StormFans.club

I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea of selling off a home game - but we should be growing rugby league in Victoria. Take a game to Geelong. Take a game to Ballarat. Leave New Zealand to the Warriors or Sydney-based clubs that can arrange an away game within Sydney as a replacement for members. If they were going to take away a home game they should have made the trial match against the Bulldogs free for members.

The wording on the membership website doesn't say how many home games we get at AAMI Park. I'm sure the last few years clearly stated that there would be 12 home games at AAMI Park. That should have been the tip off I guess.

I just rang the club, they tried to tell me that 12 home games has never been said by the club to be included in the membership package. That's crap for starters.

I said that doing this (and sneakily behind members' backs) is a serious breach of trust.

I pointed out that I don't feel it's unreasonable to expect 12 games in Melbourne.

I asked them to guarantee that this is not a precursor to relocation - they said that it was not being spoken about at the moment. I have serious concerns that this could be a future issue though.

Not happy.

Mattpoet wrote:I just rang the club, they tried to tell me that 12 home games has never been said by the club to be included in the membership package. That's crap for starters.

I said that doing this (and sneakily behind members' backs) is a serious breach of trust.

I pointed out that I don't feel it's unreasonable to expect 12 games in Melbourne.

I asked them to guarantee that this is not a precursor to relocation - they said that it was not being spoken about at the moment. I have serious concerns that this could be a future issue though.

Not happy.

Sure, the membership website doesn't explicitly say 12 home games at AAMI Park - but it doesn't say 11 home games at AAMI Park. Based on previous years, members should expect 12 home games actually at home. The draw listed on the website - even with the final rounds yet to be locked in - has every home game at AAMI Park. I definitely think members have a right to complain and I hope the club reconsiders.

Based on my conversations with the club just now, I got a definite impression they were hoping to sneak it through and announce it as a fait accompli.

I wonder if we can start a petition.

I just can't see how they can do this especially considering the draw was already released and locked in with the game at aami park. What about the away fans for that game if they had already booked the tickets, accommodation and flights down for this game. That was what the full draw was designed to allow away fans to do.

The sad thing is that many members will not notice this for a while and wont act.

Not everyone is as in the loop as us on the bai stand

don't Hawthorn play 2 - 3 HOME games a year in Tassie

sure...if Storm take more than the odd HOME game O/S or interstate or even relocate I will reevaluate my membership.

at present...not a massive deal.

time will tell....

Any Victorian AFL side could take home matches interstate/overseas and compensate members (with help from AFL no doubt) with reciprocal rights to away games in Melbourne.
Being the only Victorian based NRL side, no such arrangement can exist. Moving a home game from Melbourne leads to only one conclusion as far as I'm concerned.
Dudded again!

http://www.melbournestorm.com.au/news/2 ... _faqs.html

it all on the storm website.

1/12 refund for members or you can make a 'donation' to the club.

Dont tknow if it would have been better giving out a mechandise voucher the some money would go back to the club!!

I applied for the refund to myself. Screw the club

Sent this email to the club this morning, apparently I will get an email or phone call from Mark Evans about it. I doubt he will have the guts to call, he didn't have the guts to let us know in advance that he was going to sell us all out like this!

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to express my utter disgust at the contempt which you are currently showing to the loyal members of this club.

I have many, many reservations about what you are doing and disguising as 'for the good of all members.'

1. No matter what you do with refunds, they will never be enough to compensate for the fact that you are taking away the opportunity for me to participate in a game day experience. I do NOT pay for a membership to have to sit at home and watch the game. If you think that watching the game on TV with the utterly biased commentators putting the club, fans and players down at every point is enjoyable, you are sadly mistaken. And if you think I will be 'donating' my refund back to you after you stab me in the back like this, you're dreaming!

2. The NRL draw when released (including on your site), listed this game as being at AAMI Park. What if I was travelling from somewhere to this game and had already purchased airfares and/or accommodation? Utter contempt for the ordinary fan!

3. I can't afford to travel to New Zealand, nor do I possess a passport. How can you possibly argue that this is for the benefit of members? It's rhetoric designed to appease in the short-term, plain and simple!

4. Can you actually GUARANTEE IN WRITING, IN A PUBLIC PRESS RELEASE that this is NOT a precursor to relocation? If you cannot do this, then I and all the other members need to seriously consider demanding a refund and handing in our membership cards now!

5. I have been a member since 2007. I stuck by you through the crap this club did which became public in 2010! The fact that my opinion doesn't matter to you after such loyalty shows your complete disregard for the feelings of the fans which have been a big part of this club for far longer than the new foreign owners who clearly care more about making a quick buck than they do members' satisfaction.

6. On top of taking away this game, it has also become recent practice to charge members for entry to trial games. Is there no end to your grab for our hard-earned dollars?

7. I cannot recall the last time you offered something different or interesting as a part of the membership experience. We have gotten a hat and a scarf so many times that I just give them away. Yet, you seem perfectly content to find a different and interesting way to screw us over.

8. I was outraged by the lack of outrage from the club over the draw when it was released. For the second year in a row, we have at least 6 Monday games. When Monday nights were introduced, it was stated that no club would have to play more than 3 in a season. Why are we not making noise over the Bulldogs (whose former chairman is now a big wig at the NRL) are not facing the same thing?

I don't think I am being unreasonable by expected a thoughtful and detailed reply to this within the week. Please be advised that, should I not receive a reply or just get a form letter, I will make noise in the media about my issues.

Matt.

I dont see taking a game to NZ is a big issue, I think the issue is that it has been done after fixtures and venues have been made public.
people may well have made plans to attend the Dragons game at AAMI park icluding transport,accomadation, Shift changes (i'm in this catagory) including Dragons supporters.

I think there is a bit of Hysteria regarding relocation!!! we are a succesful club with a great brand in this city why would the NRL move stand-out games such as State of Origin and test matches to Melbourne if they did not want to keep a foothold in the lucrative melbourne sports market.

As for some points by other posters.
I dont think Melbourne Storm have control over the alledged 'bias' commentators used by all the networks. so I dont think this should be used in an argument against this.
Now here comes the rant (sorry Matpoet) 'we stood by you during salary cap etc...' I'm going to put my pommy head on here and say that which ever club you support you support through thick and thin, I dont support players, coaches, CEO's or directors I support Melbourne Storm!! the entity that is bigger then the collective talents and failings of all those involved.
I've supporedt my team back in the UK (Hull KR) when we had very lean times with a few hundred supporters at games when we were getting beat by teams like Barrow 1-0 (yep just a field goal). I never once think of switching alegences, its in my blood and so now are the Storm, many Australian supporters of all codes seem to like to ride on the succes wave of a club and when times get harder (threaten to ) bail out
Yes I'm dissapointed that I will miss out on seeing Melbourne Storm live on one occasion this year and maybe in future years, but I will not stamp my feet and threaten to revoke my membership before looking back on the great succes we have had and the excitment and expectation of succes in the near and distant future.

There's a difference between sticking y a club that's losing and sticking by one that's been proven to have rorted the system. I have no problem sticking by a losing team - I stuck by Fitzroy until the bitter end.

I don't blame the club for the commentators, I just make the point that listening to them whilst watching the game sucks a lot of the enjoyment out of it, especially by comparison with being able to actually be there.

Taking games away is a HUGE issue for me, especially when it is done on the sly then announced as a fait accompli. It is a serious breach of trust.

What does Evans mean by saying that Melbourne Storm members agreed to take this game to NZ?
He just came out and announced it as a done deal!