Strapped Rebels in danger of folding

[Chopper1]

I can't agree with you there Shasta. Melbourne stole the Western Reds and then the Force. I will never forgive them for either.

[shasta]

I can't agree with you there Shasta. Melbourne stole the Western Reds and then the Force. I will never forgive them for either.

I agree with you if you are talking about the men in suits. But not players & supporters. The Reds were actually in a pretty similar situation - on the verge of insolvency. Bastard Rupert Murdoch & John Robot didn't put them there. The people behind the bid did that themselves. They lied about how much junior development had been done, how much money they had in the kitty and offered to pay travelling teams costs to get the bid over the line.
In many ways the Western Reds were the worst thing that ever happened to RL in WA. The local 1st grade was going gangbusters before that.

[blueandblack]

I can't agree with you there Shasta. Melbourne stole the Western Reds and then the Force. I will never forgive them for either.

same

[jargan83]

[Burgs]

OK, most of us don't have a lot of time for the Rabble. But I hope they can muddle through somehow for the sake of their supporters, players & coaches. We know first hand how depressing the alternative can be. We are just extremely lucky to have had the support of a committed billionaire.

RA has stated that they won't support them past 2024. I'm guessing that means this years funding distribution that all teams get. Though RA was evasive about what it might do after a report from the administrators. The point I'm wondering is; at what point is an organisation trading while insolvent or whatever the legal term is? Can the Financial Administrator just say the jig's up and call the receivers?

"Fuck 'em!"

Ok, ok...

"Get well soon..."

[GIGS20]

Reading between the Phil Waugh lines, ra are still expressing a commitment to 5 teams in 5 markets.

It sounds to me like theyr going to let the rebels die a natural death and set up a new organisation in Melbourne for 2025.

It certainly would be the cheap way to gain control of an RA-controlled team in Melbourne.

If that's the case, I'm sitting on the fence a bit with the idea.

1 Rugby Australia has always been pretty bloody deluded about a professional rugby team in Melbourne, they've always thrown money at the concept and don't seem to have done any cost-benefit analysis.

2 the idea of letting the rebels fold, sticking the board with responsibility for the debt and standing up their own subsidiary shows a level of business acumen that is previously unseen from Rugby Australia, you never know, they might actually run the team sustainably.

This is, of course, all predicated upon my guess that this is their strategy. They might follow their usual model of letting the debt become unsustainable, buy the whole thing for a dollar after pumping money in to clear the debt and get a mate to take it over.

[AndyS]

Perhaps Forrest might take them on, then have a chat with the Brumbies about their issues, then suggest to RA that as the major shareholder of the majority of teams, it is time for some changes....?

[shasta]

Perhaps Forrest might take them on, then have a chat with the Brumbies about their issues, then suggest to RA that as the major shareholder of the majority of teams, it is time for some changes....?

That might be interesting, but I'm with Burgs on that score. Fuck em! If they are such big wheels let em find their own Rugby loving rich bloke.

[James]

I think RA will keep options open while working out what's come next. If we move to a solely domestic comp, I expect the Rebels retained. If we stay in SR Pacific, I expect them to merge with the Brumbies.

[wholetruth]

There is some logic in that but I can't see the Brumbies wanting to inherit the Rebels debt.

[wholetruth]

It only gets better.
Nothing has changed.
Rebels’ rugby boss milked millions from secret network.
The collapse of the Melbourne Rebels rugby club and its chairman’s businesses have been linked to a “secretive” network which required strict confidentiality among members.

[GIGS20]

And Baden Stephenson has come out in the press today saying that the rebels haven't entered voluntary administration because they've appointed an "external financial advisor to assist with debt management"

So voluntary administration in all but name?

[Hansie]

You have no idea how much this gives me the absolute S#$TS.

We had a plan to make money - Remember the prospectus we launched with millions pledged, based on other clubs having fan engagement financially. Pulver told us to our faces - this is a good initiative - and then....

They should have canned the Rebels back in 2017 because they had no initiative, no plan and now the turkey has come home to roost.

[wholetruth]

There is something on The Roar that has to be the worst piece of "journalism" I have seen on the Rebels situation. Is this "expert" Parkes a Rebels media spin doctor.

[GIGS20]

You have no idea how much this gives me the absolute S#$TS.

We had a plan to make money - Remember the prospectus we launched with millions pledged, based on other clubs having fan engagement financially. Pulver told us to our faces - this is a good initiative - and then....

They should have canned the Rebels back in 2017 because they had no initiative, no plan and now the turkey has come home to roost.

Maybe they shoulkd try and sell shares in the Rebels to Melbourne residents?

I reckon they can easily raise at least as much as the meat raffle on Tuesday night at the Marble Bar pub