Taking a wrecking ball to the club! (Recent Media Reports)

[BlackWhiteGold]

What makes you think we will hear about WT board appointments this week?

No news, only that the recruitment process has been underway for long enough now & starting ‘25 with everything ticked off makes sense to the common man.

 

[hammertime]

That's nice.
Personally I post what I believe to be true.
I stopped worrying about impressing others a long time ago

Give it a rest man. Cochise is one of the most measured posters on here. You went from 0 to 100 on a comment from jrtiger who has been very clear in not wanting any factional side to return. As as cochise.

The quote was even proceeded by support for wests tigers.

That's what you're being called out on. Your reply is well over the top. I have not seen anyone on here call for the return of balmain or even insinuate it.

 

[Ron Brodrick's Spirit]

Give it a rest man. Cochise is one of the most measured posters on here. You went from 0 to 100 on a comment from jrtiger who has been very clear in not wanting any factional side to return. As as cochise.

The quote was even proceeded by support for wests tigers.

That's what you're being called out on. Your reply is well over the top. I have not seen anyone on here call for the return of balmain or even insinuate it.

Good on you for White Knighting champ.
It's not like two adults can conduct their own conversation without your help.
Congrats.

 

[twentyforty]

My only real concern is if there is a way she could manipulate the hiring of the independant board members on to the wests tigers board as to align with her and her allies in the HBG boardrooms agendas. Then things at the Wests Tigers would never change.

I doubt the 2 independents will make much difference with 5 debenture carrying magpies having the numbers. But good questions for those 2 independents "did you live in the area all your life? have you ever held a WA debenture? etc. 🤣🤣

 

[hammertime]

Good on you for White Knighting champ.
It's not like two adults can conduct their own conversation without your help.
Congrats.

Wait. You're an adult?

 

[Ron Brodrick's Spirit]

Wait. You're an adult?

That's so funny.
Next.

 

[BZN]

I'd argue there's a lot to be drawn up to safeguard WT from HBG, which meant there would've been a lot to be nutted out in regards to the creation of the legal agreement.

the Burgess stuff is a concern, yes. but all I am saying is to wait until the independent recruitment process runs its course.

Can you expand on what you mean by "there's a lot to be drawn up to 'safeguard WT from HBG".

 

[tiger_one]

The savage PR from the media is relentless.
And why?
We are the only club seemingly happy to implode, or at least appear to do so, one headline after another.
Is there going to be another TV mini series?
Seriously, if only the powers-to-be had the guts/vision/loyalty of this forum .............

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Good on you for White Knighting champ.
It's not like two adults can conduct their own conversation without your help.
Congrats.

We all want the West Tigers to be a well-governed operation RBS. For this we want the review recommendations implemented in full & the board structured as per the recommendations. It seems you are trying to deflect the main issue here with passionate members of this forum like you are associated with the HBG cabal or something. Simple question, are you for the recommendations & WT board structure as per the review or against?

 

[cochise]

Can you expand on what you mean by "there's a lot to be drawn up to 'safeguard WT from HBG".

Because the current situation shows the HBG to be a dysfunctional rabble, note Balmain and the Magpies boards aren't any better.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

The saddest thing is - these 3 or 4 souls with ulterior motives represent the club. A divorce from the reality from the thousands and thousands of others like us. This is not about Wests Tigers or football - this is a power play admist the EGO of the few who wield the sword of Dysfunction. A Napoleonic caste system that will implode upon itself. As it always has. This is not about you or me. When was the last time in history where the peasants ruled over the kingdom.

 

[Needaname]

Who cares about Balmain … honestly ? It should be wests tigers and that alone .
The argument isn’t with wests or Balmain , or whoever . It’s with anyone stuck in 1999.
I want my kids to sit down and be able to support a club that they can be proud of . And they want to ! They’re just too embarrassed to go to school and tell thier mates who they support. That should not be a thing ! But it is !

My point was if ownership was a 50/50 split no one side would have the power.
My real thoughts is both Balmain and HBG / Magpies should sell the entire club and license; though after 3 wooden spoons I’d say they’ll prefer to hold until improvement raises the clubs value.

 

[Ron Brodrick's Spirit]

We all want the West Tigers to be a well-governed operation RBS. For this we want the review recommendations implemented in full & the board structured as per the recommendations. It seems you are trying to deflect the main issue here with passionate members of this forum like you are associated with the HBG cabal or something. Simple question, are you for the recommendations & WT board structure as per the review or against?

Of course I'm for them.
Simply because I'm not willing to join in 10 pages of hand wringing over a staged crisis with absolutely no evidence of being anything other than that doesn't make me a member of a "cabal" for goodness' sake.

 

[twentyforty]

There is a lot of misinformation and confusion on this site about what is going on here. The facts are pretty straightforward. The HBG under the Chairmanship of Andreacchio and with the support of Gilbert and Wayde initiated the review which resulted in the dissolution of the former WT Board and the removal of Hagipantelis as Chair and Pascoe as CEO. Note that this cost these 3 directors their own positions at Wests Tigers but they were happy to support this for the good of the Club). The new CEO, Shane Richardson was appointed and O'Farrell was appointed as Chair. The Review also required the rapid appointment of a high quality Board of independent directors. Then fairly soon after this there I believe that there was a coup at the HBG Board and Romero was appointed Chair and Burgess Deputy. While Romero made statements that she supported implementation of the Review's recommendations, the fact that it has taken all year to appoint the 'high quality independent directors' and it still hasnt happened, does not give you much confidence that she and Burgess are supportive of such quality independent Board appointments. (In fact, I understand that the previous executive search firm put forward several high quality names many months ago, but the process was constantly delayed and deferred. And just recently they started again from scratch on a search process). Andreacchio's comments about 'people who are upset about losing their blazers' is a clear reference to other board members. There have also been some suggestions that Chairman Fedora may somehow be involved in this whole situation behind the scenes in order to get revenge and that Romero and Burgess may be beholden to him - however so far there is no evidence to support this. The whole 'investigation' into misbehaviour by Andreachhio, Wayde and Gilbert appears to clearly be a sham designed to have them removed from the HBG Board, so that the HBG Board can introduce other people who align with certain directors' interests - and that would almost certainly be highly detrimental to the Club's future. The structure of the ownership of the Club is broken - the whole debenture situation is ridiculous, archaic and actually from a legal standpoint highly questionable. The Constitution obviously needs to be rewritten to bring it, and the ownership structure of the Club, into line with 21st century business practices and proper governance.

The losers are the members and fans. We finally have a CEO who is highly professional, works incredibly hard, is highly respected in the NRL community and has achieved more in less than 12 months than previous administrators achieved in 12 years. We have the highest quality Chairman in the NRL. We need to appoint genuinely high quality independent directors with business acumen and intelligence. We are finally getting the recruitment right in terms of talent, structure and terms of the contracts. We are finally attracting very high quality sponsors and treating them with respect. We are finally doing something about capturing our vast junior areas and developing them. And we are finally engaging professionally with the south-west Sydney corridor. All in 12 months!! These are remarkable achievements. In summary, we are no longer a 'basket case' (which is how many very senior NRL officials referred to the club under previous administrations). We are finally earning respect. We finally have an administration and Club set-up that quality players wish to join. We finally have something to look forward to. We finally have hope!

And yet the clear suggestion is that some directors appear to want to tear it all down simply because their egos are bruised. Seriously?!! If these people care about this Club, as they claim to do, they themselves would step aside, let Barry O'Farrell and a professional executive search firm finalise the appointments of high quality genuinely independent directors and let the Club finally move forward.

For the sake of the long-suffering members, the fans, the players and the Club.

Enjoyed reading your post.
You had me agreeing wholeheartedly with your views until I got to the point of us not being a basket case. IMO, our progress is inextricably linked to a strong functioning independent WT board.
Has Barry O’Farrell been appointed, and if he hasn’t does he have the authority to appoint other board members?
It seems clear Romero and her buddies aren’t ready for the pursuit of excellence.
I wish I had your optimism on this matter.

 

[weststigers]

Thank you for this post.
It exposes the true agenda of most of the posters who've been crying for pages about absolutely nothing but a fantasy piece by a journo.
We are the Wests Tigers, not the Balmain Tigers that you, Cochise and others crave.
As an actual Wests Tigers supporter I couldn't be more disgusted by people like yourself who can't accept that times have changed.
I guess Balmain boys really do cry......and cry......and cry.
Hopefully Wests Tigers supporters are made of sterner stuff

What on earth are you talking about?

Both Wests and Balmain fans had their hearts ripped out once before and 90% plus don't want that disaster to happen again.

The fans that refused to support the merger have already left. The others accepted it. In fact, I'd say most Balmain fans were pretty happy about being able to hold onto the Tigers name. It's the Magpies that were shafted in that regard.

Most realise there is an entire generation of Wests Tigers supporters that don't know anything about the foundation clubs.

There is no agenda by any fan to see a return to either club. I would say the biggest argument here is whether the home ground should be at Leichhardt or Campbelltown. There's a bit of nostalgia in that discussion, but the current crop of fans have their opinions on this too.

Most of us crave an organisation free from the old agendas so we can move on and move forward.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

RBS -
Staged crisis? Like in exploitation? Of who? Could you please elaborate on that. Are you saying that this is not real? Then what is its purpose. Dont rush to answer. Just would appreciate your expansion. I never thought of it this way. Like it is staged. But it would make total sense. And non sense. Are the Wests Tigers powerbrokers stoking public fear to keep us fans separated in the background and divided in order to justify their private infighting? Like they are saying - look im right- just go to the forum - look at em all - fighting amongst one another- Balmain and Wests!!!! As a board member its all about the fans. The powerbrokers said. John Howard Syndrome? Again. The fans took the bait. What folly we are. No wonder we have no say. It seems we are no better than them.


In 2001 during the infamous “Children Overboard” affair, Australian Prime Minister John Howard alleged that asylum seekers were throwing their children into the sea in order to be rescued by Australian authorities. A subsequent Senate inquiry found that no children were put at risk in this way. Nevertheless, the actions of Howard have gone down in Australian history and attracted significant criticism as being a manufactured, preelection immigration crisis, stoking public fears about the character of those who sought asylum in Australia (Marr & Wilkinson, 2004). In essence, the argument is that political party interest and electoral calculation was put before principles of civility, fairness, and responsibility. ( Remind you of anyone?)

 

[innsaneink]

There is a lot of misinformation and confusion on this site about what is going on here. The facts are pretty straightforward. The HBG under the Chairmanship of Andreacchio and with the support of Gilbert and Wayde initiated the review which resulted in the dissolution of the former WT Board and the removal of Hagipantelis as Chair and Pascoe as CEO. Note that this cost these 3 directors their own positions at Wests Tigers but they were happy to support this for the good of the Club). The new CEO, Shane Richardson was appointed and O'Farrell was appointed as Chair. The Review also required the rapid appointment of a high quality Board of independent directors. Then fairly soon after this there I believe that there was a coup at the HBG Board and Romero was appointed Chair and Burgess Deputy. While Romero made statements that she supported implementation of the Review's recommendations, the fact that it has taken all year to appoint the 'high quality independent directors' and it still hasnt happened, does not give you much confidence that she and Burgess are supportive of such quality independent Board appointments. (In fact, I understand that the previous executive search firm put forward several high quality names many months ago, but the process was constantly delayed and deferred. And just recently they started again from scratch on a search process). Andreacchio's comments about 'people who are upset about losing their blazers' is a clear reference to other board members. There have also been some suggestions that Chairman Fedora may somehow be involved in this whole situation behind the scenes in order to get revenge and that Romero and Burgess may be beholden to him - however so far there is no evidence to support this. The whole 'investigation' into misbehaviour by Andreachhio, Wayde and Gilbert appears to clearly be a sham designed to have them removed from the HBG Board, so that the HBG Board can introduce other people who align with certain directors' interests - and that would almost certainly be highly detrimental to the Club's future. The structure of the ownership of the Club is broken - the whole debenture situation is ridiculous, archaic and actually from a legal standpoint highly questionable. The Constitution obviously needs to be rewritten to bring it, and the ownership structure of the Club, into line with 21st century business practices and proper governance.

The losers are the members and fans. We finally have a CEO who is highly professional, works incredibly hard, is highly respected in the NRL community and has achieved more in less than 12 months than previous administrators achieved in 12 years. We have the highest quality Chairman in the NRL. We need to appoint genuinely high quality independent directors with business acumen and intelligence. We are finally getting the recruitment right in terms of talent, structure and terms of the contracts. We are finally attracting very high quality sponsors and treating them with respect. We are finally doing something about capturing our vast junior areas and developing them. And we are finally engaging professionally with the south-west Sydney corridor. All in 12 months!! These are remarkable achievements. In summary, we are no longer a 'basket case' (which is how many very senior NRL officials referred to the club under previous administrations). We are finally earning respect. We finally have an administration and Club set-up that quality players wish to join. We finally have something to look forward to. We finally have hope!

And yet the clear suggestion is that some directors appear to want to tear it all down simply because their egos are bruised. Seriously?!! If these people care about this Club, as they claim to do, they themselves would step aside, let Barry O'Farrell and a professional executive search firm finalise the appointments of high quality genuinely independent directors and let the Club finally move forward.

For the sake of the long-suffering members, the fans, the players and the Club.

Excellent write up mate.
Im not sure if it's entirely accurate, I'm not doubting you more me I dunno the whole ins and outs of our boards set up and what's gone down previously... Really only here for the 80 minutes each week in winter... But it's good to read it spelt out in layman's terms. 👍

 

[hammertime]

Because the current situation shows the HBG to be a dysfunctional rabble, note Balmain and the Magpies boards aren't any better.

To add, the only person with fantastic experience, David Gilbert, is one that they are trying to kick out.

Overall we need people who can add more value (experience or industry contacts wise) to Wests Tigers.

 

[Tigerwould]

Oh I know a thing or two about knobs.

I’m a knob

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

To add, the only person with fantastic experience, David Gilbert, is one that they are trying to kick out.

Overall we need people who can add more value (experience or industry contacts wise) to Wests Tigers.

Is this fact? What is your source? David Gilbert. Please elaborate. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could question the media with such spontaneity. Cochise?