sacking of former Storm boss John Ribot, who was highly regarded in Melbourne.

Other than Singleton-Tate, the major players in the coming decision have been silent. What ever has already been worked out, the May 5 announcement should cause everything to float to the top. It remains to be seen if it will flush.

--------------------------------------------------------------------