STATEMENT: #SaveOurSaints

The #SaveOurSaints movement believes that rugby league has two key stakeholders: the players and the fans. The club is the go between and should be there to represent the best interests of both parties, following best practice.

The current Joint Venture Board is no longer fit to guide our club due to significant mismanagement. It has put in place a convoluted election process to protect it from being held accountable for its performance, preventing democratic change.

Dragons fans have always been loyal and passionate, but at present we cannot overstate the level of angst towards the club for this mismanagement.

We have watched on as club membership and strategic recruitment has declined.

We have watched several of our players treated unprofessionally and without respect before being pushed away - many who were local juniors we have invested significant money in.

We have watched the decision by the Board to endorse the 'Right Game Right Venue' policy, which comes at the expense of games played at our spiritual homes and is viewed as compromising the club to make up for their poor financial management.

Most importantly, we believe the $5m loss the club made is a failure by the Joint Venture board in correctly managing its financial position. The Joint Venture Board should be answerable for its performance.

The existing governance model does not allow us to appropriately bring about this accountability. Currently, the Joint Venture board is not answerable to the members, and will continue to govern without challenge.

This needs to change. There needs to be full democratic reform of the clubs election process. The process should be re-engineered so members sign up for voting rights directly to the Joint Venture board.

The NRL wants strong clubs. Strong management is the core of a club's strength. Our movement is to bring about this change at the Dragons.

We believe our movement is critical. We believe in having the right governance in place for our club.

It's time to #SaveOurSaints.