Senior Management and The Board - MEGA Thread

[twentyforty]

Big difference in modest financial and personal rewards, to organisational profitability on the back of successful management.

 

[Needaname]

Yes we need structural reform, but the bare minimum is to remove the current board, they have proven they can't make good decisions, can't plan strategically, can't suck to a plan for more then 2 years, can't stop leaking information to the press etc. Someone new appointed from HBG may just possess the skills and experience required, they may not, but any change brings about the possibility of positive growth that we currently don't have

I get what Hammertime is suggesting though.
And yes I understand it is a business but to what benefit does the Wests Tigers club have from 3 Wests Ashfield board members being a large share of the board?
Wouldn’t it be beneficial for all if we had 1 representatives from each of our owners make up part of the board.
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Holman Barnes rep on a six way board with 3 independents.

 

[cochise]

I get what Hammertime is suggesting though.
And yes I understand it is a business but to what benefit does the Wests Tigers club have from 3 Wests Ashfield board members being a large share of the board?
Wouldn’t it be beneficial for all if we had 1 representatives from each of our owners make up part of the board.
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Holman Barnes rep on a six way board with 3 independents.

I wouldn't mind a structure like that, Balmain Leagues doesn't exist as a separate entity anymore so would have to be a Balmain football club rep.

Looking forward to the recommendations of the review.

 

[crazycat]

I get what Hammertime is suggesting though.
And yes I understand it is a business but to what benefit does the Wests Tigers club have from 3 Wests Ashfield board members being a large share of the board?
Wouldn’t it be beneficial for all if we had 1 representatives from each of our owners make up part of the board.
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Holman Barnes rep on a six way board with 3 independents.

No

What you have missed is you get a 3-3 split. You don't want a 3-3 split on a board.
You want a 7 member board that forces a majority decision. Although you may not have included Lee H in the numbering above.

Tweeking the numbers above:
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Wests Ashfield Rep - to represent the club.
1 Holman Barnes rep on a 7 way board with 3 independents.

 

[cochise]

No

What you have missed is you get a 3-3 split. You don't want a 3-3 split on a board.
You want a 7 member board that forces a majority decision. Although you may not have included Lee H in the numbering above.

Tweeking the numbers above:
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Wests Ashfield Rep - to represent the club.
1 Holman Barnes rep on a 7 way board with 3 independents.

The Holman Barnes Group and Wests Ashfield are the same thing essentially.

 

[Tucker]

No

What you have missed is you get a 3-3 split. You don't want a 3-3 split on a board.
You want a 7 member board that forces a majority decision. Although you may not have included Lee H in the numbering above.

Tweeking the numbers above:
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Wests Ashfield Rep - to represent the club.
1 Holman Barnes rep on a 7 way board with 3 independents.

That board you have described is heavily slanted.

 

[Vicious]

I wouldn't mind a structure like that, Balmain Leagues doesn't exist as a separate entity anymore so would have to be a Balmain football club rep.

Looking forward to the recommendations of the review.

If they have any common sense, part of the review outcome recommendations would be for the vast majority of fans to mind their own business and stop assuming they know all about the decisions and happenings at board level and that’s regardless of whether or not there are changes to the current board,

 

[cochise]

If they have any common sense, part of the review outcome recommendations would be for the vast majority of fans to mind their own business and stop assuming they know all about the decisions and happenings at board level and that’s regardless of whether or not there are changes to the current board,

That is why the review was important, there is obviously something very wrong at the club. We all have our opinions on what that may be, but it is important to know what is wrong.

 

[Needaname]

No

What you have missed is you get a 3-3 split. You don't want a 3-3 split on a board.
You want a 7 member board that forces a majority decision. Although you may not have included Lee H in the numbering above.

Tweeking the numbers above:
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Wests Ashfield Rep - to represent the club.
1 Holman Barnes rep on a 7 way board with 3 independents.

I understand where you are coming from.
But a 3-3 split is necessary in my opinion and especially on this board as we would need at least 1 board member from either Club rep or independents list to add their vote to make up a majority count.
This is my thinking to ensure unity where you have a board wanting to work together and not having any one party with more power or control then the other.
However this is WTs I guess so a 3-3 split board is likely to operate in the opposite fashion and nothing would get done without the other side agreeing to anything.

I thought Holman Barnes and Wests Ashfield are one and the same so no I wouldn’t give 2 seats to the same entity.

 

[Needaname]

If they have any common sense, part of the review outcome recommendations would be for the vast majority of fans to mind their own business and stop assuming they know all about the decisions and happenings at board level and that’s regardless of whether or not there are changes to the current board,

Part of the review findings SHOULD be for those decisions and happenings to be kept in house and not leaked in an effort to gain an advantage over one another!

 

[Roar_Power]

OPINION​

Wests Tigers financial shortfall covered for now … but that may not always be the case​

Roy Masters​

Sports Columnist
October 26, 2023 — 5.00am


It is almost impossible for an NRL club to go broke today, given the ARL Commission effectively pays the players’ salaries and provides $5 million to each club for administration expenses, but Wests Tigers have finished the 2023 season $1.4 million in debt.
It won’t push the wooden spooners into bankruptcy, especially not while they are backed by the rich Wests Ashfield licensed club, which can fund any deficit.

But if the ARLC was to suddenly reduce the annual grants to NRL clubs or the Wests Ashfield directors were to lose control of the board and the money dried up, the football club would retreat to where it was nearly 50 years ago.
Back then, when the Magpies played at Lidcombe Oval and club president Bill “The King” Carson was at war with the Wests Ashfield board, the annual grant from the licensed club would have funded the salary of just one top player.

The discord was such that when the Magpies secured a major sponsor from lawnmower company Victa in the late 1970s, the Wests Ashfield board cut the annual grant by the amount of the sponsorship.
The arguments over funding continued when Wests merged with Balmain to form Wests Tigers in 1999, with the two foundation clubs having equal numbers on the then 10-director board of the NRL’s new joint venture. Any call for cash to meet a shortfall required Balmain and Wests to contribute equally.

Wests Tigers’ payout to former coach Tim Sheens (right) was the biggest contributor tot eh club making a $1.4 million loss last season.

However, Balmain resisted this because they were broke. They were able to stall the inevitable because they dominated the Wests Tigers board via the representative of Wests League Club at Campbelltown, who traditionally voted with the Tigers.
So, Wests Tigers operated with fewer funds than other NRL clubs because Balmain couldn’t contribute.

The Tigers were coached by Tim Sheens from 2005-11 and though he may have worked for less back then, he received a reasonable payout when he left this year after a second stint as head coach.
His $1 million settlement is the major contributor to the Wests Tigers’ $1.4 million deficit, along with termination payments to his partner, who worked in administration, and the club’s former recruitment manager, Warren McDonnell.

Those payments are unusual and Wests Tigers, like all NRL clubs, are expected to post a surplus next season. That, however, assumes club grants remain the same and projects such as the Las Vegas extravaganza remain cost-revenue neutral.
This brings us to Tuesday night’s Wests Ashfield board meeting, which followed fan dissatisfaction that culminated in an online petition calling for an independent review of Wests Tigers.

The Wests Ashfield-commissioned report, prepared by former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford and businessman Gary Barnier, is near completion, with Crawford saying: “We took the board of Wests Ashfield through the process, explaining our thinking, and will then move to other key stakeholders, such as Balmain and Wests Magpies. The final report should be completed inside a month.”
It is likely the report will recommend the addition of independent directors to the present seven-person board, which Wests Ashfield currently dominates via an entity known as the Holman-Barnes
Group.

However, there will need to be safeguards to ensure Wests Ashfield doesn’t cede control and, therefore, refuse to fund future deficits in the event of the ARLC cutting back on grants.
One director, speaking anonymously because discussions had been confidential, said Wests Ashfield would never “sell off the farm” but could choose to carve out essential reserve powers, take a back seat and allow directors with specialist skills to make football decisions.

To be fair, Wests Tigers would have broken even this year if they reduced their ramped-up spending in the south-west of Sydney, but this region is their long-term source of players and fans. It is, therefore, their future, especially if the mega-rich Wests club at Campbelltown rejoins the Wests Tigers board.

 

[watersider]

Well, there goes the only thing anyone uses to defend Pascoe: financial stability.

Goodbye Pascoe and Lee!!

 

[Halbrowne61]

No

What you have missed is you get a 3-3 split. You don't want a 3-3 split on a board.
You want a 7 member board that forces a majority decision. Although you may not have included Lee H in the numbering above.

Tweeking the numbers above:
That is 1 Balmain Leagues / football club rep.
1 Wests Magpies rep
1 Wests Ashfield Rep - to represent the club.
1 Holman Barnes rep on a 7 way board with 3 independents.

In most organisations the Chairnan has the casting vote, if necessary.
Or are we frightened of putting that responsibility into the Chairman’s hands.
Notice I haven’t specifically said Lee in case he is moved on soon.

 

[matchball]

Those expensive luncheons Lee throws id like to see that expenditure breakdown on where those bucks have been wasted.

 

[Halbrowne61]

Those expensive luncheons Lee throws id like to see that expenditure breakdown on where those bucks have been wasted.

Lee would probably argue they were “investments” not expenditure !

 

[innsaneink]

We're in deeper shit than we thought

And we thought things couldn't get worse

 

[gallagher]

I've been saying it for a while now, West's Ashfield have lost interest in the football club before and coud do it again. But was blindly told that we are one of the few cubs that's are self sustainable .

Getting Wests Campbelltown back on board will be a big bonus if they can do that. How that area has no board representation is mind boggling.

 

[The Fresh Oil]

You blokes do realise that all the furniture, computers etc. for the new building isn't free right?
- Nor is it included in the construction costs...
We're also on the back of paying out 2 under-performing coaches, So money might be tight for a bit.

It must have been budgeted for, Otherwise we wouldn't be knocking back big money from ANZ / Commbank.

lol.

You were wrong @watersider.

Not only do they still defend but they say the reason for the bad finances is cause of paying out sacked coaches 🤣

Mental gymnastics on a new level.

 

[tiger_one]

OPINION​

Wests Tigers financial shortfall covered for now … but that may not always be the case​

Roy Masters​

Sports Columnist
October 26, 2023 — 5.00am

Roy Masters has always been a great rugby league writer.
The thing is - he always has a purpose in each article.
We have a review underway that the the Holman-Barnes Group commissioned.
Ramifications still uncertain.
Or are they?
Looks maybe like change to board structure to come, and (WOW!) the best thing - if it happens - the Wests club at Campbelltown to rejoin the Wests Tigers board (sort of ties in with the club's refocus in the south west).
Such positives are real changes in the long term.
I am looking forward to what comes.

 

[gallagher]

Roy Masters has always been a great rugby league writer.
The thing is - he always has a purpose in each article.
We have a review underway that the the Holman-Barnes Group commissioned.
Ramifications still uncertain.
Or are they?
Looks maybe like change to board structure to come, and (WOW!) the best thing - if it happens - the Wests club at Campbelltown to rejoin the Wests Tigers board (sort of ties in with the club's ref0cus in the south west.
Such positives are real changes in the long term.
I am looking forward to what comes.

We need a few faces from the south West on the board or in management. There's a glimmer of hope here.