Own the Force

[shasta]

Whatever the outcome, yourself and Hans are prepared to come on here and make your points, with almost everyone knowing who you both are. Credit where it's due.

[.X.]

Exile, a lifetime ago (or so it seems now) I put a lot into WA rugby, one way or another.

At the end of the time of my active involvement, RugbyWA owned the Force, and as a life member of a constituent club of RugbyWA, I felt I owned a little bit of it too.

Then RugbyWA got hijacked by rent seekers, who threw out the rules, overturned the rights of ownership, and, when the whole concept was stuffed, gave it away to the ARU for a bean bag full of empty promises.

Now I'm expected to buy it back?

I don't think so.

Thanks mate

[General]

Whatever the outcome, yourself and Hans are prepared to come on here and make your points, with almost everyone knowing who you both are. Credit where it's due.

That obvious eh?
We are planning to distribute a Prospectus to all those who have expressed an interest later this week or early next week. We won't call in any cash until there is confidence that we have enough interest to fully fund the proposed new structure. Payments can be made quarterly . We are also hoping that in parallel with the Ownership funding fans will get behind the Membership drive as bums on seats will go a long way towards fixing the profitability gap we have been struggling with the past few seasons. We are also confident that the new look squad and coaching team can their part too. The overall goal is to be able to demonstrate to the ARU that we have a sustainable financial future,get the keys back and let them turn their heads towards other problem Super Rugby Franchises all of whom have been significantly bailed out by the ARU in the past,two of them twice!
I'll get an update on pledge numbers later today.
General

[Kalahard]

He means ole Franky Sammut. Your identity is safe General.

How is the promotional efforts going around this initiative mate? Most people these days have the attention span of a goldfish. Is it being promoted outside of rugby circles/websites? TV commercials?

[Mr X]

How is the promotional efforts going around this initiative mate? Most people these days have the attention span of a goldfish. Is it being promoted outside of rugby circles/websites? TV commercials?[/QUOTE]

CEO was on Nova 93.7 this morning spreading the word! First time in a long time I have heard anything Force related on FM radio in prime time!

[jargan83]

It was also reported on Channel 9 news on Saturday night.

[Kalahard]

I was wondering about ongoing ad campaigns. One offs are good but an ongoing campaign would be better is all.

2000 is good 7000 is better etc

[shasta]

He means ole Franky Sammut. Your identity is safe General.

Um...no I didn't. I was referring to some of the long standing Trolls who claim inside knowledge of just about everything and criticise lots of people who, whether they agree or not, seem to work hard for Rugby. Whoever this General is, he's only made a few posts - positive ones. So it sure wasn't aimed his way.

[Kalahard]

Um...no I didn't. I was referring to some of the long standing Trolls who claim inside knowledge of just about everything and criticise lots of people who, whether they agree or not, seem to work hard for Rugby. Whoever this General is, he's only made a few posts - positive ones. So it sure wasn't aimed his way.

My bad

[General]

I was wondering about ongoing ad campaigns. One offs are good but an ongoing campaign would be better is all.

2000 is good 7000 is better etc

As you can imagine we don't have a huge budget but you will start to see more interviews articles and social media coverage using high profile Rugby personalities and some from other sports and the broader Community. As an example some of you may have seen a pretty positive article in today's Australian showing the ARU' s support for our initiative so it's working in principal we just need to secure the right number of pledges.
Cheers General

[ranga]

This in my opinion is the best recruiting we've had in years, so if we do "get the keys back" I hope the ARU still stay in some form as our recruiting agent

[General]

This in my opinion is the best recruiting we've had in years, so if we do "get the keys back" I hope the ARU still stay in some form as our recruiting agent

The plan IS for the ARU to stay involved in coach selection and recruitment and possibly as a minor shareholder. We are hoping to announce another significant signing Friday or Monday.

[Kalahard]

As you can imagine we don't have a huge budget but you will start to see more interviews articles and social media coverage using high profile Rugby personalities and some from other sports and the broader Community. As an example some of you may have seen a pretty positive article in today's Australian showing the ARU' s support for our initiative so it's working in principal we just need to secure the right number of pledges.
Cheers General

Thanks General, all sounds very exciting.

[Mr X]

As you can imagine we don't have a huge budget but you will start to see more interviews articles and social media coverage using high profile Rugby personalities and some from other sports and the broader Community. As an example some of you may have seen a pretty positive article in today's Australian showing the ARU' s support for our initiative so it's working in principal we just need to secure the right number of pledges.
Cheers General

I have one question, but first let me make it clear that I am a supporter of this plan and hope it works.
Why has it taken this long (until it looks like the doors may be closed on us) to get asses out of the seats and start actually proactively promoting the Force and rugby in WA? Budgets are tight we get that, but I find it quite disappointing that until the grim reaper showed his face no one at board/management level thought it necessary to promote the game?

[Beliefs]

I have one question, but first let me make it clear that I am a supporter of this plan and hope it works.
Why has it taken this long (until it looks like the doors may be closed on us) to get asses out of the seats and start actually proactively promoting the Force and rugby in WA? Budgets are tight we get that, but I find it quite disappointing that until the grim reaper showed his face no one at board/management level thought it necessary to promote the game?

Agree, we have just gone through the biggest booms this State has ever seen and nothing much was done to push some of this money Rugby's way. In saying that at least somebody has come up with this initiative ala the Green Bay Packers. My only question is will we still be bound by the ARU rules re recruiting, i.e. do we have to pick up sub standard eastern state players who are eligible to be picked for Australian teams, when there may be a class International player available from overseas, who is capable of contributing to winning a game for the Force, after all a winning team gets bums on seats.