2010 'After Party' Membership an added cost

[minichick]

Dear Sallymay
You may be right about the club as a bigger entity
BUT as far as my personal experience goes you are far from correct....

In my early years as a member access to the players was easy and awesome (and i joined back in the dark days of muppet murray, I believe the social club was even better in the first couple of years).
I used to go to the ball, my highlight of the year - BUT it was one price for everyone, regardless of your membership grading or income level. Sometimes you'd even have a player sitting on your table just through luck of the draw, not how much you were prepared to pay. One excellent year Aaron Moule sat and chatted with us for ages. You could chat to the boys, dance with the boys and have an awesome night.

You didn't have to wait for hours for them to come over from game recovery and they just mingled happily with the supporters.

You felt like part of the club and it was brilliant - AFL members that I knew were dead jealous of how great our club was with stuff like that. Stuff got signed easily (and I'll admit to being quite star-struck on a few occasions!).

You want me to be happy that that aspect of our club is being whittled away? I don't bloody think so. I am pissed off that things are now graded according to how much cash you're prepared to part with. I am pissed off that the social club was taken away from general members a few years ago. I am pissed off that players are not so accessible as they were. I am pissed off that my whole category of membership is essentially being shafted by the stadium move.

Yes, I'm thrilled about the new stadium but not at the expense of the essence of what made our club awesome. We need to be better than the AFL not just matching their rubbishness (for want of a better word!). We were and we lost it along the way. I love my club but I am not happy with the direction its taking.

[Taliesin]

You may be right about the club as a bigger entity
BUT as far as my personal experience goes you are far from correct....

Won't take up space with the rest of the quote but I don't doubt that it's essence is echoed by many members.
A large percentage of those who went to the social club/after party,(regardless of if we won or lost) are general members & most brought along new people to share 'The Storm experience'.Paying for that &/or paying extra for the new friends to see what they kept raving about was never the problem.The clubs bloody minded & continued erosion of what the social club was about was the problem. If you want a closed shop where fans are NOT WELCOME once the final siren goes have the balls to admit it.Don't hide behind a $90 fee & a 'we can't fit you in' excuse.

And Sally
I was one of many who were told the move to Colonial & it's state of the art facilities could only be a plus for the club........................WE LOST MEMBERS ! Some of whom never came back.

Yes it's hopefully going to be a great stadium but that's only one part of the membership experience.
Sadly the club seems to think it's the whole deal,unless of course you have deep pockets 

[Surandy]

Yes it's hopefully going to be a great stadium but that's only one part of the membership experience.
Sadly the club seems to think it's the whole deal,unless of course you have deeper pockets 

Sorry Taliesin, I just had to correct your post.

Oh, and thanks for mentioning the great and fantastic move to Colonial. What a plus that was for the club!!!

[sallymay]

well leave then and dont come back.....What we have at the storm is still way better then what we have at the victory and my AFL club

You can still meet the guys although it akes a little bit longer partly because of the ppl you go to their change rooms for autographs ect plus if you want them to come meet you guys without doing recovery then you dont really care for the players at all

and as for the Ball every year you cant expect to have it at Crown and pay a small amout of money


I get you point but think about think about it this way we could have a club that has 3 of the worlds best players the best coach who you can talk to after games a little later or training or a club like all the AFL ones who dont let you meet the guys inless you chase them around

Stop living in the past guys we wanted to have the best team the best coach and the best stadium we have 2 and now 3 if your not happy about leave the club stop being a member a forget about the storm

[Michael :P]

well leave then and dont come back.....What we have at the storm is still way better then what we have at the victory and my AFL club

You can still meet the guys although it akes a little bit longer partly because of the ppl you go to their change rooms for autographs ect plus if you want them to come meet you guys without doing recovery then you dont really care for the players at all

and as for the Ball every year you cant expect to have it at Crown and pay a small amout of money


I get you point but think about think about it this way we could have a club that has 3 of the worlds best players the best coach who you can talk to after games a little later or training or a club like all the AFL ones who dont let you meet the guys inless you chase them around

Stop living in the past guys we wanted to have the best team the best coach and the best stadium we have 2 and now 3 if your not happy about leave the club stop being a member a forget about the storm

Well said Sally, wont go down well, but its reality.

[Tigger]

well leave then and dont come back.....What we have at the storm is still way better then what we have at the victory and my AFL club

You can still meet the guys although it akes a little bit longer partly because of the ppl you go to their change rooms for autographs ect plus if you want them to come meet you guys without doing recovery then you dont really care for the players at all

and as for the Ball every year you cant expect to have it at Crown and pay a small amout of money


I get you point but think about think about it this way we could have a club that has 3 of the worlds best players the best coach who you can talk to after games a little later or training or a club like all the AFL ones who dont let you meet the guys inless you chase them around

Stop living in the past guys we wanted to have the best team the best coach and the best stadium we have 2 and now 3 if your not happy about leave the club stop being a member a forget about the storm

My apologies for losing my temper but, how dare you even question ANY supporter of OUR club?
You are mistaking the support for the team with our anger with the administration!! 
People CAN question things and you have no right to tell them to piss off!!  Very bad call sally, very bad!!!! 

[sallymay]

all i can say to your rant there tigger is

you have been a member and supporter longer then i have

i never questioned you loyalty i never said how much i make to buy memberships and i never said i was a premium member im not im a general addmission member

go to the forum on feb 13 and get your anger out there although they will proberly tell you the same thing i just said (well not all of it)

anyway you can hate me and i dont care im just sick of people complaining about the price of the new memberships ect
(i just dont get how people no one in perticular can think the club will open a new multi million doller stadium and expect every thing to be the same) it just cant be

[Tigger]

The stadium was and will not be paid for by the club!!!!  When will people get that through their thick heads??  Yes the club must cover costs of rental but there are three clubs at least, sharing the stadium and none of them will end up 'owning' the place.

My beef is that to buy a 'comparable' membership this year for my family would be DOUBLE the cost of last year.  That is just bloody ridiculous!
I can have my say and I will, others can also have their say and will.  The club (administration) are losing touch with the 'regular' supporters and this may well show in membership numbers. 

Sally, I would suggest that if you're sick of people complaining then you should NOT read these threads!  Having said that, this is a public forum and everyone is entitled to their opinions - including you.  My opinion is as valid as yours but I do not presume to tell anyone to stop supporting MY club.

[BIG JIM]

Ha Ha BITCH FIGHT 

[Taliesin]

Must be exciting to be so young & trusting Sally.
Like people keep saying - everyone is entitled to an opinion,that's why we have independent public forums.

I stood in the dirt,(mud) of the Northern terrace at OP & watched that 1st home game against the Bears.The game arrived before my membership card.Still a member & hope to be in a similar spot,(although seated) in the new stadium.
We aren't living in the past.It's just that a lot of us have helped grow the fan culture that the club now takes for granted.And that makes us angry.I don't expect the club to change anything after the forum on Feb 13th,or next season for that matter,they've been heading down this course of action for 5 years & it has nothing to do with moving to a new stadium.

I applaud your enthusiastic support of the current admin at the club.I hope they live up to your high moral standard.If not you can always voice your anger here 

[Michael :P]

The stadium was and will not be paid for by the club!!!!  When will people get that through their thick heads??  Yes the club must cover costs of rental but there are three clubs at least, sharing the stadium and none of them will end up 'owning' the place.

My beef is that to buy a 'comparable' membership this year for my family would be DOUBLE the cost of last year.  That is just bloody ridiculous!
I can have my say and I will, others can also have their say and will.  The club (administration) are losing touch with the 'regular' supporters and this may well show in membership numbers. 

Sally, I would suggest that if you're sick of people complaining then you should NOT read these threads!  Having said that, this is a public forum and everyone is entitled to their opinions - including you.  My opinion is as valid as yours but I do not presume to tell anyone to stop supporting MY club.

Do you know what the rental costs are.

Do you know that we spend more on our players wellbeing through excercise science then any other club except maybe the Broncos,  do you knowwe will be flying 4 teams every 2nd week around Australia (thats about 100 people) - no other team has that expence. We have to cover that somehow without continually relying on NEWS to stick there hand in there pocket. We will always have doubters while that keeps happening

My suggestion is, at the meeting, if you want the prices to be cheaper, tell them you think having the NSW cup team and such large squads is a waste of money, tell them you think what we spend on the players fitness is excessive and that your willing for the club to not do so well, that we should be do down to what the Knights spend, tell them our extensive recruiting network is not neccesary, that the next GI, Dane Chisholm or Matt Duffie will still turn up on a lesser budget.

I could go on, but Im sure you get the picture.

As has been shown the prices are reasonable, particularly the ends of the ground are great value, same price as Penrith where you sit on the ground on a cold Saturday night. Im beginning to suspect that most of the complaining is coming from those fans in the Nikau Stand who wanted premium seating at a budget price.

[CooperCronk]

Just a thought re players mixing around with supporters at the social club, I wonder if its the players themselves that have voiced their disapproval of doing this too much as they are tired after the game and with the added recovery they do after the game.

The game is now more professional and I wonder if  11 years ago, they may not have had to do recovery sessions at all unless they were injured, etc.?

EDIT:  I was speaking to a friend today who is a Storm member and also has a reserved seat membership for her afl club at Etihad and she told me her seating costs her roughly $140 more than what Storm has an offer for a similar package, with no social club access either unless she wanted to fork out more dollars.  And don't the afl play 2 games less than the NRL?

[Michael :P]

Must be exciting to be so young & trusting Sally.
Like people keep saying - everyone is entitled to an opinion,that's why we have independent public forums.

I stood in the dirt,(mud) of the Northern terrace at OP & watched that 1st home game against the Bears.The game arrived before my membership card.Still a member & hope to be in a similar spot,(although seated) in the new stadium.
We aren't living in the past.It's just that a lot of us have helped grow the fan culture that the club now takes for granted.And that makes us angry.I don't expect the club to change anything after the forum on Feb 13th,or next season for that matter,they've been heading down this course of action for 5 years & it has nothing to do with moving to a new stadium.

I applaud your enthusiastic support of the current admin at the club.I hope they live up to your high moral standard.If not you can always voice your anger here 

Give us break a Taliesin with the condescending attitude.

Thinking the packages are fine doesnt make anyone a company man. I got plenty of family and friends in other clubs in NSW and QLD and theyre continually amazed at the level of access we get with the players, so your denial of livng in the past is exactly that, your living in the past. Remembering fondly when you could have a casual beer with the players and theyd call you mate, those days are long gone but that doesnt mean the club or the players are any less for that happening. Considering how the NRL is now 24/7/52 for these players Im suprised they give as much of their time as they do.

Just a thought re players mixing around with supporters at the social club, I wonder if its the players themselves that have voiced their disapproval of doing this too much as they are tired after the game and with the added recovery they do after the game.

The game is now more professional and I wonder if  11 years ago, they may not have had to do recovery sessions at all unless they were injured, etc.?

100% spot on CC , but some dont still dont want to cut them some slack, though i doubt the players had anything to do with it, it would have been Bellamys doing (hello, I keep hearing this has been getting worse for 5 years, bout the time Bellyache took over and made us a more professional outfit). Im sure if you asked the players would they prefer a ice cold beer or a ice cold bath theyd say the beer.  Back then recovery was the next morning from the hangover. Give me sustained excellence on the field over a chance to have a beer with GI any day.

Anyway I know if i was a player Id want to go straight home with my 2 or 3 groupies  .

[minichick]

Anyway I know if i was a player Id want to go straight home with my 2 or 3 groupies  .

Damn Noa  I was cranky at you and then you made me laugh - its all good  Though I think those days may also have gone....

Now Sally - way to get personal - its not like I killed Billy or anything! I was just voicing my opinion and it is also that of other members that I'm friends with. Did you miss the bit where I said I love the club?? Like hell I'm going to bugger off!!

I was thinking about this last night, and the club is kinda made up of three parts (an ecosystem, if you will) - the club (players, coach, admin, etc), corporates/cashed up people and the rank and file members. Now all these pieces are intertwined to make up the whole package BUT things need to remain in balance if it is to function well. No members = no club, while no corporate support also = no club - so I don't think that one category should get more importance than any other category. Which is what we are concerned about, savvy?

As a club we cannot afford to annoy lots and lots of members - we don't have enough as it is. I don't see that keeping people out of the social club is going to help that. I maintain my position that we need to BE better and offer MORE than an AFL club, not just the equivalent experience. We have done that well in the past and need to carry on doing that.

Lastly - yes, the stadium is going to be ace but I still wonder how much of an impact it will make on crowds. Novelty value will help in the beginning, we know Melbourne loves an event but long term?? Colonial was an unmitigated disaster - no atmosphere and so on. A stadium is nothing without people in it - Homebush anyone???

OH and BIG JIM - I'd back Tigger all the way in the Biatch fight 

[Michael :P]

Anyway I know if i was a player Id want to go straight home with my 2 or 3 groupies  .

Damn Noa  I was cranky at you and then you made me laugh - its all good  Though I think those days may also have gone....

Now Sally - way to get personal - its not like I killed Billy or anything! I was just voicing my opinion and it is also that of other members that I'm friends with. Did you miss the bit where I said I love the club?? Like hell I'm going to bugger off!!

I was thinking about this last night, and the club is kinda made up of three parts (an ecosystem, if you will) - the club (players, coach, admin, etc), corporates/cashed up people and the rank and file members. Now all these pieces are intertwined to make up the whole package BUT things need to remain in balance if it is to function well. No members = no club, while no corporate support also = no club - so I don't think that one category should get more importance than any other category. Which is what we are concerned about, savvy?

As a club we cannot afford to annoy lots and lots of members - we don't have enough as it is. I don't see that keeping people out of the social club is going to help that. I maintain my position that we need to BE better and offer MORE than an AFL club, not just the equivalent experience. We have done that well in the past and need to carry on doing that.

Lastly - yes, the stadium is going to be ace but I still wonder how much of an impact it will make on crowds. Novelty value will help in the beginning, we know Melbourne loves an event but long term?? Colonial was an unmitigated disaster - no atmosphere and so on. A stadium is nothing without people in it - Homebush anyone???

OH and BIG JIM - I'd back Tigger all the way in the Biatch fight 

Its all good minichick, time of massive change for the organsiation, bound to be conflicting points of view.