HomeSportsbeat Friday August 3
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Sportsbeat Friday August 3
by Admin Fri Aug 03, 2012 7:53 am
CK's weekly Sportsbeat column, looking at lateral solutions to Sturt's financial issues:
STILL GOT THE BLUES
It’s been a tumultuous few years at Sturt. The parting of the ways with senior coach Luke Norman last year seemed a logical time to end the association between club and coach. While Norman had done very well early in many facets with the club over a three year period, including a grand final berth in 2009, the wooden spoon last year sealed his fate. He was replaced by assistant coach Seamus Maloney, who also served the club as a player over an eight year period.
The club recruited carefully in the off-season, winning the chase for former Glenelg skipper Ben Kane, who was tipped to add some grunt to their midfield. His Glenelg teammate, Luke Panozzo also crossed over to Unley, with both joining their former teammate Matthew Duldig. While the club sat last in 2011, the expectation from many Sturt fans was that they would rise up the ladder in 2012, although would fall short of finals action.
Leading into the final few rounds, however, and Sturt’s chances of avoiding a second successive wooden spoon are diminishing. Not since 1996 has the club sat in the cellar for successive seasons, and it’s fair to say, in that period, the playing list was heavily in the rebuilding phase and the result was to be expected. Their stirring win over South Adelaide last round was a real fillip for their chances, but a tough run home will make it tougher to keep away from the dreaded cellar.
Despite clearing out a number of fringe players some weeks ago, their list still looks a little thin at the top end, in terms of permanent Sturt players. They do have the services of 12 AFL listed players, and at times, have up to nine of these lining up in their league team. This talent is very handy, but also means considerable disruption to their structures if a number are promoted at once, making for difficulty for Maloney to set his lineup too far in advance. The likes of inspirational skipper Jade Sheedy, Tristan Gum and Kane are all firmly in the second half of their careers and while a youngster like Brodie Grundy is very impressive, he will be gone to the AFL soon. Recruiting is difficult, however, in their current financial state, so they may be destined to take solid country or regional footballers, or fringe players at other clubs, at best. Their reliance on AFL listed players – many of whom are fringe AFL players and therefore more likely to be in and out of their AFL team regularly – is concerning and is unhealthy long term if the club aims for higher honours.
To add to this, the club is currently battling a debt of in excess of $2 million, and the sheer cost of playing football at Unley Oval is getting higher. Currently unable to erect permanent fencing around the ground, the cost of removing the temporary fences and other match day infrastructure adds another $50,000 to the bottom line each year, as well as costs involved in wages for staff on match days. The club’s lease at Unley Oval is due to expire shortly and with a highly negative experience with a past sponsor of the club still looming in the background, the club would be very hopeful of renewing its sponsorship with Commander Centre to add to its bottom line. One other possible solution is to look at a public float of the club, but the current financial situation would make such an option unviable.
The time is right, however, for the club to at least consider alternative options. To shift too far from their core area may spell issues with having their support group move with them. One solution to this is to consider relocating to Wayville Showgrounds. The bar and catering facilities are more than adequate under the western grandstand, with another bar on the eastern side of the ground. Changerooms can easily be set up in the same areas where the equestrian competitors prepare at Royal Show time. The arena itself is not completely unfamiliar to SANFL, with West Adelaide playing home games there in 1927 to 1939. Resurface work could easily be undertaken to bring the turf to SANFL standard, and if the club was to host the final match of the season under lights on the first Friday of the Royal Show, they could really bring an immediate, captive audience to Sturt with little marketing needed on their part. The only disruption to the Show program would be needing to shift the first day of equestrian action back one day. Post match celebrations could be held in the Goyder Mezzanine level of the Goyder Pavillion, or even in the aforementioned bar areas for all games but the last match (if held on Royal Show night). If the club can capture the younger audience, even for that last night of the season, it could give them a real chance of signing some more members to the longer term cause.
Nobody wants any SANFL club to fold and the proud tradition of Sturt must be allowed to flourish. Whether the administration and membership are willing to consider a move down the road to Wayville remains to be seen, but the idea should surely be carefully considered in light of their current plight.
STILL GOT THE BLUES
It’s been a tumultuous few years at Sturt. The parting of the ways with senior coach Luke Norman last year seemed a logical time to end the association between club and coach. While Norman had done very well early in many facets with the club over a three year period, including a grand final berth in 2009, the wooden spoon last year sealed his fate. He was replaced by assistant coach Seamus Maloney, who also served the club as a player over an eight year period.
The club recruited carefully in the off-season, winning the chase for former Glenelg skipper Ben Kane, who was tipped to add some grunt to their midfield. His Glenelg teammate, Luke Panozzo also crossed over to Unley, with both joining their former teammate Matthew Duldig. While the club sat last in 2011, the expectation from many Sturt fans was that they would rise up the ladder in 2012, although would fall short of finals action.
Leading into the final few rounds, however, and Sturt’s chances of avoiding a second successive wooden spoon are diminishing. Not since 1996 has the club sat in the cellar for successive seasons, and it’s fair to say, in that period, the playing list was heavily in the rebuilding phase and the result was to be expected. Their stirring win over South Adelaide last round was a real fillip for their chances, but a tough run home will make it tougher to keep away from the dreaded cellar.
Despite clearing out a number of fringe players some weeks ago, their list still looks a little thin at the top end, in terms of permanent Sturt players. They do have the services of 12 AFL listed players, and at times, have up to nine of these lining up in their league team. This talent is very handy, but also means considerable disruption to their structures if a number are promoted at once, making for difficulty for Maloney to set his lineup too far in advance. The likes of inspirational skipper Jade Sheedy, Tristan Gum and Kane are all firmly in the second half of their careers and while a youngster like Brodie Grundy is very impressive, he will be gone to the AFL soon. Recruiting is difficult, however, in their current financial state, so they may be destined to take solid country or regional footballers, or fringe players at other clubs, at best. Their reliance on AFL listed players – many of whom are fringe AFL players and therefore more likely to be in and out of their AFL team regularly – is concerning and is unhealthy long term if the club aims for higher honours.
To add to this, the club is currently battling a debt of in excess of $2 million, and the sheer cost of playing football at Unley Oval is getting higher. Currently unable to erect permanent fencing around the ground, the cost of removing the temporary fences and other match day infrastructure adds another $50,000 to the bottom line each year, as well as costs involved in wages for staff on match days. The club’s lease at Unley Oval is due to expire shortly and with a highly negative experience with a past sponsor of the club still looming in the background, the club would be very hopeful of renewing its sponsorship with Commander Centre to add to its bottom line. One other possible solution is to look at a public float of the club, but the current financial situation would make such an option unviable.
The time is right, however, for the club to at least consider alternative options. To shift too far from their core area may spell issues with having their support group move with them. One solution to this is to consider relocating to Wayville Showgrounds. The bar and catering facilities are more than adequate under the western grandstand, with another bar on the eastern side of the ground. Changerooms can easily be set up in the same areas where the equestrian competitors prepare at Royal Show time. The arena itself is not completely unfamiliar to SANFL, with West Adelaide playing home games there in 1927 to 1939. Resurface work could easily be undertaken to bring the turf to SANFL standard, and if the club was to host the final match of the season under lights on the first Friday of the Royal Show, they could really bring an immediate, captive audience to Sturt with little marketing needed on their part. The only disruption to the Show program would be needing to shift the first day of equestrian action back one day. Post match celebrations could be held in the Goyder Mezzanine level of the Goyder Pavillion, or even in the aforementioned bar areas for all games but the last match (if held on Royal Show night). If the club can capture the younger audience, even for that last night of the season, it could give them a real chance of signing some more members to the longer term cause.
Nobody wants any SANFL club to fold and the proud tradition of Sturt must be allowed to flourish. Whether the administration and membership are willing to consider a move down the road to Wayville remains to be seen, but the idea should surely be carefully considered in light of their current plight.
Admin- Join date : 2011-12-11
Posts : 1073
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