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Thread: Rugby in The Sunday Times

  1. #1
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    Rugby in The Sunday Times

    I'm told there was a good story about the Force and RugbyWA in the Slimes.
    I don't buy it and can't see anything online.
    Anyone seen it?

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    Veteran valzc's Avatar
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    Name:  00E962BB-B401-4B8E-A02D-0825F01E584A.jpg
Views: 1260
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  3. #3
    Veteran Ecky's Avatar
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    People still buy it?

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    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    Got to love Nick Taylor. He has stuck with WA rugby through thick and thin. Thank you Nick!!

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    Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

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    Immortal jargan83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecky View Post
    People still buy it?
    Boomers

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alison View Post
    Got to love Nick Taylor. He has stuck with WA rugby through thick and thin. Thank you Nick!!
    I'd think even better of him if he made a repeat of his story about the e mails exposing the dirty financial dealings leading up to the Rebels Dollar Dazzler Sale #2. Now that The Snake has returned to RA and finances are under scrutiny, perhaps someone might take notice this time. But I doubt it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shasta View Post
    I'd think even better of him if he made a repeat of his story about the e mails exposing the dirty financial dealings leading up to the Rebels Dollar Dazzler Sale #2. Now that The Snake has returned to RA and finances are under scrutiny, perhaps someone might take notice this time. But I doubt it.
    Like this one?
    https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-u...-ng-b88627636z

    The Australia Rugby Union’s sale of the Melbourne Rebels for $1 to New Zealand businessman Andrew Cox and his Imperium Sports Group is under the spotlight of the senate inquiry into the future of rugby in Australia.

    The inquiry is investigating the money trail that led to millions of dollars being handed to the Rebels, now owned by the Victorian Rugby Union.

    Senator Linda Reynolds raised a potential technical insolvency in New Zealand and the previously unknown existence of an Imperium unit trust when she grilled the ARU’s former chief operating officer at the hearing in Perth on Wednesday.

    Rob Clarke said most of the dealings with Mr Cox had been carried out by ARU chief executive Bill Pulver, legal counsel Richard Hawkins and chief financial officer Todd Day.

    “He (Hawkins) conducted all of that process. At management meetings all we would see is that he was satisfied with the due diligence process he was undertaking.

    “The chief counsel was leading it, but I am sure Bill (Pulver) was across it,” Mr Clarke said.

    “I would have been very surprised if the deal had gone ahead if there were issues. I can’t recall any issues being raised.”

    But Senator Reynolds said: “So a potential technical insolvency in New Zealand would be of no concern to you?”Mr Clarke claimed it was the first time he had heard of the possibility.

    Senator Reynolds added: “I also understand that there was an Imperium unit Trust and that there were certain interested people who may have had shares in the Imperium Unit Trust.”

    She described the $1 sale to Cox of a debt free Rebels - that included a $13 million write-off, $1.8 million cleared with creditors, $6 million in incremental payments between 2016-2020 and $750,000 in working capital grants - as “the deal of a lifetime”.

    “There’s no record of what these incremental payments were for,” she said.

    She also asked Mr Clarke: Do you recall whether Mr Cox or Imperium Group could quite rightly take that $6 million and go and spend the rest of their lives in the Bahamas or something or did it have to be spent on rugby?

    “Do you know if there were any clauses in there?”

    Mr Clarke said: “I’m not aware. I didn’t negotiate the agreement and I’m not aware of any clauses.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by shasta View Post
    I'd think even better of him if he made a repeat of his story about the e mails exposing the dirty financial dealings leading up to the Rebels Dollar Dazzler Sale #2. Now that The Snake has returned to RA and finances are under scrutiny, perhaps someone might take notice this time. But I doubt it.
    Or maybe this one ?
    https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/ru...-ng-b88671547z

    RUGBY Australia was brokering a deal to save the Melbourne Rebels two months before the decision to axe Western Force from Super Rugby was announced.

    A confidential email from chief executive Bill Pulver shows he was discussing the deal to transfer the Rebels licence from businessman Andrew Cox to the Victorian Rugby Union in June this year.

    Pulver denied any involvement in the subsequent transfer of the Rebels licence.

    “I was not involved in any way with the transfer of licence back to VRU. I was taken by surprise when it happened. I am not sure what email you are referring to,” he said.

    The email, leaked to Seven West Media, was sent from Pulver to Cox and other RA management. Among key terms was that (foundation Rebels directors) Lyndsey Cattermole and Bob Dalziel would repay creditors to ensure the club was “debt-free”.

    That allowed the “put option”, used to transfer the licence from Cox’s Imperium Group to the VRU on August 4 when they bought 11,625,000 shares for $1.

    RA claimed it was blindsided when news of the sale leaked and said it had to approve any transfer or sale of ownership.

    Pulver stated in the June 28 email that another term of the deal was that: “Imperium exercises the put option to the VRU such that the VRU becomes the sole shareholder of the Rebels.”

    He told the senate inquiry into the future of rugby in September: “In fact, at the 12th hour minor shareholders within the Melbourne Rebels came forward with incremental capital to prop up the enterprise, which removed it from the prospect of insolvency.

    “Those two (Force and Rebels) were both live right up until the final decision.”
    RA chairman Cameron Clyne told the inquiry last month: “I have said there was a very real option that both teams were being considered right through until August.”

    The email relates to a finding from the inquiry: “Confidential evidence shows the ARU were directly involved in the execution of the transfer of the Melbourne Rebels’ licence from Imperium to VRU.

    “The committee understands these negotiations were well under way by June 2017.”

    The committee also said it had: “... been made aware that the ARU suggested Imperium exercise a put option and were involved in negotiations which cleared Melbourne Rebels debt thereby allowing the put option to the Victorian Rugby Union to be exercised.

    “These events took place in June 2017 and effectively made it impossible to end their licence.”

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  9. #9
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    Or maybe this one?
    https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/we...-ng-b88713091z

    SENSITIVE information has been handed to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as it investigates Rugby Australia’s dealings with the Melbourne Rebels before axing the Western Force from Super Rugby.

    The detail, that was not publicly revealed to the Senate inquiry into the culling of the Force, was requested by the corporate watchdog.

    And in another twist it can be revealed the Victorian Government guaranteed Rugby Australia $4.5 million to channel to the Rebels if they promised to keep the club in Melbourne.

    It is understood information sent to ASIC raises questions about RA board decision-making and whether it was able to make informed choices with the information presented.

    It suggests the board may not have been given all information about deals with New Zealand businessman Andrew Cox before he was sold the licence for $1 three years ago and his sale of the club to the Victorian Rugby Union in August last year for the same price that effectively ended the Force's future.

    ASIC is also assessing whether the board was fully informed of a rival offer led by former Rebels foundation member Alan Winney.

    Meanwhile The Sunday Times has obtained the Special Funding Agreement between RA and the Rebels that handed them $4.5 million over two years.

    The confidential document, signed by RA’s outgoing chief executive Bill Pulver and chairman Cameron Clyne, and Rebels chairman Tim North and director Owen Stone, is dated October 6, one month after the Force was chopped. It says ARU (now RA) had negotiated a funding agreement with Visit Victoria in support of Test matches in Victoria from 2020-2025.

    “Further, the VV Agreement provides additional funding for the ARU in the amount of $4.5 million in connection with the continued participation of the Melbourne Rebels as a Victorian-based team in the Super Rugby competition.

    “ARU will pay the Rebels Funding into a bank account owned and controlled by MRRUL (Melbourne Rebels Rugby Union Ltd) as nominated by MRRUL to ARU.

    “ARU will pay the Rebels Funding to MRRUL in the following instalments:

    (i) $3,000,000 on execution of this Agreement;

    (ii) $1,000,000 on the first anniversary of the execution Agreement;

    (iii) $500,000 on the second anniversary of the execution of this Agreement.”

    It was revealed in The West Australian last September that a submission was given to the Senate inquiry detailing secret talks between RA and the Victorian Government.

    The submission said RA planned to use money from Visit Victoria to buy and then close the Rebels but the Victorian Government put pressure on RA to pull out of the deal, saying they would not receive any money if they did not back away from the plan.

    ASIC would not comment on the status of investigations. RA said there would be no comment.

    The Rebels and VRU did not return calls when asked for comment.

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    Well spotted. I was thinking of the second one mainly. I actually thought he'd also got some evidence that the ARU had not only known about the dodgy dealings but had even contributed substantial funds to enable the then insolvent Rabble to be sold for a buck as a going concern. That could be wrong, though. Its a bit of a fuzzy memory there TBH.

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    "The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David


  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by jargan83 View Post
    Boomers
    doomers....

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  12. #12
    Immortal jargan83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    doomers....
    Is that a Sunday Times reference that I am unfamiliar with?

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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by shasta View Post
    Well spotted. I was thinking of the second one mainly. I actually thought he'd also got some evidence that the ARU had not only known about the dodgy dealings but had even contributed substantial funds to enable the then insolvent Rabble to be sold for a buck as a going concern. That could be wrong, though. Its a bit of a fuzzy memory there TBH.
    This one?
    It's my favourite, shows the bastards for what they really are.

    Rugby Australia aid saved the Melbourne Rebels, sealed Western Force’s fate
    Nick Taylor
    PerthNow
    April 15, 2018 11:17AM

    RUGBY Australia money helped clear the debt that saved the Melbourne Rebels and effectively signed the Western Force’s Super Rugby death warrant.
    The revelation comes after this week’s RA announcement of a $3.8m loss for 2017, citing the messy axing of the Force as one of the factors.
    Confidential documents obtained by The Sunday Times show the Australian Rugby Union — now RA — agreed to pay former Rebels owner, New Zealand businessman Andrew Cox, $300,000 and then-director Peter Sidwell $200,000.
    The money was then paid to the Rebels.
    The payments, contained in a Deed of Settlement Release, relate to “disputes” with the Rebels over RA’s threats to axe the Rebels and directs the money to the Melbourne based club.
    The documents also state two other directors Lyndsey Cattermole and Bob Dalziel “gift” the Rebels $250,000 each. The combined amounts effectively cleared the Rebels debt of $789,811 that allowed Cox to sell the club to the Victorian Rugby Union for $1 under a Put Option agreement, effectively spelling the end of the Force as the Rebels could then not be closed.
    The document says, among others, Cox and Sidwell “had suffered loss and damage as a result of statements alleged to have been made by or on behalf of the ARU on and from 10 April 2017”.
    On April 10, RA chairman Cameron Clyne said a decision on which team would be cut would be made after consultation with the Force and rebels.
    Four days later the Rebels issued a statement saying they “unequivocally” rejected that RA could “chop or cut” the club and had notified it of its intention to seek compensation.
    The deed of settlement says Cox and Sidwell: “. respectively direct that the respective payments to them be paid to MRRUPL for the purposes of MRRUPL satisfying the Debt Free Requirement and MRRUPL agrees that these payments will be used solely for this purpose”.
    It also says Cattermole and Dalziel promise to the ARU “. they have each gifted $250,000 to MRRUPL for the purpose of MRRUPL satisfying the Debt Free requirement and MRRUPL agrees that these gifted amounts will be solely for this purpose”.
    Cox used the put option and sold 11,625,000 Rebels shares to the VRU on August 4 for $1.
    RA and the Rebels did not respond to questions.

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    Or this one?

    Rugby Australia emails show Western Force didn’t stand a chance
    Nick Taylor, Exclusive
    PerthNow
    December 3, 2017 12:02PM

    FURTHER evidence has emerged that Rugby Australia helped orchestrate the sale of the Melbourne Rebels to the Victorian Rugby Union, effectively signing the Western Force’s Super Rugby death warrant.
    Details have surfaced in an email, obtained by The Sunday Times, that was sent from RA’s former legal counsel Richard Hawkins to VRU chairman Tim North.
    It was sent on July 11, less than a month before RA closed the Force.
    It was also addressed to RA chief executive Bill Pulver and head of professional rugby Anthony French.
    Hawkins said a Deed of Amendment was needed for the put option for transferring ownership of the Rebels to the VRU because it “doesn’t quite work for what we are all contemplating here”.
    The initial clause stated the date of completion must be no less than six months and no more than seven months after the date of the Exercise Notice.
    But a letter to the VRU from Rebels owner, New Zealand businessman Andrew Cox’s Imperium Sports Management says: “We irrevocably exercise the put option granted to us under the Put Option Deed and require you to purchase the option shares from us on the terms and conditions set out in the Put Option Deed. In accordance with clause 2.3(a) of the Deed we specify (insert date) as the Completion Date.”
    Cox used the put option and sold 11,625,000 Rebels shares to the VRU on August 4 for $1 – less than a month after the email was sent.
    It says: “In terms of other documents, our view is that we will need a Deed of Amendment for the put option as the mechanism it currently contains for transferring ownership of the Rebels to the VRU doesn’t work for what we are all contemplating here — see clause 2.3(a) of the put option for example.
    “We can instruct (legal firm) Clayon Utz to draft the Deed of Amendment if you are happy with this?
    “Otherwise, there is the Deed of Release between the Rebels, AC (Cox), PS (Peter Sidwell a member of Cox’s consortium) and the other unitholders which it looks like you have in hand.”
    Pulver, Hawkins and North did not reply when asked for a comment.
    The latest revelation comes after The Sunday Times revealed last week that RA was brokering a deal to save the Rebels two months before the decision to axe the Force was announced.
    Another email shows Pulver was discussing the deal to transfer the Rebels licence from Cox to the VRU in June this year. Pulver denied any involvement in the subsequent transfer of the Rebels licence.

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  15. #15
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    Thanks for bringing back the nightmares.

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