UTS dropped in strength or just not up to it?

[Mug Punter]

Given the alleged circumstances around Balmain's new found wealth as outlined by MP, I'm not sure how anyone can feel sorry for them to be honest.

Surprised said bowling club hasn't been boycotted by the older membership given what seems to have occured.

Nice post though!

I would imagine they have mainly died off over the years given the changing demographics of that area or simply gone to another club. Seems insane that they can be milking that old club they way they are..... They are a disgrace

[snow leopard]

My understanding is that Balmain also have a financial interest in the Parra Rugby club as well. Ae they stripping this club as well??

[Carn the Lions]

Thanks.

Mind you, that shot was not at the club concerned but more the players involved.

That club is now deservedly experiencing the after affects.

Speaking of which..... Balmain has had the club-spirit of a used condom over the past decade, and the numbnuts who have signed the cheques for the dad's army they've bought this season must be filthy that they have already incurred season ending injuries to players they have paid large sign-on fees.

Until Balmain's club administrators display any signs of intelligent life, they will be sucked dry by footballers all over the country who are willing to play for a price and then @@@@ off when the next offer comes.

I feel sorry for Balmain as they once had arguable the strongest culture in Sydney in the late 90's and were a proud, feirce tough club.

Now they wear purple and buy misfits from around the country !

Who are the players that have incurred season ending injuries????

[Boss Hogg]

Jas Coulloupas and David Yoemans both suffered long term, not necessarily season ending injuries. Dave got his in a legitimate Footy incident, Jason in a dog act by someone who pleaded not guilty despite telling half of Sydney how sorry he was for king hitting him, including telling Jason!

[devils_advocate]

Jas Coulloupas and David Yoemans both suffered long term, not necessarily season ending injuries. Dave got his in a legitimate Footy incident, Jason in a dog act by someone who pleaded not guilty despite telling half of Sydney how sorry he was for king hitting him, including telling Jason!

Wow, this sounds horrible Boss Hogg!

But to clarify, a king hit is when a player is looking the other way and it is completely unexpected and unprompted. My mail is that this was not a king hit, Boss Hogg.

My mail is that Jason and the Dog were in a push & shove after an off-the ball incident involving Jason with the Dog?s brother.

After a few quick shoves between the Dog & Jason, Jason asked the Dog, ?what are you gonna do about it, peanut?? to which the dog responded with the punch. An ugly incident, but not a king-hit.

Half the Sydney AFL League have been teammates of Jason at some point and I am sure across all of the collective group of clubs that have paid Jason, we would all wish him a speedy recovery.

8 weeks is a deserved penalty for the Dog.

What happened to Yeomans?

[Balmain Boy]

I would imagine they have mainly died off over the years given the changing demographics of that area or simply gone to another club. Seems insane that they can be milking that old club they way they are..... They are a disgrace

Just to clarify a few things about the Balmain Football Club as there seems to be a lot of misconceptions about our association with the Drummoyne Sports Club.

Balmain merged with the Drummoyne Bowling Club in 1989 as the Bowling Club was going to fold so the Balmain Football Club breathed life into the Bowling Club for over 15 years before they naturally folded due to the change in demographics in the area.

The Bowling Club were ensured a suitable Bowling facility while there was still a bowler to bowl. Therefore the Balmain Football Club upheld our promise to these Bowlers until their voluntary retirement.

Greens were sold in 1995 to refurbish the club as it gave the Bowlers a nicer environment to socialise given they did not require the 2 other greens.

The old Drummoyne Bowling Club was in such a disgraceful state that it would not be operating today had it not been revamped.

Also the former greens now provide much needed housing in an overcrowded city, rather than unsightly old patches of green that no one used anymore.

Members of the football club, including myself are still friends with several of the bowlers who are now too old to bowl and the relationship was never sour and as a Sports Club, finances MUST be put back into the community, which is why Balmain are able to support ourselves through the association with the Drummoyne Sports Club.

During the 22 years The Balmain Football Club has held interests in the Sports Club, we have been able to not only provide a place for young footballers to play football, but have employed literally hundreds of employees who are not even involved in the game.

This is far from disgraceful and sinister as some have suggested.

It was a strategy devised over 30 years ago, not unlike Ainslie in Canberra, who are applauded for their financial strategy.

Why is Balmain ridiculed for crearting a self sufficient environment that creates meaningful employment for hundreds of people?

Financially it has been a successful business model and one that other clubs have tried to implement previously. In the 90's Balmain offered other clubs insight to our strategy which no one took up.

I am happy to discuss these misconceptions about the Balmain Football Club with anyone.

I also wonder why it seems that everyone here likes to take shots at every other club, when we should be a strong community working for each other and competing only on the field?

Australian Football in Sydney is an emerging sport, but we will never be strong at this level until we can learn to work together!

[Tim Freedman]

Excellent post Balmain Boy. It sounds to me like it was a great strategy that was well planned and executed by previous Balmain board members and supporters. Perhaps other clubs should take up your offer and discuss the strategy that was undertaken at that time and look into adopting a similar model.

The fact is, it will only make the Sydney AFL stronger if more clubs were able to generate revenue from sports clubs or something simliar as per the Canberra clubs. Maybe then we wouldn't have such an unhealthy reliance on the same sponsors and loyal supporters year in and year out. There is only so many times you can keep going back to the same well!

Hopefully that puts all of the "online experts" back in their box.

[Balmain Boy]

Excellent post Balmain Boy. It sounds to me like it was a great strategy that was well planned and executed by previous Balmain board members and supporters. Perhaps other clubs should take up your offer and discuss the strategy that was undertaken at that time and look into adopting a similar model.

The fact is, it will only make the Sydney AFL stronger if more clubs were able to generate revenue from sports clubs or something simliar as per the Canberra clubs. Maybe then we wouldn't have such an unhealthy reliance on the same sponsors and loyal supporters year in and year out. There is only so many times you can keep going back to the same well!

Hopefully that puts all of the "online experts" back in their box.

Thanks for your comments Tim....and the offer is always there for anyone who wants to know about the strategy we implemented.

BTW...Good luck East Coast this week against those dirty Port Magpies!!

[Monty Burns2]

Excellent post Balmain Boy. It sounds to me like it was a great strategy that was well planned and executed by previous Balmain board members and supporters. Perhaps other clubs should take up your offer and discuss the strategy that was undertaken at that time and look into adopting a similar model.

The fact is, it will only make the Sydney AFL stronger if more clubs were able to generate revenue from sports clubs or something simliar as per the Canberra clubs. Maybe then we wouldn't have such an unhealthy reliance on the same sponsors and loyal supporters year in and year out. There is only so many times you can keep going back to the same well!

Hopefully that puts all of the "online experts" back in their box.

Tim Freedman ? I agree that clubs becoming self-financed can make Sydney footy stronger, but it depends on how those funds are used. Unfortunately, Balmain?s actions have been to the detriment of Sydney footy and have served only to improve Balmain.

I?m not saying I wouldn?t have done the same thing in their position, but for Balmain Boy to come on here and say all Sydney clubs should ?work together? and ?for each other? reeks of hypocrisy.

In the off-season, Balmain heavily targeted the following Bulldog players, offering up to $500 per game.

Troy Luff
Max Collett
Jezz Kiel
Ben Woods
Earl Shaw (reportedly offered $1000 per game!)
Ed Kiel.

5 of our top 7 or 8 players. Throw Loopy in the mix for good measure (but he had had a year off). Given they also signed some big names from other clubs, it is safe to say the Bulldogs weren?t the only club to have their talent targeted by Balmain.

Decimating local clubs of their talent in no way improves Sydney footy. It may be why there are negative sentiments towards Balmain on this forum.

[Tim Freedman]

Monty please......where did Loopy, Luff & big Earl Shaw come from again? I take it that they all played for nothing down at the kennel along with a few others such as Jajoura & Undies etc?

I don't totally disagree with what you are saying about the locals, but some players such as the above are fair game IMO.

[Balmain Boy]

Thanks for your comments Monty, this again lets me clarify a few things about Balmain and our negative perception in terms of developing the game in Sydney.

Firstly Balmain is not the only club who have recruited from other clubs, or in fact had players recruited from them.

This is the nature of the beast in Senior Football and we have never complained when players have been recruited from us....and there are truck loads.

It is interesting that of the extensive list you provided only 1 player plays for Balmain now, and the dollars you are talking about are in most cases off the mark, so unless your player is trying to push for an increase from your club I am not sure where you would have heard that.

I can categorically say Earl Shaw was not offered anywhere near that amount!!

Out of that list we only proactively approached 1 player and it is not unusual that when 1 player leaves others consider following. But again, only 1 player off your list last year is with Balmain now.

Curiously you did not list how many UNSW players have come from Balmain in the last few years....there are a fair few in various grades...that is part of football and we accept that, even though it meant we would linger on the bottom of the ladder for several years as everyone knows. We never complained about it.

In terms of developing football in Sydney and not serving to decimate it, the Balmain Football Club indeed were the creator of the Glebe Junior Football Club, helped develop the Drummoyne Power, Concord Cats, formed Pennant Hills juniors (which became the senior club) and Ermington who later became Parramatta.

The last few years have been difficult for Balmain and I am the first to admit we did not do enough in that time for our juniors, however we now have a strategy where we are working with our local juniors to ensure stronger development, and have also created a lot of interest in football in terms of what we are doing on the North Coast.

AFL has never made the news in Newcastle and due to our initiatives there have been several reports in newspapers up there which helped these clubs recruit over 20 new players to Lake Macquarie...verify that with them if like?

We have also been doing some great work with the multi cultural perspective of football with some of our committee putting almost 2 years of effort into that developing aspect of the game.

I see no point in a continued slanging match about who recruited who to where because it is rife all over football.... the important thing let me reiterate is that clubs work together to make football stronger in terms of assisting each other in financial strategy, where needed, and always in junior development.

The more kids we can keep in the game the better we will all become, and the more financially secure clubs are, the better the league will be from a playing and administration perspective.

We can throw stones at each other to achieve what? A victory for soccer, Rugby League?

[Monty Burns2]

Monty please......where did Loopy, Luff & big Earl Shaw come from again? I take it that they all played for nothing down at the kennel along with a few others such as Jajoura & Undies etc?

I don't totally disagree with what you are saying about the locals, but some players such as the above are fair game IMO.

.

I think you may have missed my point - or perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I wasn't critical of their approach, and tried to indicate that by stating "I?m not saying I wouldn?t have done the same thing in their position". I am critical that Balmain Boy and yourself come on here and imply they are doing it for the good of Sydney footy.

Getting former AFL, SANFL, VFL players into Sydney AFL will help the Sydney comp. Decimating other Sydney clubs of their talent does not.

[Monty Burns2]

Thanks for your comments Monty, this again lets me clarify a few things about Balmain and our negative perception in terms of developing the game in Sydney.

Firstly Balmain is not the only club who have recruited from other clubs, or in fact had players recruited from them.

This is the nature of the beast in Senior Football and we have never complained when players have been recruited from us....and there are truck loads.

It is interesting that of the extensive list you provided only 1 player plays for Balmain now, and the dollars you are talking about are in most cases off the mark, so unless your player is trying to push for an increase from your club I am not sure where you would have heard that.

I can categorically say Earl Shaw was not offered anywhere near that amount!!

Out of that list we only proactively approached 1 player and it is not unusual that when 1 player leaves others consider following. But again, only 1 player off your list last year is with Balmain now.

Curiously you did not list how many UNSW players have come from Balmain in the last few years....there are a fair few in various grades...that is part of football and we accept that, even though it meant we would linger on the bottom of the ladder for several years as everyone knows. We never complained about it.

In terms of developing football in Sydney and not serving to decimate it, the Balmain Football Club indeed were the creator of the Glebe Junior Football Club, helped develop the Drummoyne Power, Concord Cats, formed Pennant Hills juniors (which became the senior club) and Ermington who later became Parramatta.

The last few years have been difficult for Balmain and I am the first to admit we did not do enough in that time for our juniors, however we now have a strategy where we are working with our local juniors to ensure stronger development, and have also created a lot of interest in football in terms of what we are doing on the North Coast.

AFL has never made the news in Newcastle and due to our initiatives there have been several reports in newspapers up there which helped these clubs recruit over 20 new players to Lake Macquarie...verify that with them if like?

We have also been doing some great work with the multi cultural perspective of football with some of our committee putting almost 2 years of effort into that developing aspect of the game.

I see no point in a continued slanging match about who recruited who to where because it is rife all over football.... the important thing let me reiterate is that clubs work together to make football stronger in terms of assisting each other in financial strategy, where needed, and always in junior development.

The more kids we can keep in the game the better we will all become, and the more financially secure clubs are, the better the league will be from a playing and administration perspective.

We can throw stones at each other to achieve what? A victory for soccer, Rugby League?

Well reasoned post and thanks for not bringing it down to a slanging match. I think you may have also missed my point, however, so I hope my last post clarified it.

It is in your interests to get a strong a team as possible and I don't blame you, or anyone, from trying. If we had the cash, we would probably do the same thing. What we would not do, however, would be to claim (or infer) we were doing it for the good of Sydney footy. That is the part I took exception to. The other work you have mentioned is great and the club's turn around is to be commended. However, in my opinion, that good work would be undone if you were to successfully decimate other clubs of their talent pool.

[Tim Freedman]

Monty, maybe I was also a little unclear in my posts commending Balmain Boy and Balmain FC. I was simply applauding Balmains foresight and the strategy they employed many years ago re the Bowls club. It would be great for all Sydney AFL clubs to have something like this to generate consistent revenue streams. It would defiintely improve Sydney IMHO.

As for the recruitment debate, I think it is a little rich for any of us to take the high moral ground on this topic. All clubs have been guilty of doing the same thing at one stage or another. Whether that has to do with previous coaches or board members is irrelevant in my opinion as it is still part of a clubs history. History will always be the judge of their success. The fact is it is up to each club to focus on maintaining their lists just as much as it is on recruiting players. If you have a great culture both on and off the field then players will more than likely stay. Perfect example is the players you have highlighted in your post that have stayed. Kiels & Collett etc.

Finally, my experience in business and sport tells me that whatever you hear about the offers or payments that are made to players, halve it and then halve it again. Players (and employees I might add) love to extend the truth in this area to make themselves look better than what they really are. They use it as a bargaining tool at their current club or just to look better in front of their mates.

[Hard Times]

Thanks for an informative thread, I have learned quite a bit.
We probably just need to overlook people's natural order of bias being 1 self or family, 2 team, 3 club, 4 league 5 football code and so on.
This is always pretty transparent in each post so perhaps cut people a bit of slack, back off some of the criticism and share as much about footy - especially the positives - as possible.