Your post indicates you did not bother to properly read my recent pleas, claims and facts. You did not comment on them or offer alternatives. More than that, it suggests a closed mind. As it happens, you are also in a minority on this particular subject.

I am continually instructed to become an involved trainer or to get into breeding as that will improve on the knowledge I have gained in over 50 years of experience in this game as well as in marketing, corporate planning and government relations elsewhere. Unfortunately, after reviewing my diary, I find I would not have had the time to scratch the surface there. Nor, incidentally, would nearly all the board members and senior management in this industry.

Your own Doom and Gloom summary of Wenty is in the same vein and generally without support from the troops. And it is pure conjecture. Anyway, I did not mention Wenty in this post although I dont much like the track and long ago stopped betting there due to the unpredictable interference.

Might I suggest you use your time to investigate why so much of the effort and cash is being devoted now to 300m racing at a time when meeting numbers have been severely restricted? Dapto, Bulli, Richmond, Gardens and Grafton all come to mind.

As for your last sentence, you will have to talk to Tony and arrange for the rules to be changed to eliminate enthusiasts and limit all posts to trainers.

In the four years following LB (Feb 2015) they averaged 4,113, some of which was a carryover from the pre-LB period.

The Victorian pattern has been similar. (Typically, NSW, Victoria and Queensland account for some 82% of all litters).

Other impacts during the latter period included lifetime tracking, closer supervision of euthanasia, limits on the number of litters per dam, increased GAP activity and tighter requirements on kennels.

So, what can be expected when we add coronavirus to the mix, also bearing in mind that NSW (and possibly others) are or will be running fewer races?

While thinking about that question, note that, while Victoria is keeping up its race numbers, they are jumping with lots of empty boxes, many are drawn with only five or six starters and scratchings are high (canine virus not helping, of course), all leading to frequent three- or four-dog fields.

Clearly, for this year and the next, many fewer racing dogs of a reasonable standard will be required. In order, this will reduce the need and incentive for ownership, breeding, breaking, education, training, races and gambling or punting. Post-2021 is impossible to predict.

The main hope for a revival would be a massive national promotional effort centred on two things: the history and worth of the greyhound breed and specialised race to race marketing of the product. One is long term, the other a daily effort.

Just pushing for more breeding will not work, largely because the seeds will fall on unresponsive ground. It's been tried and it's failed - see above.

* * * * *

PS: While I am here, the Mestrov Q and A messages are an excellent idea - well worth continuing. I just hope GRNSW sets aside a little time to delve into the future as well.

The incentives put in place in QLD were working brilliantly, so much so they decided to stop them!
I believe they came to the conclusion that the increased numbers were in a safe buffer zone.
My opinion is they were far too conservative and wrong.
Now we have a once in a life time disaster that will obliterate those figures into another disaster for the industry.
Incentives breed confidence...QLD and NSW need as much as they can get ATM.

Like all your threads of late, you dip your toe into a pond of commonsense then you pee in it.

No coincidence Vic have the best incentives and lead the pack by a mile.
Your bluff and puff is getting monotonous, along with your compulsive whinging!
You are no part of it so go and join a lawn bowls club, for Christ sake!
God help them, you'd want to change the shape of the ball!

Dead set.

Victoria Litters

Average 2011-2015 956
Average 2016-2019 646

Queensland Litters

Average 2011-2015 392
Average 2016-2019 Unknown, not published in RQ Annual Reports or by GA

Given those trends, the impact of coronavirus and lower revenue it is not good business to hope for a continuation of recent levels over the next two years. Much better to plan for a reduced activity and to raise marketing efforts in a very difficult period ie try to get more bang for the same buck. Its much easier to cater for growth than for cut backs.

* * * * *

Note 1: Historically, there has been a tendency in Queensland for Litter numbers to hold up but Names registered to drop off suggesting that many local pups are moved south of the border (which also applies to mature dogs, albeit matched by Northern Rivers dogs moving across the border for racing opportunities). This is yet another reason to treat breeding as a national issue rather than a state by state one.

Note 2: GA has published no figures at all for anything since 2015. Previously, it published numerous tables for each state and NZ. The nation is now working with a blindfold.

Note 3: In all categories, there has been a general decline in numbers from the 2000+ decade to the 2010+ decade. The 2015 LB saga just exploded what was already a modest but clear trend. Race numbers and starters were exceptions but that has now been stonkered by the cuts in NSW.

Note 4: There have been no obvious changes to breeding numbers as a result of grants, subsidies or reduced charges in recent years certainly not in Victoria where both have been prominent. (Qld is TBA).

Note 5: In total, there were around 14,000 dogs actively racing in Australia a few years ago. Today it is suggested the number is nearer 10,000, despite the introduction of many lower standard dogs from each litter (eg for Tier 3 and Class C racing) from 2010 onwards. That number will probably decline further but does suggests extra attention in future to Masters/Veterans racing.

More rubbish.

Victorians were one of the first to knock their incentives on the head.
You might want to ask yourself why they were the first to reintro them.
You may also like to ask yourself what the figures would be had they NOT.
Why would you bring something back that was hopeless?
I know who is blindfolded here...

QLD to be TBA, hey.
So why did you include their incentives as hopeless when you haven't got their figures, precious?
It's the typical bluff and puff you continuously engage...it's basically a snake oil salesman's con.

I know the QLD figures well, Torn.

You can fool some of the people some of the time...

I've wasted my time...again.

Get a life and leave the industry alone.
You do more damage than good.

it's not rocket science, lol.

Blame yourself for going to the Circus ...

If i was a Bird i know who i would shit on ...

Don't blame a Clown for acting like a Clown

Blame yourself for going to the Circus ...

Get a life and leave the industry alone.
You do more damage than good.

they need to stop replying to him then. how hard is it?

it's not rocket science, lol.

ABOUT TIME YOU ALL WOKE UP TO THIS ANTI..!!!!!!

There's just a wee problem with all that though...
Torn's comments aren't just read by us to ignore...

Maybe worth a thought.

Having said all that, you are right.
The bait is that putrid, more the fool me for taking it.

Half a dozen?
You're a funny man, Daryl.

It seems that some people agree with what I am saying, some violently disagree but dont really make their case and resort to abuse, while others look on bemused but silent. A select few both agree and disagree, which is not easy to do. Whichever it is, the stage is dominated by a handful of trainers and to a much lesser extent by small numbers of owners and breeders.

The odd bit is that 95% of my words on this thread contain simple listings of facts and figures. The remaining 5% contains my suggestions for action that needs to be taken. Why the fuss?

We have to assume that the naysayers want things to stay as they are. Or, alternatively, shell be right, it will all sort itself out. Really? I seriously doubt that would win in a proper referendum. It certainly does not impress me and I have been listening to for and against arguments for some 30 years as a professional writer (albeit part time). It has also been my practice to respond to any reasonable comment.

Discussion is how we advance our knowledge but there is precious little of it here.

* * * * *

On lawn bowls

1. As a former handicap singles champion of the Nadi Airport Club (Fiji) I can assert that it can be a very demanding deal physically. Fitness is a definite asset. (But note it was only my 5th or 6th favourite sport).
2. Bowls clubs have been crashing left and right over the past decade as they can no longer make ends meet. Alternatively, they have been taken over and subsidised by big Leagues clubs, or similar. Their corporate structures were no longer sustainable.

On defaming the industry

1. Wrong word, of course, but yes I am a critic of the industry structure and how it operates because it is set in the dark ages and the world has long since passed it by.
2. Well run, it has the potential to radically improve efficiency and patronage as well as rewards to participants.

On progress ...

Someone mentioned Steve White, which reminded me of a great lump of a dog, Paua of Jewels (41.1k, My Bro Fabio x Paua to Admit), which wiped the floor in a maiden at Warragul the other day (8.58-22.53). The jump was ordinary but he quickly ran to the lead and finished 12 lengths in front at the post. He might go on to better things.

The other reason I mention that is that he started at $1.20 yet it was his first outing with no trial experience published. Is this not a justification for Victoria requiring a PT to better guide the public? Obviously, someone knew the truth but who does a price like that help.

Much the same thing happened at Sandown on Sunday when Along The Line won in 29.53 paying $1.40.

Michael,

Bullying is not ok.
I was a victim of that when I was a kid and I did nothing to deserve the treatment I got.
I decided to do something about that and I learnt to fight.

We all have different opinions and perspectives in life.
You see the negativity against Torn as bullying an innocent kid who just so happens to have a different opinion...fair enough.

I don't.

That little kid in the playground didn't ask or deserve to be bullied.
I will never be part of something like that because I know how it feels and it's wrong.
It wasn't so long ago there was an attempt to bully me on this very site, pathetic as that was.
In the end, they didn't come out looking to good.

The flip side to this is Torn.(my opinion)
He is not the innocent little victim you are trying to make him out to be.
Rather, he is the little prick who hides in the corner shooting ballbearings with a slingshot and he's going to do some real damage if one of those bearings hits someone in the eye.

You may choose to ignore it and hope you don't get hit and that is your choice.
Half of me says ignore because it only fuels his hunger to keep playing the childish destructive game he is playing.
The other half, probably like some others here, says grab the little prick and stick his ballbearings where the sun don't shine, because passion dictates you to try and stop damage done to something you love and have worked very hard for.

So, in summary, Michael, the bully is Torn, the victim is the industry.
If you enjoy watching bullies try to decimate victims, pull up a chair and enjoy the show.

That's your choice.

My opinion is it's dead wrong but that's just my opinion.

You have a nice day.

On this current thread alone I have called for

Major industry reform to better handle current and future challenges
An updated program to address future dog supply-demand problems
Re-introduction of straight track racing in NSW
Initiate appeals for support from the public and local councils
Arrange career change advice for any displaced participants
Direct national promotion of the greyhound breed
Innovative marketing directed to race by race at each meeting
Introduction of performance trials in Victoria and elsewhere

Some damage that would do!

On the other hand, to the dismay of a few, I have predicted based on current knowledge, past experience and a wealth of data that breeding is unlikely to grow, or even recover, unless radical steps are taken. A further reason for that conclusion is that no significant efforts are being mounted to promote breeding as such. Fiddling with some fees and charges hardly satisfies that need.

No contrary argument has yet been presented to invalidate that prediction.

As background, readers might consider outside advice. Here are a couple.

From Albert Einstein

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.

From Mark Ritson, Marketing Professor, The Australian, 7 April 2020.

And then we have the other type of marketer. Unlike most of their peers, they have a formal education in marketing and know the case studies of old. Thanks to their training, they also know that advertising works on an immediate level to drive short-term sales, as well as on a much longer-term, multi-year basis to build brand and deliver enduring success.

Rather than cut the budget, this marketer heads straight upstairs to talk to their CFO or CEO and make the case for maintaining the advertising budget. And if they are really good, they even propose an increase in the advertising spend.

Thought you made a very valid point Michael, conveniently overlooked by Bruce