26 June 2008

Souths At Wests?

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I heard the other day that Wests Rugby club at Jamison has been sold to the Southern Cross Club. Not sure what the go was but supposedly it was because of some tax issues that they needed to sell the club at Jamison along with Turner and Kaleen. Hopefully they’ll get to keep the name Wests as they’ve been around for over 30 years in Macquarie. The Southern Cross Club has a good reputation for keeping places they buy going at any rate and not just stripping all the pokies out of them and letting them die. Plus it will be the Southern Cross Clubs only presence north of the lake and could put some pressure on the Canberra Labour Club in Belconnen.

Anyone noticed any changes so far? or any guesses as to what might be changed?

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Haha…ok, see you then. 🙂

LOL, guess I’ll see you on the field then 😉

Oh…you meant WESTS! 🙂

Yeah….Wests 5th grade are not doing so well. We’re playing them tomorrow!

> justbands, 5th grade have lost plenty of games… In fact, is it not true that they only won their first game against Yass on Saturday? First game in 2 years if my sources are correct…

You still talking about Royals here??? I’m playing 5th grade this year. We haven’t lost a game. In fact, we’ve only had one try scored against us all season! Royals 5ths play in the Monaro 1st division, 2nd grade comp. The table, if you want to check it out is below:

http://www.brumbies.com.au/verve/_resources/Wk_9_-_Comp_tables_1st_div2nd_Div_file.pdf

AG- I think they did, but were beaten by Goulburn. They won it the year before.

papadoc – didn’t the Royals 5th’s make the GF last year or was that the 4ths?

Here’s how almost all clubs work when it comes to sporting teams getting cash. It really doesn’t matter who “owns” the club – the sporting club (in this case Wests RUFC) applies each year to the liccenced club for a grant for football operations. Then there is some negotiation – coach too expensive, star player too expensive etc – and finally the two parties agree. This is how it works for Royals, the Ainslie AFL team and the Yacht club for the sailing operations. Most NRL clubs work in exactly the same way – and if they have been hit because of pokies downturn then they don’t have the same amount of cash to throw at the football sides.

This also allows the clubs to include this grant amount in “returns to the community” section in their annual reports – thereby absolving themselves of the evils of the poker machine. “It’s all ok if we are returning the money to the community”

justbands, 5th grade have lost plenty of games… In fact, is it not true that they only won their first game against Yass on Saturday? First game in 2 years if my sources are correct…

@Bozo That sucks dude, was it to make room for more pokies?

> I’d also like to know what lies were told to further humor myself 🙂

We were told all the facilities would be maintained. Within 12 months the 2 full size snooker tables had been sold.

Haha..they’re doing ok! 1st grade isn’t bad this year…& 5th grade haven’t lost a game. 5th grade is where it’s at. They’re the best! Can you tell I play for 5th grade? 🙂

justbands said :

> This also includes support for the Football club who will probably cease to exist.

The Royals rugby club has survived without the support of the Royals licensed club (now The Weston Club, run by The Raiders).

*just*

🙂

Wests rugby wont be going anywhere for a while. Many would prefer they would, including a few jockeys on the South Coast, but i dobut it would happen.

@ BOZO The deal with Turner was put to Wests members as including something extra(I personally don’t know what), but it never eventuated. I’m sure that the then president of Wests did tell blatant lies because well, he’s been know to do that and even though I have an affiliation with the club, I’ve been laughing ever since I heard they were doomed. I’d also like to know what lies were told to further humor myself 🙂

@Justbands Royals, Gungahlin, Easts, Uni-Norths and Queanbeyan (?) have all survived without a licenced club to date. Wests are hoping to do the same but it is unlikely with their current financial status.

papadoc wrote

“This all with the fact that they got ripped off on the Turner deal”

I would be interested to know this “fact”. Wasn’t it West’s who approached Canberra North Bowling Club, if they got “ripped off” then its their own stupid fault. I was at the agm when the proposal was put to the bowling club members about the leasing arrangement and I can tell you for a FACT that their then president told blatent lies.

> This also includes support for the Football club who will probably cease to exist.

The Royals rugby club has survived without the support of the Royals licensed club (now The Weston Club, run by The Raiders).

From memory, years ago Wests was flourishing and then a group of bozo’s decided to take it over and it’s been going downhill since. From what I’ve been told the current board owe over $80 000 each in back taxes, the outdoor smoking section cost far too much than expected and the loss of gaming revenue has hit them hard. This all with the fact that they got ripped off on the Turner deal means that yeah, they’re screwed.

What I’ve been told is that the Southern Cross Club will operate it for the next 2 years as something like “Southern Cross Wests” or some crap and after that, and drop the Wests reference all together. This also includes support for the Football club who will probably cease to exist.

This is not 100% fact, but I have a pretty good source who I believe to be telling the truth.

BOZO said :

There have been no changes at Turner yet. The big hope amongst the regulars is that the thursday night trivia is reintroduced.

SECONDED!!! Kim’s blatant disregard for the well-being of the patrons was ironically so comical that our team gladly went back week after week to hear her incredibly ignorant pronunciations of “Versailles” and “Pele”. Won the jackpot there once too.

And although this isn’t affected by trivia being on or not, but the Burmese there is amazing. I admittedly haven’t been back just for the food though, since trivia finished…

The Cross club has always wanted to establish themselves north of the lake – but had to spend some dollars on the refurb at Woden.

Remember that they own the basketball centre at the top of Belco as well – and have always been keen to have a club attached to it.

It was the saving of the Yacht club when they took over – and I understand the DA is in for a full refurb on that site.

I heard the Macquarie outdoor area is now too good, apparently. People go in for a cheap feed and then head outdoors for a smoke rather than sit at the pokies. Not sure if that’s an accurate description of why they’ve not been able to repay the debts but it aligns with the fact casinos don’t really have good outdoor areas.

isn’t solvency, rather than tax, the issue? i thought they were being administrated?? something to do with not allowing for a downturn in revenue due to smoking but then overcapitalising on renos at macquarie

There have been no changes at Turner yet. The big hope amongst the regulars is that the thursday night trivia is reintroduced.

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