EXTERNAL LINK

You may be right although you are assuming that Foley will do a better job for greyhounds than Gladys - if he gets in. But his main reason for opposing the ban would have been to win votes (at which he failed at Orange).

Besides I don't see the connection between stadiums and greyhounds - unless someone has the idea of dynamiting WPK and building a decent track there.

Personally, I am a bit sympathetic to the cause of building at least one more modern (and legal) major stadium. I think the state is entitled to do at least as well as other capitals - as would many sports followers. I am always wary of all the hissing and roaring and surveying going on. On that basis, we would never have built the Olympic facilities in the first place - or the Opera House.

Meantime, Gladys' opponents in her own party are playing to a tune they think will help them at the next election - rightly or wrongly. But that talks to Gladys' lack of domination, not the merits of the case. On balance, I would have to bet on Alan Jones and Moore Park getting a run.

It's a bit hard to comment on 45 different subjects in one post but I have some sympathy with many of your points. Anyway ..... here's where we stand.

1. Greyhound economics are stuffed and have been for at least 18 years. The latest changes make it worse as costs have gone up while income is chancy.

2. Greyhound people think they are special and deserve priority treatment. They aren't and it will not happen. Effectively, we are getting some short term sit-down money to shut us up.

3. Greyhound racing - or all racing - has been poorly managed since the end of WW2 when the Control Board chairman called on all the clubs to get out there and promote the industry more effectively.

4. I doubt there has been a single public facility in NSW that could claim to have made profits on a properly structured set of books - including Mike Cleary's WPK grandstand which has probably never been filled in its life.

5. However, there is one exception to the last point - The Opera House would have added squillions to the Sydney, NSW and Australian GDPs during its lifetime. It is an economic powerhouse - amongst other things.

6. If we are running 800 races and getting paid for 500 who is the biggest fool? Do we cut back to 500? Can we get more cash out of the 800? Can we trim expenses in either option? Hmmm.

7. As with a change of government, a profitable greyhound future can come only from a complete shutdown and re-birth. Modifying the existing set-up is futile. That shutdown applies to political controls, organisational structures, clubs, tracks and any hangers-on. The lot.

PS: It is of no help to greyhounds but the above argument about the Opera House could be extended to the SCG, albeit at a much lower level. It is part of the psyche of Sydney and NSW. We love it. We patronise it. It is of value to us. Much of the world likes it, too. But, as we have grown, it is no longer enough. We need duplicates and triplicates built to modern standards, just as most of our greyhound tracks need to be ripped up and re-built. "She'll be right" does not cut the mustard.

I once enjoyed playing on the SCG No 2, using the practice wickets on Tuesdays and Thursdays or watching the footie and my daughter's athletics carnival on the old Sports Ground. But they are gone, replaced by a much more expensive facility which is now creaking at the edges. Nothing stays still. These days, winners are those who get ahead of the game, not those trying to play catch-up.

Brucey: With SKY TV, No one goes to the Races, Footy any more in Sydney. Why Bigger New Stadiums? AFL in Melb the exception 90k expected tonite!. Is this the old chestnut? Sydney V Melb

Greyhound Racing could/can be great again in NSW, We need to STOP Govt Political meddling, and CLEAN out all the INEFFECTUAL deadwood controlling our direction. ASAP

I have no way of assessing the engineering merits of any of these structures. At the moment all I can note is a list of specific stadium shortcomings, some of which cannot be fixed with a refurbishment. I also worry about adding a very expensive fix to a structure that will need to be used for a total of 40 years. But I agree that it is a debatable question.

Knocking down and rebuilding the Opera House is hardly a real option, which is why it has had big repairs done. I have seldom used it but I note it is invariably packed on a daily basis for whatever purpose, suggesting that many other than Double Bay people use it. Whatever its use, it has paid for itself many times over. In fact, it would pay for itself when empty.

Back to greyhounds - while you generally agree with my proposal for major reform I suspect you are assuming a slightly better version of what we have. My idea would be to go much further than that. For example, every greyhound operation should be just one part of a multi purpose complex, all contributing to a constant flow of people - just as a shopping centre has two or three major tenants and a few dozen smaller shops.

Since SKY arrived, greyhounds have never done a skerrick of work to build/rebuild traffic to the track. They have just allowed it to happen (which is also why tracks have fallen into disrepair). We did not even stick a finger in the dyke, but expected people to put up with crappy facilities. Not these days!

A greyhound club can never support its own weight so it has to join with others to create a win-win deal. Not as a dual or tri-code combination, which tend to degrade the greyhound product, but where the greyhounds are prominent in their own right. How to do that is for brighter minds than mine to work out but you get the idea so fill in the blank spaces yourself.

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Listen to rocky speech ! Haha
Cmon everyone , keep taking the hits , no finger pointing
We will WIN

A: IT IS ALL IGNORED!! Never ever have I received any acknowledgement of even a reply. How can WE the Participants EVER get them to listen? You MUST know of this frustration!

Terry, you are right in what you say, I too have sent many emails, suggestions and various ideas on how to improve our sport,I am still waiting for replies from MR, HOGAN, MR. NEWSON. AND MR MESTROV, so while we are asked for our input and asked to fill in surveys the result is always the same ,No one gets to hear anything from anybody ,So what bloody hope have we got,

If it is any consolation, you are not alone. At the moment, there is only one state authority that acknowledges or responds to my correspondence. Amazingly, it is also the the one which is seen as the most progressive.

This is not new. It has been the practice for many years. It is not limited to greyhounds either. Just a few years back the RQ gallops boss at the time ended up being sacked because he did not action a warning when, allegedly, "his secretary forgot to pass on an email to him".

It would not be a solution to put "more dog men on the board" as we often hear. We have been doing that for most of the last 70 years and it has never helped.

This is precisely why I suggest shutting down the entire process and replacing it with a brand new setup. Who knows, if that were to happen it may enable the intercode agreement to be declared null and void - so forcing the three codes to negotiate a fresh one.

That may sound like fairy land but it has happened in other industries.

Of course, action depends on the Minister grasping the nettle and letting go some of his authority - and for the other states to do likewise. We can but hope - or start a revolution.

Meantime, you can start writing to the Minister instead of GRNSW etc and hope that he gets sick of doing their job for them. In some cases, the various Administrative Tribunals could help.

PS: I make no judgement of Mestrov (it's too early) but I have no hope of Iemma as his form is well declared.

BTW Only 12 months to go now. Bye Bye Libs/Nats

I have thought, mate, that's why I said what I said. The current system does not work. Never has and never will.

By the way, Labor has been in charge for a lot longer than the Libs over the last three or four decades - didn't do any better. On current form, the election is irrelevant.

In Victoria, my experience was 5 attempts at contacting the Minister for nil response.

The last was a phone call. Staffer stated there was no record. Then found the previous contact (email) when I gave date/time. Said that it would be referred to the Minister.

I had requested a short reply, but nothing. Response to my follow up call was that it had been considered by the Minister.

Then tried the shadow Minister (Nationals). Quick acknowledgement and a request for a meeting.

And Terry, what is Labor promising for the industry? How different is their approach going to be to Labor ACT, Labor Vic, and Labor SA, all of which have had different approaches.

Of these, Labor SA had the least issues and seemed to have a growth strategy (exemplified by new Murray Bridge tracks).