Each month on lions.com.au, the Brisbane Lions' Chairman Andrew Wellington will be answering the questions you have.
All members and fans are invited to submit any questions they have.
Send your questions through to askthechairman@lions.com.au and the best five questions will be answered each month.
Mahesh
My question relates to contradicting reports I have read in the media. One: the opposition accusing the Qld Labor Government of not allocating for the Springfield reserve in the budget, Two: AFLQ's state planning and infrastructure Manager, Jake Anson stating 'the timeframe is still going as planned' when asked about the development.
Can you please clarify the situation for all of us, if the Lions have received funding from both Federal and State Government's following their respective budgets?
We understand the Queensland State Government has allowed in their budgeting for a $15 million contribution to the project, however that has not been specifically allocated to the project in the last State budget as it is effectively dependent on other levels of Government making contributions, including the Federal Government.
We have made a formal application to the Federal Government for funding and we are working with the Federal Government to help them assess our application, recognising that there is a process to be worked through so the project may be assessed on its merits. We will endeavour to keep our stakeholders updated as we work through this process recognising we also need to respect the process that governments have to follow in allocating public funds to community projects.
Michael
Firstly as a Victorian Lions member thank you for all the events you put on for us down here. I don't think there is a club in Australia that looks after their supporters like you guys do.
I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Murray at the Brunswick Street Bash, and I was blown away by the man's dedication to the Club and his willingness to give up his time to mix with all the fans, even though his health hasn't been the greatest recently. I believe he's the figurehead of the Fitzroy people post-merger and arguably the Club's greatest player.
As you probably realise next year it's 50 years since Kevin won the Brownlow in 1969. I thought of putting the suggestion forward that if it was possible for the Club to wear one of Kevin's jumpers in one of the Melbourne games next year to celebrate his achievements in the game.
I realise that the club would probably be getting harassed constantly about wearing Fitzroy jumpers in Melbourne, and I 100% agree with the Club's stance that we need to move forward with our merged jumper. I just thought it would mean a lot for Kevin and the Fitzroy people if the club celebrated his achievements in the game.
Thank you for your suggestion Michael. Kevin Murray is certainly a legend of our Club and the game. He has also been incredibly generous with his time and good will in supporting our merged Club.
Your suggestion of recognising the 50th anniversary of Kevin winning the Brownlow is a good one. We are planning out our 2019 guernseys at the moment and will definitely take your idea on board.
We will also recognise the anniversary on lions.com.au through content pieces and any other ways we can think of!
Marcus
I believe you prefer to look forward as the Brisbane Lions whilst still acknowledging our wonderful history with Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears. I wonder why the club hasn’t enforced the AFL to include Fitzroy’s stats under the Brisbane Lions? The Bears is still included which I find a little odd. Or wouldn’t the alternative be to include neither and start fresh from 1997.
I have been told this was requested previously but knocked back by the AFL. There are many passionate Fitzroy supporters in Melbourne.
We have lobbied since day one of the merger with the AFL to have our statistics merged to better reflect our ‘one’ Club. This request has been broached with different AFL administrations over the past couple of decades but has sadly received the same response.
We will continue to push this in the hope that our records can be more accurately reflected in AFL publications in the future.
Internally all our recognition of statistics and records are merged as you will notice on our official website. We always recognise our Club as having won 11 premierships and having eight Brownlow Medallists. We recognise the likes of Marcus Ashcroft and Chris Johnson as one-Club players.
Jeff
I’ve felt for a long time the Gabba has been using the Club as their main fund source. Given the “Big Bash” success can this lead to cheaper pricing?
Jeff as you may know the Queensland Government recently commissioned a report into the operation and management of stadiums in Queensland. We have only seen an interim report on Stage 1 of that process but there is a general theme that stadiums need to look at increased utilisation as a way of managing costs for users.
Also, Stage 2 of that review will have a specific focus on food and beverage costs within stadium which is obviously also part of the total cost of attendance for our fans. We are hopeful that going forward adoption of these recommendations can result in reduced costs for users but we need to see all the final recommendations before we can fully assess the impacts.
We have publicly stated that we support there being more events at the Gabba as it can lead to either better pricing for users – or a better stadium for the same cost. Obviously, in managing multiple events the rights of each user need to be respected.
Alan
Thank you for your answers Andrew.
I have followed this club, in its different configurations for 50 years. Fitzroy were never able to ascend its break even point in absolute terms, nor in sufficient lengths of time. It left them consistently vulnerable to the interstate ambitions of successful AFL/VFL Boards.
Since the merger, the performance graph shows, basically, a flat line failure over 22 years, with the exception of a 5-6 year period when success became accepted as a norm.
The "norm" was quashed as the Victorian club power brokers reacted and had the Lions' interstate COLA and other support removed.
I come from a background of a global giant which has exceeded all others in terms of a corporate ethos of "cost down" . But when they approached market dominance, they set growth KPI's that were pursued even more strongly as they has learned that cost down only allows you to mark time.
That said, in an admitted totally different industry, are you able or willing to share the growth KPI's for this club? Those that will enable us to to be independent of a "cap in hand " relationship with AFL management? How are these KPI's cross-referenced or "latticed" between those who are responsible for performance growth?
- On Field Success
- Financial Independence
- Community
- Academy
- People
These are cross reference across different groups – so for example the football department is not just measured on ‘On Field Success’ – they also have a role to play in our standing in the Community and the success of our Academy.
Likewise, our finance group is not just focussed on Financial Independence – they also have a role to play in other areas such as making our Academy commercial and ensuring they are supporting our growth in Community Initiatives. In turn, our Academy has a role to play in On Field Success because we want them developing players in an appropriate way.
Apologies it is not appropriate to go into more detail but
All members and fans are invited to submit any questions they have.
Send your questions through to askthechairman@lions.com.au and the best five questions will be answered each month.
