Footy legend lost his home

A DISASTROUS property deal cost Geelong AFL legend Cameron Ling his family home, it has been revealed.

The premiership-winning captain was a partner in a group that suffered devastating financial losses after taking over a sublease of Cunningham Pier, in Geelong, in 2009.

The pier – which had been leased out by a company owned by former Cats president Frank Costa – went on to become the home of a convention centre, bar and a high-end dining restaurant.

Ling and his partners spent $4.5m renovating the site, but the business faltered amid rising debts and rental costs that were more than twice the market value.

A recent ruling from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has revealed Ling’s plight and how he became “desperate” to exit the “stifling” conditions of the lease.

In evidence given to the tribunal, the former All-Australian said he practically needed

to beg Mr Costa’s right-hand man, Carl Schokman, to get out of the deal in 2015.

Ling said the financial burden forced him to sell his home and investments, before approaching Mr Schokman, who dictated the terms of his release. He claimed Mr Schokman also brought pressure on his wife and young family.

“When Carl effectively yelled at me and my accountant and demanded certain things, I’ll never forget that meeting,” Ling told the tribunal.

“I haven’t had to beg too many times in my life, but it felt like I was in that meeting.”

The tribunal heard Ling later regretted his “foolishness” in entering into the sublease on terms that he did not understand.

He said he naively went ahead with the deal based on the advice of Mr Costa and Mr Schokman, who described it as an opportunity at “the best location in Geelong”.

The revelations have surfaced amid a legal stoush involving Mr Schokman and relatives of Mr Costa, who was a prominent businessman until he died earlier this year, aged 83.

The dispute centres on a series of business dealings at Cunningham Pier, which has been leased by Seabrook Events Pty Ltd since 2007.

The tribunal heard Mr Schokman had long been the “directing mind” of the company, despite Mr Costa and his wife, Shirley Costa, effectively being controlling shareholders. Mr Costa’s daughter, Gillian Holroyd, was one of Ling’s business partners and continues to hold the sublease of Cunningham Pier with her husband.