National Rugby League Cronulla Sharks Score $9.3M Funding To Stay Put

National Rugby League club Cronulla Sharks' NRL future "has received a massive boost with news property developers at their Woolooware home base have offered to throw in an extra" A$10M ($9.3M) cash, according to Phil Rothfield of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Sharks directors "have been in finance talks for several weeks to raise funds" to pay off a A$3M bank loan and form a war chest to deal with Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority expenses. Sharks Chair Damian Keogh said that "the cash advance is an option the club’s board is seriously considering." Cronulla was always guaranteed A$28M from sales at the A$300M redevelopment over the next five years. Under a new arrangement, A$10M "would be upfront" and then A$18M in stages. The gain for developers is that "the money would immediately clear" a A$3M St. George Bank debt and "release any rights the bank had over land" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/30).