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Clarke and Pulver are in it together with backing from Clyne IMO. I thought Senator Reynolds was terrific yesterday - her questions were direct and she didn't get side tracked by Pulver trying to waste time with nonsense answers. Pulver also tried the "which loan/money?" routine and accused her of being confused. She stayed calm and continued. I think she asked him if a loan was offered to Western Force and he answered "it wasn't asked for" - later in the day Sinderberry stated that one of the options they tried to arrange was for a loan from the ARU as per other states had received. I hope he kept good notes of the meeting as this is a direct contradiction to Pulver's statement.
Pulver was obfuscating in the extreme and I thought he was rude and disrespectful especially questioning what her questions had to do with anything - shows him to be the bully he has always been and he is not used to being questioned.
With regard to the sale to Imperium instead of Winney (so named by Reynolds) it begs the question as to what due diligence was done on Cox, and lots of rumours now coming out about his potential insolvency at the time of the purchase with the big $ payment to him on the first day of the sale transfer - and why further payments were made and who else benefited from the sale to Cox? Did directors of Rebels get a benefit / payment / share holding of the new entity as reward for driving through the sale? Did Clarke benefit directly or indirectly for approving the sale and related payment plan to Cox?
Even I can see that those payments have cost the Force dearly.
The truth may set you free, but only evidence convicts
I said it from the start Rob Clarke has his grubby bloody hands all over this. Sorry Lou but fuck the rebels and everything about them. That one prick has soured this whole rugby country and made them the most hated in the land. And I must say to any players who sign for them as well you are fools I won't be supporting you while that asshole has any thing to do with them. Don't say you weren't warned. Hopefully someone smart is advising the players and this whole mess leaves a massive sour taste in their mouths so they give the rebels a wide berth. To sign with them only helps to justify that pricks existence.
I think this might be the smoking gun! Senator Reynolds asked if there was any other company that had shown interested in buying the Rebels,and she named a company but I can't remember the name. She said this company would have paid more than one dollar to obtain the Rebels and was that deal looked at by the ARU. Willy screamed about confidentiality again but I'm sure that will be followed up
Thanks Lou for supplying the name, do you know anything about the person/company? Another thing that annoyed me was that Willy was complaining about the numbers at the Perth test "only 17000 and we expected 22000" Jo and I couldn't help ourselves, we called out"What about the Canberra test?" What an idiot did he really expect a sell out after culling the Force, he was lucky to get 17000, people were only going to support the Force players and make a point to the ARU. I certainly wont be going to the Bledisloe
Was that the consortium that Rocky Elsom's name was mentioned with? Lou I think this would be your area of expertise. By the way Lou it's very heartening having you in our corner I just can't support you guys while that grub is floating around thinking everything is hunky dory.
No, Rocky Elsom was fronting a different consortium. and I appreciate your comments, thanks
The truth may set you free, but only evidence convicts
Willy made a big point about grass roots not getting enough funding but when questioned said only"about" 10 mill of the broadcast money is earmarked for grassroots . He also couldn't confirm how much of the 6mill "savings" from axing the Force would actually go to grassroots.Club people may be able to correct me but didn't the ARU substantially increase junior club subscriptions in the last year or two?.
Just letting you all know that the transcript from yesterday's hearing should be available on the inquiry page sometime next week. The link is:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_...ublic_Hearings
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
Out of interest, how much of the local subscriptions go to the ARU?
Australian Rugby Union chief Bill Pulver faces Senate grilling
PERTH: Australian Rugby Union chief Bill Pulver faced hostile questioning at a Senate hearing where it was suggested the Melbourne Rebels had received more than double the funding of the Western Force before the latter's axing from the Super Rugby competition.
The title of the hearing was the "Future of rugby union in Australia", but it was dominated by the issues surrounding the recent decision to dump the Force.
In the past three years the Force received the least amount of funding of Australia's five teams and the Rebels the most, WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds told the hearing, citing ARU statements.
That included $33 million to the Rebels and just $15 million to the Force, she said. The Rebels also had a $13 million loan written-off by the ARU when businessman Andrew Cox bought the franchise for $1 in 2015 before handing it over to the Victorian Rugby Union this year.
"Any way you look at this, the Force got the least amount of these Super Rugby grants than any other team – in some cases they get almost half of what the Rebels got," Senator Reynolds told the hearing.
Pulver said he could not say whether Senator Reynolds' figures were correct or not, which she said was surprising as he was the governing body's chief executive.
The questioning became heated when Pulver refused to reveal what support or deals were done with the Rebels and Cox, citing confidentiality agreements.
Pulver, who spoke briefly to disgruntled Force fans who turned up to the hearing, said the senate committee was mocking him about that, but Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said she was stunned he would not reveal such important information.
Pulver told the senators that "meaningful change" had to occur, including cutting the number of teams, given how poorly Australia was performing on and off the field in Super Rugby.
"This is the most competitive winter sports market," he said. "No other rugby nation in the world has to compete with three other football codes."
Force chairman Tony Howarth said he believed the ARU made its decision before consulting with his club and said it had not received the "equalisation" support it needed from the governing body.
However, he said the bid by mining magnate Andrew Forrest to create a breakaway international competition that could save the club had traction.
Mark Sinderberry, who was the Force's chief executive this year, compared the ARU's treatment of the club unfavourably with the significant on and off-field support the AFL has given its new clubs in rugby league-dominated NSW and Queensland.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...20-gylck0.html
Non sunt multiplicanda entia sine necessitate
Before I spend the time looking for it all. Does anyone know the potential outcomes of a senate enquiry?
What are they able to recommend or do based on what they decide or uncover during this process?
Which is not a denial per se - more of a "you dumb sh!ts will never discover the hard evidence to back up that allegation".Contacted by News Corp Australia on Wednesday, Clarke said: “I absolutely empathise with the emotion of the Western Force and their supporters, but any allegations that have been made are totally baseless and I have nothing more to say on the matter.”
As we've come to expect when dealing with the ARU and its ilk, the truth tends to get distorted, embellished and added to.
That was 17,500 in a stadium with a maximum capacity of 20,500 (in sporting mode).
If Pulver was expecting 22,000 at nib, then that's further evidence for his apparent lack of numerical skills.
(The test in Canberra attracted 14,200 in a stadium with a maximum capacity of 25,000).