21 September 2016 Second Members evening

[Muddly]

They're not

Well they bloody should be!

[todd4]

Too many old people.

They are usually the ones flush with surplus cash to buy the more expensive memberships.

[MI5_Dog]

They're not

Bugger!

[FingerTips]

Too many old people.

Ok, so it looks like the eligibility criteria for being a member of the Western Force and attending games at NiB have got tighter.

1. Support for the Western Force is a religious obligation.
2. Members must believe that the Western Force can do no wrong.
3. Members must believe that the A.R.U. are the spawn of the Devil.
4. Members cannot speak about or think about rugby league and watching a State of Origin match will result in instant revocation of Force membership.
5. Members must be under 50 (40?, 30?) years of age.
6. Johnathan who?

[boof1050]

Well I don't know if I should??? After all Foley (stonefish) was the master of all evil and therefor held all responsibility for the demise of the club. As he is gone all will return to normal?
As simple as it gets the three main areas strength and conditioning, Medical (recovery) and skills were all slashed by 50%. Yet during this time our CEO had 2 PA's? Good to know that the man at the helm had his priorities right the whole way through.
Do the job, get the results, but do it with one leg and arm missing.

Did I read somewhere a while back that our CEO is a former accountant?

[andrewg]

Response from “the plodder”
(thanks jargan83 )

In reality (and despite Allison's generously supplied pedestal) my status is exactly the same as every other Western Force Member. I enjoy being able to watch top-class rugby. I want to experience success in the West and am very appreciative of the financial rescue of our Rugby franchise by the ARU. I hope my bona fides have been established on twf over the past 5 years.

Apologies for the rambling at the recent information meeting. Obviously I tried to cover too much in the limited time available for questions. It felt a bit like being caught up in the middle of a very messy, rolling maul that was making very little progress.

The questions SHOULD have been:

1. Under the ARU ownership arrangements will there still be separate Western Force Annual Reports containing financial accounts?
2. Will these accounts contain the same level of detail as provided in the 2009-2014 Annual Reports?
3. Will these Annual Reports still be available on the website?

ARE FORCE MEMBERS STAKEHOLDERS?

In today’s corporate world there is an increased level of transparency, disclosure and stakeholder engagement. It’s really all about TRUST.

Definition – Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources.

Members of the Western Force have provided >20% of the locally sourced revenue of the Western Force.
IMO the Sea of Blue are entitled to be considered as stakeholders. The growing level of engagement, which was missing for about 3 years, reflects that the ARU also considers the Western Force Members as genuine stakeholders.

I raised a reference to Perth Glory as for some time its Members were treated with little consideration.
They were considered purchasers of a “match-day experience”.
The club turned the corner when the owner realised that nothing was going to be achieved without the Members/supporters being part of the journey.

2015 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

I posted some numbers from past RugbyWA Annual Reports in Exile’s thread “An Open Letter to…..Someone who cares” [http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=37665&page=6] (#86).

As jargan83 has highlighted the 2015 Annual Accounts had been delayed by the ARU rescue. And yes I agree that the Annual Reports SHOULD be made available in the normal manner and contain sufficient detail to fully understand the financial standing and operations of the business. IMO they should contain more than just the minimum statutory requirement.

The 2015 Accounts were posted on the WF website, shortly after the first Members’ Meeting, early in July 2016.

It was quickly apparent that the Accounts contained none of the detail which had been provided in Annual Reports from 2009-2014. Specifically, the normal CFO’s Report containing the detailed Trading Accounts had not been included.

On 6 July, I asked by email if this information could be available to members so that I could update my earlier TWF post.
After a number of discussions this information was finally provided on 30 August 2016.
However, I was advised that this information was to be treated as “condfidential”.

During these discussions, it became evident that this detailed information had been provided to the RugbyWA club officials as part of regular briefings and updates regarding the ARU rescue.

On this basis, my view is that this information has already been provided to some stakeholders and hence could be considered as ‘in the public domain’. I am still awaiting confirmation of this position before I update the previous post.

WHY IS THIS INFORMATION IMPORTANT?

The Western Force has just appointed Dave Wessels as Head Coach and only yesterday announced Joe Bakarat as Assistant Coach. I understand that other appointments will follow. We appear to be developing a very experienced and complementary coaching group.

In his initial press conference, Dave Wessels highlighted 3 initial areas of focus to ensure success for the Western Force. These were:

1. Improve the skill base so that the players can play the game that they want to play.
2. The need to be much fitter than in the past.
3. The need for the right group of people to support the players.

These comments reinforce the direction as previously established under Michael Foley. Leadership and skills building were considered necessary to build on the success of 2014 and frequently mentioned during seasons 2015/16.

I am very confident that the new Coaching Team, support staff and the playing group will develop an appropriate program to ensure the pathway to success. To be at least as good as we can be and consistently produce not only competitive but winning rugby.

However, to ensure that this program will succeed requires adequate and consistent funding.
This is the responsibility of the CEO and ARU.

The Members can also contribute by continuing their membership and helping to grow the membership base.
Membership contribution hit a low of 21% of Commercial Services (not ARU related) revenue in 2014.
It was 30% in 2010 and probably higher in the early years.
Nothing succeeds like success.

My previous post highlighted that during 2011-2014 income had reduced by about 10%.
Total expenditure had decreased by about 5% from its high in 2012.

But some key areas in the Professional Rugby expenditure had been reduced by almost 50% since 2012.

These reductions had occurred in areas which Dave Wessels has already highlighted as areas of focus:

1. FITNESS – Expenditure on Strength and Conditioning.
2. SKILLS – Expenditure on Team Consultants.
3. FITNESS/RECOVERY – Expenditure on Team Medical and Team Physiotherapy.

Over the period 2013 – 2015 expenditure in these areas were reduced by about 30% each year with a >50% reduction over the 3-year period. We do not know if there were further reduction during the 2016 season (but it’s highly likely).

This was during a period when we watched the team grow to 9 wins from 16 games in 2014 and then appeared to lose its mojo achieving only 2 wins from 15 games in 2016.

Are these two circumstances linked? Very likely!

INFORMATION FLOW

RugbyWA (and its member clubs) are the historical owners of Western Force. The RugbyWA Board still has a key role in supporting the ARU’s rescue of the Western Force. The Board has two members who are part of the Community Rugby Advisory Committee. They are Hans Sauer (Nedlands)and Trevor Cook (Kalamunda).
The clubs are regularly updated on happening at the Western Force. It seems clear to me that the RugbyWA board has expected key information to “filter down” to the WA rugby community via the clubs.

I have developed no club association as my work in the mining industry usually takes me out of town. Most often it seems when the best games are being played! It would be interesting to know how many of the current and potential Western Force membership are actual members of clubs.

The current regular Members Information Meetings are certainly an effective way to communicate to the broader rugby community and our CEO/ARU should be commended for this regular initiative.
However, these gatherings should be more than simply “feel good” sessions. They are an opportunity to have frank and open 2-way discussion so that attendees all get the same message about key areas of interest and important challenges facing the Western Force.

SUMMARY

1. The Sea of Blue ARE key stakeholders in the success of the Western Force. Our contributions are more than just ‘bums on seats’.
2. The ARU have committed to help make the Western Force competitive. (Let’s hope that we can be a lot more than that!)
3. There needs to be a consistent level of transparency, disclosure and stakeholder engagement on the financial position of the Western Force. It needs to be obvious that Dave Wessels IS provided sufficient funding for his program and ongoing support to fully realise the potential of the player group and team.

[boof1050]

Enough said Andrew well done mate. Amazing how some people don't like to question the establishment.

[shasta]

Thanks for putting so concisely what many of us are thinking, but either are unable or too slack to do. IIRC your "Someone who cares" post marked a bit of a "light bulb" moment for me in understanding what most likely lies at the center of the team's dwindling performances. I had previously put it down to simply not being able to attract "good enough" players. I am as enthusiastic about financial reports as I am about match stats (), so thanks again. Not bad for a plodder.

[valzc]

That's interesting Andrew. I remember at that last open Captains run that I queried/commented Sinderberry about the medical & physio support & why the Force had so many injuries. He was quite prickly in his answer saying that the Force had no more percentage injuries than the other teams, so judging by his attitude in hindsight it was obviously a bit of a sore point.

[beige]

Apologies for the rambling at the recent information meeting. Obviously I tried to cover too much in the limited time available for questions. It felt a bit like being caught up in the middle of a very messy, rolling maul that was making very little progress.

You certainly left me behind on the night!

Thanks for explaining on here.

[jono]

That's interesting Andrew. I remember at that last open Captains run that I queried/commented Sinderberry about the medical & physio support & why the Force had so many injuries. He was quite prickly in his answer saying that the Force had no more percentage injuries than the other teams, so judging by his attitude in hindsight it was obviously a bit of a sore point.

Assumedly it was a sore spot with him because he made the call to cut that budget as opposed to another area and it obviously backfired.

Another inspired & smart business call by the top man... -_-

[PerthGirl]

They are usually the ones flush with surplus cash to buy the more expensive memberships.

I wish!

[jargan83]

Response from “the plodder”
(thanks jargan83 )

Apologies for the rambling at the recent information meeting. Obviously I tried to cover too much in the limited time available for questions.

Apologies mate my mouth is often quicker than my brain. It just seemed from your questions you were there trying push an agenda of your own.

A point your raised and I actually thought was a good one was the financial report and why you were asked to keep the information confidential? Were you given a reason or just told that it was "for your eyes only"?

[chibi]

Assumedly it was a sore spot with him because he made the call to cut that budget as opposed to another area and it obviously backfired.

I'm very curious as to what the other areas could have been.

[Tazzmania]

It is important to note that as the situation currently stands the word members is not technically correct as we are just season ticket holders in reality.

I think this is the first year that the Force (Rugby WA) are reaching out to us to see if we want to change that and create a more meaningful association with them, to the extent of setting up an proper incorporated association that could be given voting rights and be more involved in what transpires.

However that is going to take some work on our part and will only succeed if t is set up, structured and supported by enough of us that would need to do a lot of work on a voluntary basis.

I think this may be a project that may get traction as this reaching out phase gains momentum, however it will need to be driven by us members and not Rugby WA..