Greg Denham | April 09, 2008
WITH player recruitment for the new Gold Coast team causing major concerns for the 16 existing clubs, Hawthorn chief executive Ian Robson yesterday stressed the need for the AFL to make sound infrastructure a priority.
And he has the experience to make that statement.
Robson was the first man employed by the Auckland Warriors before the New Zealand club joined the NSW Rugby League competition in 1995.
He was appointed chief executive in February 1993 when the club basically consisted of a name, a major sponsor, a licence and a coach-in-waiting.
"The best advice from my time in rugby league, with respect to starting a new club, is that planning was so crucial," Robson said.
"We needed every day of those two years to get venues, corporate support and membership right, and I expect the same will apply to the AFL's expansion.
"It's an enormous jigsaw puzzle. You can have a team of players, but the right infrastructure needs to be in place."
Robson is in his fourth season at Hawthorn. Last year the Hawks made a record profit of more than $3.6million and have drawn record membership this season.
Club chief executives will tomorrow be briefed by the AFL in Melbourne on a number of aspects of the expansion of the competition to the Gold Coast and western Sydney.
The information session follows last month's meeting between club presidents and the AFL commission, which resulted in clubs voting unanimously for expansion to 18 clubs.
The AFL needed the support of four clubs to proceed with the expansion.
At that meeting the league received a mandate from the club presidents to move as quickly as possible, with a preference for the new teams to start at the same time. It is possible the AFL will press ahead for premiership games in NSW and Queensland on a weekly basis from as early as 2011.
The chief executives will be updated on the licence process for the Gold Coast and will have an open discussion on how bold the AFL should be approaching western Sydney.
Clubs will give their views on whether the competition should go straight to 18 teams or gradually phase in after the establishment of the Gold Coast in 2011.
Some of the key issues the league wants feedback on are:
* How should the new clubs approach building their football departments;
* How should new clubs approach building their business model;
* How should new clubs approach building their brands, community connection and profile.
Members of the AFL executive will meet clubs one on one from next week, but the chief executives are keen for quick clarity on how the new clubs, the Gold Coast in particular, are going to form their playing lists.
"It's shaping as important for us if the Gold Coast is going to participate in this year's national draft," Robson said.
"All we've heard so far is a lot of what ifs and a range of options."
The clubs want urgent answers on whether the Gold Coast is going to be given an exclusive Queensland zone, and for how long, how many priority draft picks it will receive and how many recruits from Ireland it can sign.
Brisbane chief executive Michael Bowers said clubs had been given a historical snapshot of the concessions of entry for Fremantle and Port Adelaide, but needed more information.
"Our (the Lions) footy sub-committee met yesterday and we need to know things to form a club point of view," Bowers said. "We need to know what access to Queensland kids the new club will have, and all those issues, for our own future recruiting."
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he believed the successful Gold Coast club would start appointing key people such as a board, a chief executive and coaches probably before the start of next season.