Originally Posted by
lou
ok, so I have read through all posts in this thread, and there are some very interesting comments. Here's my take on things:
1. The Melbourne Rebels actions to call the EGM were done to bring to light the process for deciding which team (if any) to cut
2. VRU and RUPA voted to keep five teams
3. I still cannot understand why WARU did not join that vote - but possibly - and this is from the comments in this thread, due to a feeling that the VRU were acting to cut the Force - not true in my opinion.
4. The ARU provided papers before the EGM for member unions to read - at ARU HQ - and these were so heavily redacted that they were of no use
5. I agree with the sentiment that we should stay as five as a national sport
6. ARU have pumped millions into the Rebels - true, but the ARU engineered it that way - In the first instance, Pulver appointed his old school mate, Rob Clarke (previously sacked from the ARU by JON in 2007) as CEO of the Rebels and basically let him spend what ever he needed and pumped about an extra $5m into the franchise in 2013 + 2014. In 2015 Peter Leahy took over as Rebels CEO and the business almost broke even - ARU funding of $1.5 m extra - the light was at the end of the tunnel and this was when Clarke got his old mates together, Gary Gray and Jonathon Ling (both MRRU Board members) together with Andrew Cox and pushed through the sale of the Rebels to Imperium with certain secret clauses (which have now come out) that the Rebels would receive extra payments amounting to about $6 m , as a balloon payment scheme, so most has been paid now. My point is that much of the extra money the ARU paid in those years was engineered by the ARU and they still cannot explain why they did what they did. If anything, the administrators should be sacked - and I'm kind of glad that Todd Day has gone now, cos his paw print is on this too.