The past two weeks has seen the NRL deal with the worrying situation with the Gold Coast Titans and their massive financial woes.
It's mind blowing how a club in just its sixth season can be tens of millions of dollars in debt.
While the cause of the debt is supposedly tied up in the Titans training facility, also known as the 'Centre of Excellence' and property developments, it does raise a few questions:
How many chances are the Gold Coast allowed to have to finally get it right?
How must the Central Coast and Wellington team bids, that lost out to the Titans, feel about all this?
Between 1988 and 1996 the old Gold Coast team had been bought twice and gone into administration once. It also relocated from Tweed Heads to Carrara in that time.
It had numerous CEO's, coaches, player changes, takeovers, bad business decisions and disharmony the whole time.
In the same period of time they had won just 38 of the 198 games they had played.
What exactly about that screams out that they deserved another chance?
Is it bad luck or coincidence that the Gold Coast entities since 1988 have suffered due to bad management?
I have a seperate theory, maybe the Gold Coast region in general just doesn't like sport.
In 2011, Gold Coast teams came last in the NRL, AFL and A-League. This year saw the owner of the Gold Coast soccer team pull the pin on the club.
The AFL has stated that they will do whatever it takes to prop up the Gold Coast AFL team to ensure its survival and existence.
Throw in the Titans drama and you can see that all 3 codes are pessimistic about having teams on the Gold Coast. They do it because they want to compete with each other, but it is to all of their detriment.
The Titans finances are dire. Their crowd figures are dire. Their team is struggling on the field.
Sound familiar?
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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