I only note that people here have been pointing out the huge pokie-rort which is ACFC for years now, and no-one in the mainstream media was interested. Sure the Nix are our only professional club, but ACFC are our premier "shamateur" club.
this just isn't true - shortly after ACFC came 3rd in the club world cup, the sunday star times ran an article claiming they were running a rort with pokie money
like this story it was a beat up, they weren't breaking any rules - the fact the rules aren't particular good is a different issue
Clubs use pokie money because the big sponsorships that they used to be able to get in the 80s and 90s don't exist anymore, one of the reasons they don't exist is the lack of exposure in local news media - which media organisation made a conscious decision last year to not to provide any coverage to local sport? Oh that's right Stuff, who ran these articles!
I've been on about ACFC for years doing this so its only fair Welnix get paid out as well
My first emotion once I had finished reading the article was that it came across to me like a well researched piece and asked some good questions. Whether Hyslop or his editor picked his moment to go to press is neither here nor there really. If it comes out next week, next month, its still a good 'news story' and the 4th estate make money out of selling news and holding other entities to account so its all fair. This piece is no different. It may have been done now as a big 'fudge you' to Rob after the Rudan presser but this article was obviously not contructed in the last week so I really don't care if it was timed this way or not. The Phoenix could have helped themselves a little by having a better relationship with the media but I'm not suggesting that the story should have been buried. That relationship may have allowed them to come across better in the article but there are a lot of ifs and maybes with that assumption.
It also became apparent that Dome is hiding something by the nature of his answers. To me, he is central to a lot of the stuff at the Phoenix that does not work how it should or goes wrong and this just looks to me like another black mark against him. I know people will say he is GM and not CEO and Rob and football committee will have some involvement around this blah blah blah but he is the head honcho and sets the tone for the organisation.
I
am not comfortable with what the Phoenix are doing in this space
regardless of how much it is playing by the rules and does benefit the
player development system in NZ purely because they are not an amateur
outfit. They also can't cry about how much they invest in the academy
and how much NZF do not support them when they themselves are
effectively funding it via poker machine money. They may well invest in
it but its clear that its nowhere near to the level they claim.