Latest news with #AndrewDemetriou
The Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Australian
Luxury Toorak mansion listed by ex-AFL boss Andrew Demetriou for $15.5m
Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and his model wife Symone Richards have listed their opulent Toorak home with hopes of $14.5m to $15.5m. Agents for the high-profile couple have relaunched the marketing campaign to sell the 1930s-built property fronting 5 Tyalla Crescent, Toorak that the Demetriou family purchased in 2007. In that time frame they hired top-tier Melbourne interior designer David Hicks to redo the property while keeping its grand period character. The Demetriou family wants to downsize, but will sell first, so are marketing the Marcus Martin-designed home that blends classic architecture with modern family function. It has six bedrooms, a six-car basement, swimming pool and spa, and a landscaped rear garden with a firepit, trampoline and basketball court. Antoinette Nido, managing director Stonnington, Melbourne Sotheby's International Realty and Max Ruttner, managing director Stonnington, Melbourne Sotheby's International Realty, are handling the sale of the high-profile residence, saying that homes of this calibre rarely come to market. Ms Nido says the house has great proportions and spaces as well as a fantastic children's area upstairs, two studies and she likes the fact that the children's study is close to the kitchen and family room. 'You can be cooking while watching homework happen across the room,' Ms Nido said. She notes the house, positioned on 1100sq m, is close to schools including St Kevin's College Toorak, St Catherine's and Scotch College as well as public transport. 'The proportions are exceptional. It's a true 1930s Toorak home with a sense of grandeur from the moment you arrive.' A circular driveway leads to an imposing formal entry and lounge, with a private study and expansive open-plan family zone at the rear. The marble kitchen and large butler's pantry open to outdoor entertaining spaces that capture the northern light. The designer main bedroom suite has a walk-in robe, luxurious ensuite and balcony. Mr Demetriou was the chief executive of the AFL from 2003 to 2014. The Australian businessman, a former AFL player, is also a sports administrator. The listing comes as real estate activity lifts across Melbourne's prestige market, with buyers circling family homes in established blue-chip pockets. 'At the top end the market is pretty good,' Ms Nido said. 'There's a number of buyers who have made money from IPOs and are in the market for properties in the $15m to $50m range. They want good locations, a large land size, proximity to leading schools and good design. Some people specifically like character homes. 'At this level, it is not a one-size-fits-all market, with some buyers attracted to character-filled homes and others chasing more modern properties. But the fundamentals of natural light, connection to gardens and good amenities remain sought after.' Recent top-end sales in the area include 53 Rose Street, Armadale, the home of interior designer Melissa Giuffrida. It fetched close to $9m. The lowdown on high-end sales Lisa Allen Associate Editor & Editor, Mansion Australia Lisa Allen is an Associate Editor of The Australian, and is Editor of The Weekend Australian's property magazine, Mansion Australia. Lisa has been a senior reporter in business and property with the paper since 2012. She was previously Queensland Bureau Chief for The Australian Financial Review and has written for the BRW Rich List. Property Mogul Chris Morris has outbid rival Sam Arnaout with a $184m offer for the Reef Hotel Casino, citing strategic advantages with his existing Queensland operations. Commercial Lendlease is turning to Japanese capital to back its latest $2.5bn development scheme, with two big names supporting Sydney's next ultra-luxury site.
The Advertiser
27-06-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
How the AFL stumbled, rebooted in key grassroots battle
How do you get western Sydney to fall in love with Australian rules football? It's the question the AFL has been asking since former chief executive Andrew Demetriou laid the groundwork for the GWS Giants in 2005 and headhunted Israel Folau. Two decades on, they still don't have the exact answer. But it's not an exact science either, when the region you're working in is a vast sporting battleground. Western Sydney - by government terms - starts eight kilometres outside of the city's CBD in Canterbury Bankstown and goes as far west as the Blue Mountains, south to the Wollondilly Shire and north to the Hawkesbury. It's almost 9000 square kilometres of land, with an estimated population of nearly three million. Rugby league rules. NRL clubs Parramatta, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and Penrith boast rusted-on supporters and local production lines of talent, while rugby union and soccer have long had goal posts in the ground. The AFL's fight for attention above the Barassi Line has evolved since the Giants' AFL debut in 2012, but arguably never been harder. Andrew Varasdi, head of AFL NSW/ACT, simplifies the mission to "connecting the game to more people in more ways for more time". "Falling in love with it ultimately is what we want, what every code wants people to do," Varasdi told AAP. "You're born with Aussie rules in your blood in Victoria. The number one barrier for us in western Sydney is still that we're a second-choice sport. "Even as a second-choice sport, we rank between five and seven on that list. "The number one barrier is absolutely top-of-mind preparedness to actually play the game ... saying 'I'm gonna give it a go'." The AFL's challenge goes far deeper than rival football codes. More than 40 per cent of western Sydney's 2.7 million residents are immigrants, according to the most recent census in 2021. Nearly 80 per cent of residents have at least one parent born overseas. Almost half of the population speak a language other than English at home, and nearly 10 per cent don't speak English at all. Some locals aren't aware Sherrins exist, let alone how they might go about kicking one. There are also the obvious hurdles created by a cost-of-living crisis. AFL NSW/ACT is now running camps that don't revolve around football, with Varasdi saying the organisation's Indigenous programs in Blacktown and Campbelltown have a heavy focus on culture. Other pilot programs will aim to give primary school children a "full AFL experience" from Year 1 to 6, with Varasdi acknowledging the leap from casual introduction to 16-week club program commitment is immense. "Instead of doing it with short-term programs, we've got to do it with kids at the right time for the right amount of time," he said. "How do we involve our players from the Giants? How do we use the assets, like games at Engie Stadium? How do we actually engage local clubs, upskill them? "How do we leverage our theme around our multicultural rounds? All these sorts of things provide not just a great experience in terms of footy, but provide something to the community as well." Various initiatives have helped the sport's grassroots participation numbers recover since nosediving in the COVID-19 pandemic. Varasdi says there are more than 1000 Auskick participants, with previous years being half of that. The AFL hopes to grow the number to 5000 children playing in the under-12 category within three to five years. AFL crowd and broadcast numbers create plenty of code-war headlines, but junior players hold the key to the long-term growth that league HQ and the Giants are so desperate for. AFL boss Andrew Dillon has highlighted a desire to "turbocharge" participation rates in the region - and notably appointed Tom Harley as his understudy, someone who knows that battle well from stints running AFL NSW/ACT and the Sydney Swans. Beau Cook, a volunteer at junior club Penrith Giants, says the biggest help for parents has been the 'Play Your Way' program launched during summer. The voucher scheme - the result of a meeting with 14 local clubs and the AFL executive - provides up to $100 off registration fees, with the biggest discount afforded to those in western Sydney. Almost 1,700 vouchers have been redeemed. Penrith Giants' Auskick numbers sit around 150, down from when 250 participated pre-pandemic, but the club is up 25 per cent in under-11 registrations. "I dare say that Play Your Way voucher had a big impact on it," Cook told AAP. It's the retention of older players that has proved the biggest obstacle for Cook's club and those dotted throughout the region. The Giants only have two AFL players from western Sydney on their list: ruck Kieren Briggs and first-year Joey Delana. AFL NSW/ACT has brought back its 'Future Stars' program, where around 50 primary school-aged children are invited to a camp at the Giants in a bid to fast-track elite talent. "We're at a bit of a loss. Once we figure out the retention piece, I think that would be our next focus," Cook told AAP. "Our oldest age group is in under 14s, and that's a joint venture between us and three clubs. "Parents are really busy. A lot of our older age participants, it sort of gets to a clutch point where they are playing two sports. "Our more elite players, they have to hone in on getting better at a sport. Often, AFL sort of goes a bit to the side." Dillon, whose meeting with 14 local club presidents last November was well received in the area, is confident the sport has "righted the ship" in the region. "But I just think we're scratching the surface," Dillon told AAP. "I've been to a lot of community footy meetings. In western Sydney, it was not dissimilar to meetings I've been to in Victoria - a lot of the challenges are the same, but there are some challenges that are unique to Sydney. "The volunteers who were in that room, the presidents of the clubs, the others who were there, were as passionate a football community as I've seen anywhere else. "Wouldn't it be great to come back here in three years' time and have 36 or 54 (local) clubs?" How do you get western Sydney to fall in love with Australian rules football? It's the question the AFL has been asking since former chief executive Andrew Demetriou laid the groundwork for the GWS Giants in 2005 and headhunted Israel Folau. Two decades on, they still don't have the exact answer. But it's not an exact science either, when the region you're working in is a vast sporting battleground. Western Sydney - by government terms - starts eight kilometres outside of the city's CBD in Canterbury Bankstown and goes as far west as the Blue Mountains, south to the Wollondilly Shire and north to the Hawkesbury. It's almost 9000 square kilometres of land, with an estimated population of nearly three million. Rugby league rules. NRL clubs Parramatta, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and Penrith boast rusted-on supporters and local production lines of talent, while rugby union and soccer have long had goal posts in the ground. The AFL's fight for attention above the Barassi Line has evolved since the Giants' AFL debut in 2012, but arguably never been harder. Andrew Varasdi, head of AFL NSW/ACT, simplifies the mission to "connecting the game to more people in more ways for more time". "Falling in love with it ultimately is what we want, what every code wants people to do," Varasdi told AAP. "You're born with Aussie rules in your blood in Victoria. The number one barrier for us in western Sydney is still that we're a second-choice sport. "Even as a second-choice sport, we rank between five and seven on that list. "The number one barrier is absolutely top-of-mind preparedness to actually play the game ... saying 'I'm gonna give it a go'." The AFL's challenge goes far deeper than rival football codes. More than 40 per cent of western Sydney's 2.7 million residents are immigrants, according to the most recent census in 2021. Nearly 80 per cent of residents have at least one parent born overseas. Almost half of the population speak a language other than English at home, and nearly 10 per cent don't speak English at all. Some locals aren't aware Sherrins exist, let alone how they might go about kicking one. There are also the obvious hurdles created by a cost-of-living crisis. AFL NSW/ACT is now running camps that don't revolve around football, with Varasdi saying the organisation's Indigenous programs in Blacktown and Campbelltown have a heavy focus on culture. Other pilot programs will aim to give primary school children a "full AFL experience" from Year 1 to 6, with Varasdi acknowledging the leap from casual introduction to 16-week club program commitment is immense. "Instead of doing it with short-term programs, we've got to do it with kids at the right time for the right amount of time," he said. "How do we involve our players from the Giants? How do we use the assets, like games at Engie Stadium? How do we actually engage local clubs, upskill them? "How do we leverage our theme around our multicultural rounds? All these sorts of things provide not just a great experience in terms of footy, but provide something to the community as well." Various initiatives have helped the sport's grassroots participation numbers recover since nosediving in the COVID-19 pandemic. Varasdi says there are more than 1000 Auskick participants, with previous years being half of that. The AFL hopes to grow the number to 5000 children playing in the under-12 category within three to five years. AFL crowd and broadcast numbers create plenty of code-war headlines, but junior players hold the key to the long-term growth that league HQ and the Giants are so desperate for. AFL boss Andrew Dillon has highlighted a desire to "turbocharge" participation rates in the region - and notably appointed Tom Harley as his understudy, someone who knows that battle well from stints running AFL NSW/ACT and the Sydney Swans. Beau Cook, a volunteer at junior club Penrith Giants, says the biggest help for parents has been the 'Play Your Way' program launched during summer. The voucher scheme - the result of a meeting with 14 local clubs and the AFL executive - provides up to $100 off registration fees, with the biggest discount afforded to those in western Sydney. Almost 1,700 vouchers have been redeemed. Penrith Giants' Auskick numbers sit around 150, down from when 250 participated pre-pandemic, but the club is up 25 per cent in under-11 registrations. "I dare say that Play Your Way voucher had a big impact on it," Cook told AAP. It's the retention of older players that has proved the biggest obstacle for Cook's club and those dotted throughout the region. The Giants only have two AFL players from western Sydney on their list: ruck Kieren Briggs and first-year Joey Delana. AFL NSW/ACT has brought back its 'Future Stars' program, where around 50 primary school-aged children are invited to a camp at the Giants in a bid to fast-track elite talent. "We're at a bit of a loss. Once we figure out the retention piece, I think that would be our next focus," Cook told AAP. "Our oldest age group is in under 14s, and that's a joint venture between us and three clubs. "Parents are really busy. A lot of our older age participants, it sort of gets to a clutch point where they are playing two sports. "Our more elite players, they have to hone in on getting better at a sport. Often, AFL sort of goes a bit to the side." Dillon, whose meeting with 14 local club presidents last November was well received in the area, is confident the sport has "righted the ship" in the region. "But I just think we're scratching the surface," Dillon told AAP. "I've been to a lot of community footy meetings. In western Sydney, it was not dissimilar to meetings I've been to in Victoria - a lot of the challenges are the same, but there are some challenges that are unique to Sydney. "The volunteers who were in that room, the presidents of the clubs, the others who were there, were as passionate a football community as I've seen anywhere else. "Wouldn't it be great to come back here in three years' time and have 36 or 54 (local) clubs?" How do you get western Sydney to fall in love with Australian rules football? It's the question the AFL has been asking since former chief executive Andrew Demetriou laid the groundwork for the GWS Giants in 2005 and headhunted Israel Folau. Two decades on, they still don't have the exact answer. But it's not an exact science either, when the region you're working in is a vast sporting battleground. Western Sydney - by government terms - starts eight kilometres outside of the city's CBD in Canterbury Bankstown and goes as far west as the Blue Mountains, south to the Wollondilly Shire and north to the Hawkesbury. It's almost 9000 square kilometres of land, with an estimated population of nearly three million. Rugby league rules. NRL clubs Parramatta, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and Penrith boast rusted-on supporters and local production lines of talent, while rugby union and soccer have long had goal posts in the ground. The AFL's fight for attention above the Barassi Line has evolved since the Giants' AFL debut in 2012, but arguably never been harder. Andrew Varasdi, head of AFL NSW/ACT, simplifies the mission to "connecting the game to more people in more ways for more time". "Falling in love with it ultimately is what we want, what every code wants people to do," Varasdi told AAP. "You're born with Aussie rules in your blood in Victoria. The number one barrier for us in western Sydney is still that we're a second-choice sport. "Even as a second-choice sport, we rank between five and seven on that list. "The number one barrier is absolutely top-of-mind preparedness to actually play the game ... saying 'I'm gonna give it a go'." The AFL's challenge goes far deeper than rival football codes. More than 40 per cent of western Sydney's 2.7 million residents are immigrants, according to the most recent census in 2021. Nearly 80 per cent of residents have at least one parent born overseas. Almost half of the population speak a language other than English at home, and nearly 10 per cent don't speak English at all. Some locals aren't aware Sherrins exist, let alone how they might go about kicking one. There are also the obvious hurdles created by a cost-of-living crisis. AFL NSW/ACT is now running camps that don't revolve around football, with Varasdi saying the organisation's Indigenous programs in Blacktown and Campbelltown have a heavy focus on culture. Other pilot programs will aim to give primary school children a "full AFL experience" from Year 1 to 6, with Varasdi acknowledging the leap from casual introduction to 16-week club program commitment is immense. "Instead of doing it with short-term programs, we've got to do it with kids at the right time for the right amount of time," he said. "How do we involve our players from the Giants? How do we use the assets, like games at Engie Stadium? How do we actually engage local clubs, upskill them? "How do we leverage our theme around our multicultural rounds? All these sorts of things provide not just a great experience in terms of footy, but provide something to the community as well." Various initiatives have helped the sport's grassroots participation numbers recover since nosediving in the COVID-19 pandemic. Varasdi says there are more than 1000 Auskick participants, with previous years being half of that. The AFL hopes to grow the number to 5000 children playing in the under-12 category within three to five years. AFL crowd and broadcast numbers create plenty of code-war headlines, but junior players hold the key to the long-term growth that league HQ and the Giants are so desperate for. AFL boss Andrew Dillon has highlighted a desire to "turbocharge" participation rates in the region - and notably appointed Tom Harley as his understudy, someone who knows that battle well from stints running AFL NSW/ACT and the Sydney Swans. Beau Cook, a volunteer at junior club Penrith Giants, says the biggest help for parents has been the 'Play Your Way' program launched during summer. The voucher scheme - the result of a meeting with 14 local clubs and the AFL executive - provides up to $100 off registration fees, with the biggest discount afforded to those in western Sydney. Almost 1,700 vouchers have been redeemed. Penrith Giants' Auskick numbers sit around 150, down from when 250 participated pre-pandemic, but the club is up 25 per cent in under-11 registrations. "I dare say that Play Your Way voucher had a big impact on it," Cook told AAP. It's the retention of older players that has proved the biggest obstacle for Cook's club and those dotted throughout the region. The Giants only have two AFL players from western Sydney on their list: ruck Kieren Briggs and first-year Joey Delana. AFL NSW/ACT has brought back its 'Future Stars' program, where around 50 primary school-aged children are invited to a camp at the Giants in a bid to fast-track elite talent. "We're at a bit of a loss. Once we figure out the retention piece, I think that would be our next focus," Cook told AAP. "Our oldest age group is in under 14s, and that's a joint venture between us and three clubs. "Parents are really busy. A lot of our older age participants, it sort of gets to a clutch point where they are playing two sports. "Our more elite players, they have to hone in on getting better at a sport. Often, AFL sort of goes a bit to the side." Dillon, whose meeting with 14 local club presidents last November was well received in the area, is confident the sport has "righted the ship" in the region. "But I just think we're scratching the surface," Dillon told AAP. "I've been to a lot of community footy meetings. In western Sydney, it was not dissimilar to meetings I've been to in Victoria - a lot of the challenges are the same, but there are some challenges that are unique to Sydney. "The volunteers who were in that room, the presidents of the clubs, the others who were there, were as passionate a football community as I've seen anywhere else. "Wouldn't it be great to come back here in three years' time and have 36 or 54 (local) clubs?"
Perth Now
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
How the AFL stumbled, rebooted in key grassroots battle
How do you get western Sydney to fall in love with Australian rules football? It's the question the AFL has been asking since former chief executive Andrew Demetriou laid the groundwork for the GWS Giants in 2005 and headhunted Israel Folau. Two decades on, they still don't have the exact answer. But it's not an exact science either, when the region you're working in is a vast sporting battleground. Western Sydney - by government terms - starts eight kilometres outside of the city's CBD in Canterbury Bankstown and goes as far west as the Blue Mountains, south to the Wollondilly Shire and north to the Hawkesbury. It's almost 9000 square kilometres of land, with an estimated population of nearly three million. Rugby league rules. NRL clubs Parramatta, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and Penrith boast rusted-on supporters and local production lines of talent, while rugby union and soccer have long had goal posts in the ground. The AFL's fight for attention above the Barassi Line has evolved since the Giants' AFL debut in 2012, but arguably never been harder. Andrew Varasdi, head of AFL NSW/ACT, simplifies the mission to "connecting the game to more people in more ways for more time". "Falling in love with it ultimately is what we want, what every code wants people to do," Varasdi told AAP. "You're born with Aussie rules in your blood in Victoria. The number one barrier for us in western Sydney is still that we're a second-choice sport. "Even as a second-choice sport, we rank between five and seven on that list. "The number one barrier is absolutely top-of-mind preparedness to actually play the game ... saying 'I'm gonna give it a go'." The AFL's challenge goes far deeper than rival football codes. More than 40 per cent of western Sydney's 2.7 million residents are immigrants, according to the most recent census in 2021. Nearly 80 per cent of residents have at least one parent born overseas. Almost half of the population speak a language other than English at home, and nearly 10 per cent don't speak English at all. Some locals aren't aware Sherrins exist, let alone how they might go about kicking one. There are also the obvious hurdles created by a cost-of-living crisis. AFL NSW/ACT is now running camps that don't revolve around football, with Varasdi saying the organisation's Indigenous programs in Blacktown and Campbelltown have a heavy focus on culture. Other pilot programs will aim to give primary school children a "full AFL experience" from Year 1 to 6, with Varasdi acknowledging the leap from casual introduction to 16-week club program commitment is immense. "Instead of doing it with short-term programs, we've got to do it with kids at the right time for the right amount of time," he said. "How do we involve our players from the Giants? How do we use the assets, like games at Engie Stadium? How do we actually engage local clubs, upskill them? "How do we leverage our theme around our multicultural rounds? All these sorts of things provide not just a great experience in terms of footy, but provide something to the community as well." Various initiatives have helped the sport's grassroots participation numbers recover since nosediving in the COVID-19 pandemic. Varasdi says there are more than 1000 Auskick participants, with previous years being half of that. The AFL hopes to grow the number to 5000 children playing in the under-12 category within three to five years. AFL crowd and broadcast numbers create plenty of code-war headlines, but junior players hold the key to the long-term growth that league HQ and the Giants are so desperate for. AFL boss Andrew Dillon has highlighted a desire to "turbocharge" participation rates in the region - and notably appointed Tom Harley as his understudy, someone who knows that battle well from stints running AFL NSW/ACT and the Sydney Swans. Beau Cook, a volunteer at junior club Penrith Giants, says the biggest help for parents has been the 'Play Your Way' program launched during summer. The voucher scheme - the result of a meeting with 14 local clubs and the AFL executive - provides up to $100 off registration fees, with the biggest discount afforded to those in western Sydney. Almost 1,700 vouchers have been redeemed. Penrith Giants' Auskick numbers sit around 150, down from when 250 participated pre-pandemic, but the club is up 25 per cent in under-11 registrations. "I dare say that Play Your Way voucher had a big impact on it," Cook told AAP. It's the retention of older players that has proved the biggest obstacle for Cook's club and those dotted throughout the region. The Giants only have two AFL players from western Sydney on their list: ruck Kieren Briggs and first-year Joey Delana. AFL NSW/ACT has brought back its 'Future Stars' program, where around 50 primary school-aged children are invited to a camp at the Giants in a bid to fast-track elite talent. "We're at a bit of a loss. Once we figure out the retention piece, I think that would be our next focus," Cook told AAP. "Our oldest age group is in under 14s, and that's a joint venture between us and three clubs. "Parents are really busy. A lot of our older age participants, it sort of gets to a clutch point where they are playing two sports. "Our more elite players, they have to hone in on getting better at a sport. Often, AFL sort of goes a bit to the side." Dillon, whose meeting with 14 local club presidents last November was well received in the area, is confident the sport has "righted the ship" in the region. "But I just think we're scratching the surface," Dillon told AAP. "I've been to a lot of community footy meetings. In western Sydney, it was not dissimilar to meetings I've been to in Victoria - a lot of the challenges are the same, but there are some challenges that are unique to Sydney. "The volunteers who were in that room, the presidents of the clubs, the others who were there, were as passionate a football community as I've seen anywhere else. "Wouldn't it be great to come back here in three years' time and have 36 or 54 (local) clubs?"
