Mestrov outlines future

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Fibro Eagle

Bencher
Premium Member
Tipping Member
It’s definitely a step in the right direction
It doesn’t mean Manly can’t bring promising juniors from outside the northern beaches and relocate them to families in the district this is nothing new
It’s about developing players through the system through the local area’s
 

Terry Zarsoff

First Grader
Smart move.
One point Choc made which was 100% with those leeches norths worming their way back in the NRL we have to look up the beach's.
Biggest mistake manly has done since 2004 is not finding away to bypass the bears and take over the whole north shore.

Mestrov comes thru again will be great to have a proper reserve grade side again. Would be great if it was a JV with the leagues club and the footy club like chocs Ron Massey cup team was.
Will outspoken Anthony W. still have a job with the club next season?

Big Tony didn’t like it when Des talked over him in their joint press conference two years ago.

That wasn’t Des’s only problem at the time (Scott Penn was another), but it’s hard to believe that there won’t be consequences for Mr Watmough either.
 

Smokin Joe

Bencher
There is nothing really new here.
The junior recruitment this year had already moved away from Western Sydney,most of the recruits were locals,central coast,Qlders ,rugby,and country kids,very few were brought in from West.
I made mention a while back that the club was moving away from the Blacktown relationship.
We have had more train and trial/supplementary contracted guys and have only used a couple of Blacktown contracted players this year,the breakup was inevitable.
I also mentioned that Watmough was being a bit melodramatic and Mestrov needed to clarify the situation,rather than have people destabilising things through innuendo and ill informed rumours.
Yeah,they have obviously done due diligence in looking at all models and made a choice in time and didn't need Watmough creating issues in the fan base by innuendo.
 

Rosko

Bencher
Premium Member
Tipping Member
Not just Mestrov's fault, but we have for 20 years failed to produce a strategy to make the club base broader or more sustainable. Missed out on Central Coast (Easts move in), have not locked up any Norths territory (now they are back).
So three part plan:
1. Announce extension of the coach, which we knew anyway. Noone chasing him.
2. Shop pathways/women to Central Coast and Blacktown, but no takers, as we put nothing in.
3. Pathways review without talking to Pathways management, who resign.
Happy to have all our teams playing as MWSE, but what else is the positive outcome here?
 
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JenEagle

Bencher
Not just Mestrov's fault, but we have for 20 years failed to produce a strategy to make the club base broader or more sustainable. Missed out on Central Coast (Easts move in), have not locked up any Norths territory (now they are back).
So three part plan:
1. Announce extension of the coach, which we knew anyway. Noone chasing him.
2. Shop pathways/women to Central Coast and Blacktown, but no takers, as we put nothing in.
3. Pathways review without talking to Pathways management, who resign.
Happy to have all our teams playing as MWSE, but what else is the positive outcome here?
Hit the nail on the head. I absolutely agree with this and have been saying the same thing
 

Tragic Eagle

Tragic
Premium Member
Tipping Member
Agree. Whilst I'm very happy that we have ceased our association with Blacktown and the teams all playing out of 4 Pines and the junior pathways is a concern.
 

Jethro

Star Trekkin' across the universe
Staff member
Premium Member
Tipping Member
 

Kiwi Eagle

Moderator
Staff member
Does anyone listen to James Grahams podcast ? At the moment they are running the rugby league Roundtable where they have a wide variety of guests from all aspects of the game discussing the issues going on in the game currently. Mestrov is one of those panellists so have been listening a bit more intently. The latest episode is on player movements

Mestrov said he is part of a group of people who have been tasked with looking into this area of the game. He is vehemently pushing the draft concept, when someone said “what if that means a guy like Tom Trbojevic comes through and doesn’t get to play for Manly”, he said that’s just for the betterment of the game. Shane Flanagan had a far better option where clubs could protect a certain number of players from being able to be drafted away from them

The thing that sticks with me the most from Mestrov, is that he is all about pulling Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters down a few notches, rather than other clubs raising their efforts to try and match them, and he reinforced this many times throughout the discussion. Wasn’t really a fan of that defeatist attitude rather than striving to catch up on your own merits
 
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BOZO

Journey Man
Tipping Member
The thing that sticks with me the most from Mestrov, is that he is all about pulling Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters down a few notches, rather than other clubs raising their efforts to try and match them, and he reinforced this many times throughout the discussion. Wasn’t really a fan of that defeatist attitude rather than striving to catch up on your own merits
Interesting point you raised here feathered friend

The great purpose and benefits of Benchmark standards is to identify what areas one can improve and excel on their own merits !

Arko Raised the Standards
The Panthers , the Storm and The Roosters met the Standards
Mestrov wants meet the other Mediocre clubs and lower the standards down to their level
 
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BOZO

Journey Man
Tipping Member
Happy to have all our teams playing as MWSE, but what else is the positive outcome here?
Happy to see our Legendary club being Made Great Again
We do not just want to exist . We want to Excel and win Premierships
At Manly We love Winning and Love everyone that is part of our Winning club
Respect is Earned not Given

For ever Love our Godfather
God Bless his Manly Winning Soul :h:
1728959121460.png
 

LeonardCohen

Bencher
Does anyone listen to James Grahams podcast ? At the moment they are running the rugby league Roundtable where they have a wide variety of guests from all aspects of the game discussing the issues going on in the game currently. Mestrov is one of those panellists so have been listening a bit more intently. The latest episode is on player movements

Mestrov said he is part of a group of people who have been tasked with looking into this area of the game. He is vehemently pushing the draft concept, when someone said “what if that means a guy like Tom Trbojevic comes through and doesn’t get to play for Manly”, he said that’s just for the betterment of the game. Shane Flanagan had a far better option where clubs could protect a certain number of players from being able to be drafted away from them

The thing that sticks with me the most from Mestrov, is that he is all about pulling Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters down a few notches, rather than other clubs raising their efforts to try and match them, and he reinforced this many times throughout the discussion. Wasn’t really a fan of that defeatist attitude rather than striving to catch up on your own merits
I think the point is, they’ve tried. So has every other club in the game. I doubt any have taken an apathetic approach to recruitment and retention. Compare the Raiders nursery to Penrith or the Tigers $$$ with the Roosters. It’s not an even playing field and Mestrov is advocating for an approach to levelling the playing field (what the cap was designed but has failed to do).
It’s not good for RL to have three teams that tower over the rest of the competition, regardless of the reasons for it happening, i.e. legitimate or not.
 

BOZO

Journey Man
Tipping Member
Compare the Raiders nursery to Penrith or the Tigers $$$ with the Roosters.
Compare the West Tigers Nursery and wasted poorly Managed funds
Compare the Eels Nursery and Waisted poorly Managed funds
You are comparing Losers against the Panthers and the Roosters

The Roosters do not have a Nursery of juniors
The Roosters have a Nursery of Smart Senior men that Run their club

The Moral of the story is
An Organisations Greatest asset is the Smart people that it invests in
No one has ever built success on the foundations of Excuses
 

Phobia

Reserve Grader
The Roosters have a Nursery of Smart Senior men that Run their club
I think there's not enough money in the NRL, competent managers are better off in other businesses that have more in it for them. It's hard to get someone like Mestrov, Gould, etc. It doesn't matter for Politis, he can just pay them out of his pocket, and match businesses outside of the NRL.
 

MW66

Reserve Grader
I think overall Mestrov has done a pretty fair job (probably better than fair) given the constraints he is working with. The club feels much more inclusive and informative and a 7th placed finish is a pass mark. Re the Draft, I personally would love a draft. The lead-up, the trades, the anticipation would add a couple of more weeks to the season from an interest point of view and ensure a fair share of talent.
 

SeaEagleRock8

Sea Eagle Lach
Premium Member
Tipping Member
I think the point is, they’ve tried. So has every other club in the game. I doubt any have taken an apathetic approach to recruitment and retention. Compare the Raiders nursery to Penrith or the Tigers $$$ with the Roosters. It’s not an even playing field and Mestrov is advocating for an approach to levelling the playing field (what the cap was designed but has failed to do).
It’s not good for RL to have three teams that tower over the rest of the competition, regardless of the reasons for it happening, i.e. legitimate or not.
Would be an interesting development. I think the old cases where it was held to be restraint of trade turned on the specific ways it was done, so it's possible a new draft could be devised that wouldn't infringe the law. Would obviously require buy-in from the RLPA, not to mention, how on earth that could be done with some clubs not even in Australia! Would have to be some minumum age requirement at least I suppose. Too hard basket?
 

Phobia

Reserve Grader
I think overall Mestrov has done a pretty fair job (probably better than fair) given the constraints he is working with. The club feels much more inclusive and informative and a 7th placed finish is a pass mark. Re the Draft, I personally would love a draft. The lead-up, the trades, the anticipation would add a couple of more weeks to the season from an interest point of view and ensure a fair share of talent.
People will say "what about the local juniors you would lose in a draft!", like we didn't lose Gutherson, Wright, Preston, and so forth. I would absolutely love a draft.
 

The Who

Journey Man
The thing that sticks with me the most from Mestrov, is that he is all about pulling Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters down a few notches, rather than other clubs raising their efforts to try and match them, and he reinforced this many times throughout the discussion. Wasn’t really a fan of that defeatist attitude rather than striving to catch up on your own merits
I have only praise for Penrith's success; the club is well managed, with strong financial support from a pokies palace, and is fortunate to have a huge and growing population of young talent. It is also lucky to be the club located furthest west of Sydney so it attracts good prospects from regional NSW.
Melbourne has great financial backing, excellent recruitment, pathways into Queensland and a successful coaching system. I am envious of its on-going success.
Easts, on the other hand, succeeds due to having undue influence within the NRL. It is allowed to pay and lock-up youngsters from all over the country, NZ and Polynesia. There should be a Cap on the financial incentives you give to players under 18. The club has a limited local nursery so it produces the lowest number of juniors, after Melbourne, yet it maintains rosters which defy Cap logic. It is allowed to rort the system due to its backers in high places.
To sum up: I salute the ongoing success of Penrith and Melbourne but I support anyone who wants to bring Easts down to the level of other clubs.
 

tookey

First Grader
One of Manly's biggest issues is that we cannot compete with the other teams in terms of income as we are last

You’ll never guess which NRL club is performing best – and worst – off the field

They have been in the competition for less than two seasons, but the Dolphins have emerged as the NRL’s new financial powerhouse.

The NRL has benchmarked the commercial performance of all its franchises – bar the publicly listed Brisbane Broncos – and ranked them based on their overall revenue for the financial year. The benchmarking document, obtained by this masthead, shows the Dolphins have come out on top alongside the Rabbitohs, each generating $23.5 million in revenue.
https://archive.md/PBg5h
Former Blues coach Brad Fittler has taken aim at "uneducated" critics of his past State of Origin selections.
That’s well above the median figure of $15.7 million, with Manly ($11.5 million) and the Warriors ($11.6 million) bringing up the rear.

Souths made a 56 per cent profit off their revenue figure for a total profit of $14 million, just above the Dolphins with 55 per cent ($13.75 million).

Penrith ($23 million; 57 per cent profit), Cowboys ($22.7 million; 63 per cent profit), Parramatta ($19.3 million; 59 per cent profit) and the Roosters ($18.2 million; 71 per cent profit) were the next-best performing clubs in terms of revenue generation. Had the Broncos been involved in the benchmarking exercise, they would likely have come out on top in most categories.
However, the unexpected success story is undoubtedly the Dolphins, who only entered the competition in 2023.
Revenue ($m)
Profit margin
Rabbitohs
$23.5m56%
Dolphins
$23.5m55%
Penrith
$23.0m57%
Cowboys
$22.7m63%
Eels
$19.3m59%
Roosters
$18.2m71%
Knights
$17.8m63%
Bulldogs
$15.7m49%
Titans
$14.3m52%
Dragons
$13.1m46%
Sharks
$12.7m54%
Tigers
$12.5m57%
Raiders
$12.4m40%
Warriors
$11.6m62%
Manly
$11.5m55%
Source: NRL

Even before a ball had been kicked in their inaugural season, the Redcliffe-based franchise had 20,000 members and $10 million in sponsorship. Their bottom line continued to improve after they won their opening game against the Sydney Roosters, just as a documentary on their journey to the big time, Dawn of the Dolphins, premiered on Stan.

“We’ve had wonderful support from day one,” said Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader. “The measure of success for us - and this showed that Brisbane didn’t just want another team, but needed another team – is that our last two home games of the year were our second– and third-biggest crowds of the year.

“That happened when we weren’t in contention for finals, which illustrates how much people were behind our club and had bought in.
“That backed up the decision that we should have had two teams in Brisbane a long time ago.”
NRL commercial revenue snapshot
FY23 median: $15.7m (YoY growth: 15.1%)
FY22 median: $12.7m (YoY growth: 34.8%)

Chart below shows overall commercial revenue, by team, for FY 2023 ($m)
The Wayne Bennett-coached newcomers collected more revenue in sponsorship than any other club, with $10.9 million, pipping the Roosters, with $10.4 million. The Raiders ($4.6 million) and Manly ($4.7 million) generated the least.

“A lot of our partners were new to rugby league, it was important we didn’t cannibalise the other teams in Queensland,” Reader said.

“The Broncos having Brisbane for themselves for over 35 years, there would have been a lot of partners locked out of sponsoring up here in Brisbane.

“Bringing a second team allowed them [an opportunity], and that’s one of the great things about the Dolphins’ entry: we’ve brought a lot of new partners into rugby league because of that.

“That’s a testament to how much rugby league is supported here in Brisbane and the good work that has been part of starting up our club.”

Manly CEO Tony Mestrov said the club’s home ground of 4 Pines Park at Brookvale had brought financial challenges.

“It’s a great place for the team to play, but it’s a challenge from a commercial point of view and that’s represented by our standing in the benchmarking,” Mestrov said.

“We’re endeavouring to change that with the redevelopment and with funding, as we’re seeing with Leichhardt Oval.”

Parramatta chief executive Jim Sarantinos said their result allowed them to reinvest funds into the club’s football program.

“Quite a number of years ago we were much lower down the list,” he said.

“Our club has improved a hell of a lot. The move to CommBank Stadium has helped because of the experience we can provide to members, fans and corporate partners. The club having a better period of football, than has been the case historically, over a period of three or four years helps a lot, particularly in terms of bringing on corporate partners and the like.

“The most important part is the more money we generate, the more we can invest back into our football program.”
 

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