Melbourne Rebels 2025 and beyond...

[Jimmyjam]

You were interested in super rugby for the 15 years prior to the rebels existence tho?

That's really just the difference between being an actual rugby fan and loving the sport or specifically a fan of your favourite team. No disrespect or judgement, but in the second instance, once the team goes, so does the interest. I felt the same way in NRL when my original team (Magpies) merged, I lost interest and stopped watching. With Rugby I'll watch pretty much any game and if my club team disappeared I'd find another one..

 

[Crashy]

With the a-leavie club western united losing over $10 mil this year and on the ropes (according to today’s press), no wonder RA had no interest in the ‘rescue plan’ to have the Rebels play 25 kms from the city in a soon to be housing debelopment..

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Tarneit was not the answer

 

[oztimmay]

Here's an article with more context: https://www.commercialrealestate.co...ern-united-hits-financial-turbulence-1364615/

One glaring difference between Western United and the Rebels - relative competition success. WU currently sit 2nd on the A-League ladder.

 

[stoff]

You were interested in super rugby for the 15 years prior to the rebels existence tho?

Yeah and used to flit around between teams. The difference is I was then a Rebels fan for their entire existence which changed the dynamic. I haven't stopped watching rugby, just not watching Super Rugby.

 

[Wilson]

Good this angle is bleak:

I get that there's plenty to be built around it, but looking at it from here it makes a lot of sense why proposal's for the Rebels to play out of here didn't really move the needle. Even if everything went exactly to plan it'd be a decade before there was any semblance of life here.

 

[Braveheart81]

Even if everything went exactly to plan it'd be a decade before there was any semblance of life here.

Sydney Olympic Park is up to 25 years and we're still waiting for signs of life

 

[Strewthcobber]

There are some eye-watering numbers n the AFR article about WU. Can you imagine what RA's due diligence into the consortia's partnership with WMG must have looked like

WMG Holdings was gifted 62 hectares of former farmland in Tarneit by Wyndham City Council on the basis it would use the site to build a 15,000-seat stadium for the A-League club and subdivide the rest of the property to make 900 homes. The group has taken longer than expected to raise the money needed for the 15,000-seat stadium, and Western United plays home games on the site in a smaller venue that can host 4000 fans.

The property development has also not yet started, but is critical to Western United’s business model, given the football club plays in front of small crowds and has lost money in recent seasons. The entity that runs the soccer team, WMG Football Club, lost $12.4 million in the year to June 2023.

WMG Football Club’s total revenue in that year was $6.9 million; well below its $11.6 million employee benefits expense in the same year.

There is no ownership link between WMG Football Club and WMG Holdings, meaning they are separate entities. However, the two companies have common shareholders, most notably Melbourne businessman Jason Sourasis, who controls about 80 per cent of both companies.

WMG Football Club also stated in its most recent accounts that it owed $44.1 million to “related parties” such as WMG Holdings at June 2023.

 

[oztimmay]

Big day in Court yesterday. Lots in the orders document. Quick summary:
- Disputed categories - MRRU after evidence of payments from RA (or related entities) to MRRU, from 2017 to 2024. This includes calculation methods for entitlements and obligations and invoices from players. IIRC the sharing of these details is still in contention, and will be decided by the courts if it's to be shared
- Undisputed categories - provide documents for undisputed categories by 13 May.
- Expert evidence - on what they intend to reply upon - MRRU file by 30 June, RA to file by 15 August.
- Exchange the list of affidavits that each party will reply upon in court - both parties by 22 August. Objections by 19 September
- Witness list for Court - both parties by 5 September
- Agreed facts:
-10 October - MRRU to serve a list of agreed facts to RA.
- 17 October - RA to respond to list of agreed facts
- 24 October - MRRU to file list of agree facts

A fairly structured timetable of pre-trial requirements (opening statement etc) but no start date for the trial. My guess is 2026, based on I see. The next case management hearing on 9 May, so more insight on a start date.

The last comment (24) was interesting:
In respect of each participation deed entered into between the defendant and any of the Australian Super Rugby Clubs other than the plaintiff in relation to the 2024 season, the defendant will, by a letter from its legal representatives, specify the dates on which the relevant parties to those deeds entered into those deeds, and that in the absence of an acceptable letter in that regard a modified form of discovery category 19 will be ordered.

Order here: https://comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/VID1059/2024/3995751/event/32176696/document/2475494