Dear Members,
Welcome to the first of the quarterly Chairman’s address for 2022 which covers reports from the various Board Committees where meetings have been held and business conducted during the past few months.
Firstly, thank you to all the members who took the time to complete the questionnaire which was tabled in the last quarterly review. Feedback is always welcomed, and the information gathered from this most recent survey will be used to continue to enhance our composition and deliverables as a Board.
As Dino did in his CEO update, I also would like to wish you a belated Happy New Year and hope everyone managed to stay safe and enjoy the festive season with family and loved ones as best as possible.
We have started 2022 again with COVID challenges and the business continues to manage their way through the forever changing landscape in an effort to achieve the best outcomes, with keeping our staff and members safe the priority.
In some very exciting news, the Club has progressed discussions for a potential amalgamation with Park Beach Bowling Club in Coffs Harbour. The Club was formed in 1959 and is now a medium sized Bowling Club with three grass greens, 66 gaming machines, food and beverage outlets and around 3,500 members, of which 312 are Bowling Members.
Whilst we still have some work to do, we will be aiming to get this to a vote of our members at some time in the near future. As we did with Kareela Golf Club, we will be scheduling information sessions for our Members on the Park Beach Bowling Club amalgamation and what this opportunity means for the Cronulla Sharks and for Park Beach Bowling Club. We will advise further details on the information sessions once we have approval from Park Beach Bowling Club to take this opportunity to a vote.
Our AGM is penciled in for Wednesday, March 30, with all details of AGM to be forwarded in the coming weeks. If restrictions ease we will be looking to hold the AGM at Sharks at Kareela however if we still have restrictions in place it may be a virtual meeting. More information on this to follow.
Life Members
Since the previous note re the Life Member Sub Committee we have developed the Charter and have engaged the Sharks Member Counsel in February.
At present Ben Ross [Head of Membership] is going through the list of Sharks Life Members and collating each of their contributions as a way of reflecting on the legacy of each.
It’s our intention based on merit, and with Member involvement, to propose candidates for Sharks Life Membership during 2022.
It’s important to note, that as we consider those candidates, exceptional service to the Club from those whom have played for the Sharks, but also those whom have given their time to support the Sharks off the field, will be assessed.
We are also looking at a celebration of those Life Members on a game day preceding a match, and we will nominate that in the near future.
Nominations Committee
The role of the committee is to regularly monitor the composition, skill set and effectiveness of the Board.
With the inclusion of the two new board members in Madeline Tynan and Morry Waked, as outlined in the Chairman’s Announcement from December 2021, I am of the strong belief that members can rest assured the skillset and successful operating rhythm of the entire board, in conjunction with Management, will ensure the club continues to navigate in the right direction to achieve the significant strategic milestones that the club has planned over the coming years.
The committee would like to thank all members who participated in the Board Performance Review questionnaire that was circulated in the last quester of 2021. All the feedback provided has been received and collated by the board and management. The Board continues to be encouraged by members feedback which will assist us to improve our focus and direction.
Remuneration & Appointments Committee
With no Executive appointments in the prior quarter there was no activity during this period.
Our club is very fortunate to have best in market throughout our entire executive management team, and overall staff structure.
Building Committee
As many of you have noticed, the ongoing redevelopment of our new Leagues Club is full steam ahead. With Covid restrictions lifting more by the month, the buildings continue to rise out of the ground at an encouraging rate. Th club continues to work with our development partner Aoyuan and its building contractor Parkview Constructions, to deliver what we honestly believe to be a first-class facility, with focus on point-of-difference, to achieve one of the best clubs in the Sutherland Shire. Works are still on track for a completion towards early to mid-2023.
The committee is also working hard with management to prepare Pointsbet Stadium for our forecast return for the 2022 season, which is now only a matter of weeks away. Appreciating there will still be active construction and upgrade works occurring in and around the stadium until 2023, the Board and Management recognises the importance to members in bringing our games back to our sacred home. We are confident the excitement and success that we hope to achieve back at home, will outweigh any distractions and inconveniences that we may experience from the surrounding development works.
Football Committee
The pre-season is coming to an end and we now look forward to the upcoming trials and to the start of the 2022 season, with our head coach Craig Fitzgibbon extremely pleased with attitude and application of the NRL playing group throughout the summer.
We can report we currently have 28 players contracted in our top 30, leaving Head Coach Craig Fitzgibbon, General Manager Football Darren Mooney and our football committee with options to fill those remaining places as the year goes on.
Of note has been the work of Glenn Brailey, Bryce Gentle and Jack Gould in Academy and Pathways, who after navigating the immense challenges of Covid, with somewhere near 170 players to look after, put three strong and competitive teams on the field for round one of the Junior Rep competitions. All gave a good account of themselves and there are positive signs for their respective seasons. Welcome to Brad Kelly, our new coach of the Matthews Cup team and it’s a ‘welcome back’ to David Howlett who returns from two years with the NRL squad to again guide the next generation of emerging Sharks stars as our SG Ball coach.
Audit and Risk Committee
The Audit and Risk Committee (A&R) has a multi-purpose role in helping our club run profitably and within the rules.
The "A" part convenes to ensure the Club's governance structures and finances are in good order and to be constantly aware of changes in legislation, NRL guidelines and member expectations on how a football club or licenced club should run. This includes working with the Club's auditors (KPMG) ensuring the books and accounts are accurate, prepared honestly and controls exist to protect our assets and our expenses are only incurred in meeting our stated goals. Our Governance structures are there to ensure we are fully compliant and leave no room for any exposure to the Group.
The "R" part is all about managing Risk. This means we try to look over the horizon for things that could go wrong and either prevent them or have a plan on how to deal with it if it actually happens. Risk management is all about being prepared and agile. The Club has a good understanding of the potential risks and the Management together with the Committee has plans to help us deal with any of these possibilities.
Investment Committee
The Sharks Investment Committee continues to work closely with management in diligently reviewing the market for appropriate investments for our club across a broad reach of potential opportunities. The investment made in the Metrics Wholesale Investment Trust continues to perform in line with expectations with recent returns in the last quarter slightly ahead of budgeted expectations and above the target returns within our Group Investment Strategy.
The Investment Committee and Management continue to work in unison on possible opportunities however no new investments have been recommended in the last quarter, with the criteria of any investment meeting the board approved strategy, minimum rates of forecast returns and also capital preservation to protect your Club’s future.
In closing
We hope you have managed to navigate your way through the recent Covid challenges while remaining healthy. With trial matches beginning this weekend and the new season set to be upon us before we know it, we trust we can look forward to your continued support of our great club into 2022 and beyond.
