From prop to top

Naomi Healy talks to the brain behind the bid, Gold Coast Titans managing director Michael Searle

You don't have to be a rugby league fan on the Gold Coast to know who Michael Searle is. As the managing director of the Gold Coast Titans, and the man who, with Paul Broughton, fought for eight years to win the licence to see a Coast team enter the NRL competition in 2007, his status is almost legendary.

As an ex-professional footballer and the son and grandson of men whose lives were intertwined with the game, Michael Searle is an obvious candidate for the team's top job.

But it's not his years playing prop for Canterbury-Bankstown and the Gold Coast Seagulls and Giants - albeit poorly according to Mr Searle - that have seen him move from the position of prop to the Titan's top spot.

It's his entrepreneurial spirit.

When Mr Searle began his football career with the Bulldogs in 1987, at the age of 17, his mother offered him advice that would set him on the path to reaching greater success and notoriety than playing rugby league ever could.

"Football was part of our family's life," says Mr Searle. "My mum knew it would be fun and a great way for me to earn an income. But she said I would need something to fall back on when I couldn't play anymore."

Having excelled in high school in business subjects, Mr Searle's parents secured a deal with the Bulldogs that included a university scholarship. So by the time his football career was over he had an accounting degree and a strong future in business.

When the Titans finally run on to the field next year it will be 20 years since Mr Searle took that sage advice from his mother.

He'll have a successful accounting practice, of which he is still managing director, and a leading sports agency behind his name.

The Gold Coast will have the name behind the bid reported to be the most comprehensive business plan the league has ever seen.

Mr Searle says the fear of failure is behind his continually setting such high standards for himself.

"I also never want to have to ask myself 'what if'," says Mr Searle.

"We threw everything we had into this bid so that we'd never be left saying 'if only we had tried harder.'

"In the end our submission probably went over and beyond what you'd expect, which I think made us seem more bona fide."

But Mr Searle admits what would have made their bid the most attractive is the finance.

"I'm an accountant first and foremost," says Mr Searle. "I played a little rugby league, but I think the key to winning the licence is finance. "We have designed a business model that is not based on the success of the team.

"Of course we want the team to win games, and we know they will, but the model assumes we won't win any, and off that we will still break-even; we'll still be able to operate.

"We have set ourselves targets and KPIs, which is a great driver for me and all our staff, and as we start to win games, and sponsorship grows and gate-takings increase, we'll easily be able to start to focus on a return for investment."

That investment is $15 million of capital already raised by Mr Searle, gained by what he describes as passion and tenacity.

"Sporting franchises traditionally run on a not-for-profit basis, but we have fans and investors to keep happy," says Mr Searle.

With Mr Searle's business acumen and undying commitment to see the Gold Coast with its own NRL team, and eventually a premiership, there is no doubt those fans and investors will be laughing.