"Some people say we should stay at AAMI - and why wouldn’t they? It’s served us well in the past and frankly it is a very good stadium. The problem with this is that it has been made very clear to the SANFL that there is no government funding available today - or tomorrow - to revitalise and rejuvenate AAMI stadium to the degree that we need to, to make it continue to be viable. Without this investment we cannot contemplate staying. Your football club and that of PAFC are ranked 15th and 16th against the other AFL clubs in terms of stadium yield - put simply we cannot survive under these circumstances."
"You know some people have likened us to politicians because they perceive us to be silent on the issue of where we play football in the future. With the utmost of respect to our politicians, in my experience some may have the answers but are skilled enough to avoid the question. In our case, we have no problem facing up to the questions - quite the contrary in fact. In our case, we simply do not have the answers. This applies to the Adelaide Oval refurbishment and the put forward alternative of a new stadium with a roof. Whatever answer Steven Trigg or I give on these questions, always gets politicised and that is unhelpful for everyone because it only serves to confuse."
"Now, we all have our opinions. I have mine and your Board has its. But I am not prepared to bet $500 million dollars or more on my - or anyone’s opinions, for that matter. To make a decision on that basis would be at best foolhardy - at worst, negligent! So what we are doing is what we’ve said we are doing from day one (and it seems every day since), we are committed to going through the process and the process is sound. It has competent people participating. As a consequence I am convinced the right decision will be arrived at, if it demonstrates beyond doubt that the AFC is demonstrably better off - we’ll be there. If not, we will be vehemently opposing any move. I think that’s a realistic response. I don’t think the logical person would argue with that."
"The next question - if we oppose a move - will be “what rights do you have?”. In short, we expect to have absolutely meaningful say in the final call. With all modesty aside, it’s the Adelaide Football Club that brings 40,000 plus each week, and has over 600,000 supporters."
"What the Adelaide Football Club Board will not do is stand up and say to its supporters “look, we are not 100% sure - but let’s give a try”. Any decision we make will be far more conclusive than that. There will be no ambiguity as to the benefits of any such move."
"Where I think the anxiety exists for all of us is simply a date - the 20th of March, and I can understand that. If we were mid term of any government the urgency would still be present but not as intense, but because there’s an election Saturday people want answers (and should be entitled to them) - but as I explained earlier they simply cannot be produced in time."
"It’s been suggested that come this time next week, i.e. post the election, our decisions become easier. In a sense that’s right because as we have always said, the Adelaide Football Club will work with the government of the day. Notwithstanding this though, any options must be fully explored and challenged and stack up financially and independently, which is exactly what we are doing today."
