“Since the Super League war, this is the biggest challenge, and it will be a big financial hit this year,” Mr Furner says. “But there’s some solace in the fact that we’re all facing it together; it’s not just our sport. The whole world is dealing with this. You adapt.”
‘Adapting’ is a crucial part of the Raiders’ plan for the future.
“Certainly the past six months has been something else. Back in March, all of our licenced clubs were shut so we had to stand all of our staff down, which was very stressful,” Mr Burr says. “It was very challenging moving everything remote so we could keep businesses ticking over in the interim.”
Mr Furner and the corporate team worked tirelessly to navigate the ever-evolving JobKeeper and JobSeeker legislation to secure as many jobs as possible. The club also secured state and federal funding for the future, as well as finding ways of meeting sponsorship obligations.
“Don has excellent relationships and interpersonal skills he uses with our sponsors and dealing with the government,” Mr Burr says. “He has an unbelievably stressful job because it’s completely unpredictable, not to mention the past six months. We’ve had to manage the changes, going from: the comp is on with no crowds, to the comp is off, now the comp is on and you’re playing home games not at your home stadium, now you’re at your home stadium... I wouldn’t be the only person to say this has been the most challenging moment of my career.”
Mr Furner was also an intrinsic leader in ‘Project Apollo’, a herculean-sounding task force designed to get the players back on the field for competition, living in a bubble of sorts. In the bubble, players cannot participate in much except for training and playing. “They can’t even watch their kids play sports and go out to lunch,” Mr Furner says.
To get the bubble functioning, negotiations that would have ordinarily taken 12 months to finalise were completed in weeks.
“There was a certain spirit of cooperation because everyone knew we had to get the game back up and running and to get people’s livelihoods back in place. As corny as it sounds, in a time of crisis, everyone worked together – even the player’s union, the broadcasters and the media. We were all working towards that one goal,” he says. “There were a lot of people waiting for us to fail, but we were back on May 28.”
Even during the good times, managing a sporting club is a high-risk game, and the pressure to win grand finals can send clubs broke. Mr Furner says the skills he acquired as a chartered accountant has been crucial to maintaining the stability of the club.
“That’s not easy when there’s pressure from sponsors and fans to spend money, invest in that player and buy that player. But it doesn’t matter what business you run; if you haven’t got more money coming in the door than going out, you won’t last long,” he says.
There’s the ruthless nature of the media, witnessing the heartbreak of failed sporting careers, the pressure from player agents, dealing with disgruntled players, and the constant pressure to see the team perform on the field. And now, there are the complications of the coronavirus. Is it worth it?
“This might sound a bit naff, but when the whole town gets behind the team, it’s quite amazing,” he laughs. “When you’re part of it, you see what it does for little kids and families. In a one-team town, the sport brings the community together. I love sport, and I love this club.”
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