Liquidators move on company run by AFL star Pendlebury’s former manager

2 months ago 18

A plan by Scott Pendlebury’s former manager Jason Sourasis to build a sporting and entertainment complex on Melbourne’s western fringe appears to be in tatters.

Liquidators are expected to be appointed to the project, known as the Western Melbourne Group (WMG), and A-League club Western United as soon as Thursday.

One of the stars of the AFL, Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury, has launched legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The move will be a blow for Pendlebury and dozens of other investors who have poured $75 million into the project in Tarneit, which has never progressed beyond the planning and promotional stage.

The two-time premiership player launched legal action last month alleging Sourasis had misappropriated $2.2 million of Pendlebury’s money, much of it directed to the WMG project.

The expected demise of the club and project comes as WMG project shareholders scramble to raise millions more in cash to put forward a last-gasp offer to creditors and investors.

Johnson Controls, a partner in the project, is widely known to have been working hard to pull together a rescue proposal with other project partners and investors, but the amount raised has so far fallen short.

The final call on placing the project and club into liquidation will be made at a Federal Court hearing on Thursday, where the Australian Taxation Office is seeking to liquidate the businesses over the club’s $10 million-plus in tax debts.

Without the required funds by 10am, the time of the court hearing, WMG is expected to be placed into liquidation, according to two sources familiar with the case but not authorised to speak while it is before the court.

A who’s who of sporting stars are also invested in the Western Melbourne Group project alongside Pendlebury, including two-time Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes and fellow AFL players Dyson Heppell, Jy Simpkin, Josh Battle and Mason Wood. Tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis is also an investor, as is former NBA player Dante Exum.

Once appointed to the group, liquidators from McGrathNicol will investigate WMG’s affairs to determine whether there will be any return to creditors. Western United is in hibernation for the 2026 season due to its financial troubles.

There could be opportunities to resurrect the project with the Wyndham City Council in the future.

Investors are expected to receive little in the liquidation of the business, which had $75 million of investor money poured into it through the Sourasis-managed Sayers Road Trust.

Pendlebury claims that most of the $2.2 million allegedly misappropriated from his bank account by Sourasis was invested into the project, according to documents filed by the footballer’s lawyers in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

A first hearing for Pendlebury’s civil claim against Sourasis is expected on Friday, when a timetable for the case will be set.

Sourasis recently hit back at Pendlebury’s court claim in a formal defence in which he claimed to have the two-time premiership player’s permission to make each withdrawal and messages to prove it.

Jason Sourasis has rejected the allegations against him.

Pendlebury joins a long line of creditors and claimants alleging they have lost money with the A-League entrepreneur, whose financial woes were first revealed by this masthead in June.

Along with the $75 million invested in the WMG project through the Sayers Road Trust, many millions more were raised from investors, including Pendlebury.

A new administrator’s report investigating Sourasis’ business activities has alleged that investors may have lost many millions more on other projects as his business empire crumbled under unpaid tax debts.

The full extent of Sourasis’ financial woes are only now beginning to emerge after a key business of his, Jaszac, entered administration.

The imminent liquidation of WMG means the football licence for A-League team Western United, which is currently on hiatus, would no longer be in use and could be rolled over to a new entity.

The looming collapse has intensified manoeuvring behind the scenes of Melbourne’s business circles.

Several prominent figures have been involved in high-level talks over the past few weeks about taking over the licence and relaunching the project with the view of immediately injecting funds.

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