Griffiths, the brother of Newcastle Jets legend Joel Griffiths, for the remainder of the season and the 2011–2012 season. With the future of North Queensland Fury in doubt, the Newcastle Jets signed Chris Payne for the 2011–2012 season. 16 December 2010 saw the inaugural meeting of the new Football Advisory Board put in place by new owner Nathan Tinkler. The board included prominent names from Newcastle's soccer history, community members, and the president of Northern NSW Football. The Jets finished the 2010–11 season in seventh position, narrowly missing out on the finals series on the last day of the regular season. The Return of van Egmond On 4 October 2011, the club terminated the contract of coach Branko Čulina, as well commencing the process of applying to the FFA to have the three-year "marquee" contract of (Čulina's son) Jason set aside. Although no one reason was cited for the decision it was believed that an argument was reached between Branko, CEO Robbie Middleby, and owner Nathan Tinkler, regarding the nepotist nature of Jason's signing, as well as "medical advice". Middleby stated: "The decision to terminate the contracts was made after a long deliberation by the Newcastle Jets’ Advisory Board". While Tinkler stated that "Jason's injury could mean the Jets are without their marquee player for up to three seasons – not a good result for the club, supporters, sponsors and players." The Jets appointed Gary van Egmond as Čulina's replacement. In April 2012, Nathan Tinkler announced that he would hand back the Newcastle Jets A-League licence to the FFA, because of his mounting financial difficulties. The Federation said that Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group could not just hand back its licence, and was breaching a binding contract by walking away from the Jets. On 1 May, after face-to-face talks between Tinkler and FFA chairman Frank Lowy, it was announced that Tinkler would remain the owner of the club. At the end of the 2011–12 A-League season, Gary van Egmond started a clean-out by getting rid of the majority of Branko Čulina's squad. That including fan-favourites Jeremy Brockie, Tarek Elrich, Labinot Haliti and Nikolai Topor-Stanley. Van Egmond implemented his possession-based style by signing many young talents such as James Brown, Scott Neville and Craig Goodwin. The Jets went unbeaten throughout the entire 2012–13 pre-season, with wins over defending champions Brisbane Roar and rivals Central Coast Mariners. On 21 September 2012, the Jets