- Joined
- Oct 1, 2013
- Messages
- 17,736
- Reaction score
- 31,795
The Bulldogs have landed the most significant coup in the club’s recent history by partnering with the family of one of Australia’s biggest pub barons.
Canterbury-Bankstown’s new major sponsor is Laundy Hotels, the pub empire run by multi-millionaire family patriarch Arthur Laundy along with sons, Stu and Craig.
Arthur Laundy is a lifelong Canterbury-Bankstown supporter who has long admired the way Sydney Roosters king pin Nick Politis has transformed the Tricolours into the NRL equivalent of Manchester United.
Sons Stu and Craig are also immensely successful in their own right and want to be a part of rebuilding the Bulldogs into the family club.
The Laundy family have been in negotiations about becoming more involved in the Bulldogs for the past month and negotiated the new two-year major sponsorship at the club’s Belmore headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
Arthur Laundy has been a close friend of incoming coach Trent Barrett throughout the former NSW and Australian five-eighth’s career and the family intend to try and fix the factionalism at Canterbury-Bankstown.
Plenty of people will say good luck but when you look at the Laundy family’s success in business their track record speaks for itself.
The family owns more than 60 venues along the eastern seaboard including the Manly Pacific, the Sofitel at Noosa, Crowne Plaza Terrigal, Northies, the Watson’s Bay Hotel, Mona Vale Hotel and the Twin Willows at Bass Hill.
The Twin Willows was the family’s first pub and enjoys a rich 40-plus year association with the Bulldogs dating back to the playing days of Geoff Robinson.
The Wild Man lived around the corner from the pub and so the Twin Willows was an unofficial club house frequented by champion players like Terry Lamb and the Mortimer brothers.
Stu Laundy is the architect who has helped his father put the deal with Canterbury-Bankstown together and has already begun the process of trying to improve the Belmore club by picking up the phone to some of the most influential figures in rugby league.
The Bulldogs have been a club mired in factional board room wars for the past 12 months after the Lynne Anderson-led ticket ousted previous chairman Ray Dib in February of 2018.
The Anderson-led ticket swept to power amid a pledge to return the Bulldogs to the Family Club made famous by her father – the late, great Peter “Bullfrog” Moore.
But to date the club has had little to celebrate on and off the field as it stumbles from one bun fight to the next.
Ex-coach Dean Pat’s exit is the latest example of a situation poorly handled.
The Bulldogs were desperate to back Pay because he was a premiership-winner at the club and one of their own but his exit was an exercise in how not to handle moving a coach on.
The constant heat on Pay from the media meant the coach was essentially coaching with a gun at his head for the opening 10 rounds until the club made the announcement official.
Chair Lynne Anderson has come under fire for rarely fronting the media to explain the clubs position and answering the tough questions.
Behind the scenes Leagues club chairman George Coorey and Anderson have been caught up in an ugly battle for control although the pair recently declared a truce to put the club first.
The Laundy’s will need all of their business wits and negotiating skills to master the job of trying to guide Canterbury-Bankstown back towards the pointy end of the NRL ladder.
Thankfully Arthur Laundy is great mates with football club board member John Ballesty who can provide a crash course on who’s who in the zoo at Belmore.
At their best, the Bulldogs can be an absolute powerhouse club.
But the agendas and the infighting needs to end.
The club’s new major sponsor can be the first step towards fixing the mess.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...k/news-story/62d105d6134ecd5c671d3cec9eed5d33
Canterbury-Bankstown’s new major sponsor is Laundy Hotels, the pub empire run by multi-millionaire family patriarch Arthur Laundy along with sons, Stu and Craig.
Arthur Laundy is a lifelong Canterbury-Bankstown supporter who has long admired the way Sydney Roosters king pin Nick Politis has transformed the Tricolours into the NRL equivalent of Manchester United.
Sons Stu and Craig are also immensely successful in their own right and want to be a part of rebuilding the Bulldogs into the family club.
The Laundy family have been in negotiations about becoming more involved in the Bulldogs for the past month and negotiated the new two-year major sponsorship at the club’s Belmore headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
Arthur Laundy has been a close friend of incoming coach Trent Barrett throughout the former NSW and Australian five-eighth’s career and the family intend to try and fix the factionalism at Canterbury-Bankstown.
Plenty of people will say good luck but when you look at the Laundy family’s success in business their track record speaks for itself.
The family owns more than 60 venues along the eastern seaboard including the Manly Pacific, the Sofitel at Noosa, Crowne Plaza Terrigal, Northies, the Watson’s Bay Hotel, Mona Vale Hotel and the Twin Willows at Bass Hill.
The Twin Willows was the family’s first pub and enjoys a rich 40-plus year association with the Bulldogs dating back to the playing days of Geoff Robinson.
The Wild Man lived around the corner from the pub and so the Twin Willows was an unofficial club house frequented by champion players like Terry Lamb and the Mortimer brothers.
Stu Laundy is the architect who has helped his father put the deal with Canterbury-Bankstown together and has already begun the process of trying to improve the Belmore club by picking up the phone to some of the most influential figures in rugby league.
The Bulldogs have been a club mired in factional board room wars for the past 12 months after the Lynne Anderson-led ticket ousted previous chairman Ray Dib in February of 2018.
The Anderson-led ticket swept to power amid a pledge to return the Bulldogs to the Family Club made famous by her father – the late, great Peter “Bullfrog” Moore.
But to date the club has had little to celebrate on and off the field as it stumbles from one bun fight to the next.
Ex-coach Dean Pat’s exit is the latest example of a situation poorly handled.
The Bulldogs were desperate to back Pay because he was a premiership-winner at the club and one of their own but his exit was an exercise in how not to handle moving a coach on.
The constant heat on Pay from the media meant the coach was essentially coaching with a gun at his head for the opening 10 rounds until the club made the announcement official.
Chair Lynne Anderson has come under fire for rarely fronting the media to explain the clubs position and answering the tough questions.
Behind the scenes Leagues club chairman George Coorey and Anderson have been caught up in an ugly battle for control although the pair recently declared a truce to put the club first.
The Laundy’s will need all of their business wits and negotiating skills to master the job of trying to guide Canterbury-Bankstown back towards the pointy end of the NRL ladder.
Thankfully Arthur Laundy is great mates with football club board member John Ballesty who can provide a crash course on who’s who in the zoo at Belmore.
At their best, the Bulldogs can be an absolute powerhouse club.
But the agendas and the infighting needs to end.
The club’s new major sponsor can be the first step towards fixing the mess.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...k/news-story/62d105d6134ecd5c671d3cec9eed5d33
