Reply With QuoteDid nt say it would. All im saying is everything we love about harness racing, may not appeal to the next generation.
Lee to Leigh,Originally Posted by Lucky Camilla"s Lovechild
I'm not sure that reverting back to the era before government control (when Harold Park-NSWTC was the controlling body) is the way to go. This appointment was overseen by an ex president of NSWHRC who has appointed an ex CEO of said club?
Did nt say it would. All im saying is everything we love about harness racing, may not appeal to the next generation.
My concern is that there will be no next generation, I once thought about maintaining my membership of the nswhrc, the thinking being that at some point in time I would be the only one left and it would all be mine.
Sorry Stu, ive just basically echoed what you said in another thread.
Exactly Leigh, that's why this appointment is a retrograde step. What is needed is someone with a vision of how to connect the modern generation to Harness Racing using the tools available like social and instant media. If this sport continues to stand frozen in time it will become just that, a relic remembered only by dinosaurs . The problem is like 'a tree falling in a forest', no one hears it.
Last edited by Lethal; 08-01-2014 at 12:55 AM.
I think the bigger problem is who from the outside world would actually take on the role? For many Sam Nati was a strange appointment - personally i thought it was a master stroke, but he was dealt the ultimate shit sandwich by people who should have been working with him instead of corruptly destroying the game from the inside. He has had to spend so much of his time on one issue and ultimately the result is one less than satisfactory to most rank and file participants. That casts a shadow over the some of the really good stuff that he has been a part of. Not all of Sam's work has been great, the Inter is now a shambles, but on the whole he has left new in a much better place than it was.
If a head hunter came to me and said how about it and I knew little about the industry, if I did my research and looked at revenues, market share, competition, perception, infrastructure, there is no way anyone in their right mind would take the job and aside from WA, (which might as well be classified as another country) I can't see any state actually going ahead.
In another life I actually did some consulting, in far too many situations for my liking across many different levels, I was hired to deliver an outcome that was already predetermined, but by being able to point to the report as being "independent" it was able to pass the probity test.
Bottom line, I doubt the roll call of candidates was very long at all.
I must add, I attended HP trots for approximately 5-6 years with Rex Horne and I consider him a friend and a genuine bloke who has done a massive amount for the industry, but sometimes you can get too close to things and your judgement can be impaired.
Last edited by Mister JayKO; 08-01-2014 at 12:59 AM. Reason: Add
It would seem as though WA have done the least wrong and have city central racing with atmosphere.
I think we need a messiah to lead us - maybe it should be the CEO of HRA.
Any such messiah has to get all the smart people that are out there (and it would seem many are willing to give their time) and draw up a believable strategic plan
We need to know how Melton and Menangle are going to grow our product
Are we locked into the betting dollar only or are we going to be an entertainment industry.
(I will quit as having just got out of hospital I am probably talking shit - I know we are a caring community on here so the answer is Yeah I am fine and might be able to hear again soon!)
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
As someone who has spent a lot of time in Perth over the years, it is so different to everywhere else. Go along to a Friday night meeting and the crowd is huge compared to anywhere else I've been to in Australasia for an everyday meeting. The only reason I could see was Pokies were restricted to the casino. If you wanted to bet in any pub in WA then the horses were your only option so it has helped maintain a grassroots following of horse racing.Turnover drives stakemoney and keeps people involved. In NZ gambling on the Pokies in the pubs is worth over two billion a year and has decimated our turnover on horse racing. Dont know how you fix that as the pokies aren't going anywhere.
They've been talking about restrictions on the pokies for a long time here but nothing has come to light as yet. Tony Abbott's government is finally getting a bit more serious on the Dole bludgers and this is a step in the right direction and if this goes ahead, I think that the amounts that you can gamble on a poker machine might closely follow that.
BINGO Viv! (excuse the pun). Solution to build a harness facility that has pokies? Like Melton. Even then the government comes along and takes and extra slug.
Posting Permissions
