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

[hammertime]

I doubt Darcy comes out like that without thinking there really is something there to be concerned about.

Labor is in power in NSW. Hopefully Darcy can lean on a few of his colleagues.

 

[coivtny]

From Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne f/b page 38 mins ago)


Sorry to be political on New Year's but there's been an extraordinary and concerning development at Wests Tigers today that I want to update you about.
There's 7 members of Wests Ashfield (Holman Barnes Group) Board. They are the majority shareholder of Wests Tigers.

I've just discovered that last night, on New Year's Eve, 4 of the 7 board members issued directions to suspended the other 3 directors from the club from their roles, for periods of up to 8 years.

This is bizarre and out of keeping with basic corporate governance standards.

Loyal and long suffering Wests Tigers fans deserve better than this.

Our team is competing in the most professional rugby league competition on earth.
But our head office continually operates like a volunteer committee for a park footy team.

Petty and short sighted governance of Wests Tigers has been holding our Club back for far too long.
I'm calling for the NSW Government to intervene to fix the undemocratic and seemingly improper governance of the Holman Barnes Group.

That's what the fans want, and that is what's needed for Wests Tigers to survive and thrive.

The current system, in which tens of thousands of members of Wests Ashfield have no real democratic say at all, is improper and unjustifiableh.

We've finally got things moving in the right direction on the football field.
Tigers fans can't afford for backroom brawling to undermine our football team's long-awaited recovery in 2025.

Not a fan of Byrne but this is the kind of support we need from those in the community who have a voice.

 

[jadtiger]

From Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne f/b page 38 mins ago)


Sorry to be political on New Year's but there's been an extraordinary and concerning development at Wests Tigers today that I want to update you about.
There's 7 members of Wests Ashfield (Holman Barnes Group) Board. They are the majority shareholder of Wests Tigers.

I've just discovered that last night, on New Year's Eve, 4 of the 7 board members issued directions to suspended the other 3 directors from the club from their roles, for periods of up to 8 years.

This is bizarre and out of keeping with basic corporate governance standards.

Loyal and long suffering Wests Tigers fans deserve better than this.

Our team is competing in the most professional rugby league competition on earth.
But our head office continually operates like a volunteer committee for a park footy team.

Petty and short sighted governance of Wests Tigers has been holding our Club back for far too long.
I'm calling for the NSW Government to intervene to fix the undemocratic and seemingly improper governance of the Holman Barnes Group.

That's what the fans want, and that is what's needed for Wests Tigers to survive and thrive.

The current system, in which tens of thousands of members of Wests Ashfield have no real democratic say at all, is improper and unjustifiableh.

We've finally got things moving in the right direction on the football field.
Tigers fans can't afford for backroom brawling to undermine our football team's long-awaited recovery in 2025.

Darcy is grandstanding to the extreme here BUT he is correct it is true kangaroo court justice and is something that could easily pass for justice from the 15th century.

 

[Tom Shines]

So … Barry O,Farrell is “on the verge “ of being reappointed as Chairman …this is good news right?

 

[BZN]

There you go with the name again, so what if some miss the "s" occasionally, it may be incorrect but really it's not a major concern to most.

You also have a go at people using the term "Tigers" without the "Wests", so I will ask you this how do you refer to the Melbourne Storm, solely as Melbourne Storm or do you use the reference of Melbourne or simply the Storm occasionally, how about Penrith, are they just Penrith, the Panthers or the Penrith Panthers, how about the Eels and the other 13 clubs, how do you refer to them?


BTW if you didn't waste time with some of the long winded drivel posts like today's "good morning" post as an example and just answered some of the questions you are asked more directly you might catch up a bit faster.

My apologies for being s o s l o w in catching up, but I was never any good at playing catchings or chasings when I was a kid.

I guess I must have got out of bed on the good side to do the "good morning" post and that makes yuh feel good doesn't it, but I am not going to explain what I mean by the good side, even at my age 😁.
I simply transferred my elevated mood to the Forum while hoping it may brighten someone else's morning mood.
Isn't it good to at least 'try' to make another person's life that little bit better?

Melbourne Storm = Storm
Penrith = Pamferrs
Parra = Parra

All I am trying to do is remind posters that WESTS are part of our JV.

Finally, re. the long-winded drivel.
I invite you to hit the drivel button which is spelt... ignore, as no one is required to read drivel for 💯days before you progress to where the deep and meaningful big boys write.

 

[hammertime]

So … Barry O,Farrell is “on the verge “ of being reappointed as Chairman …this is good news right?

Can never tell with this lot. Will flip flop. Having Dennis and julie interview a former premier is just embarrassing.

 

[BZN]

It seems the media got their wish. They love it when we squabble. Their fluff worked. Without us fighting amongst ourselves they have no chance.

💯 correct AHX?

 

[BZN]

Well, you’d be wrong.

Thank you for your very excellent and detailed reply 👍 🙂.

 

[BZN]

Balmain don't own shit, they don't even run the juniors,
It's controlled by the Magpies, they need to get it
together for the sake of WT — but you & MM are either
2 preciously stuck in your ways or deluded 2 see it.

I can't speak for @Magpie_Magic as I don't know him personally, but I am certain he is not deluded.
Now me on the other hand, you'll have to decide that.

 

[BZN]

No have definitely made the jump to fully immerse in wests tigers
Balmain is merely good memories from years gone by

And I am pleased that you do have hopefully, many good memories 👍and you keep those memories for a long time.

 

[vlad]

From Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne f/b page 38 mins ago)


Sorry to be political on New Year's but there's been an extraordinary and concerning development at Wests Tigers today that I want to update you about.
There's 7 members of Wests Ashfield (Holman Barnes Group) Board. They are the majority shareholder of Wests Tigers.

I've just discovered that last night, on New Year's Eve, 4 of the 7 board members issued directions to suspended the other 3 directors from the club from their roles, for periods of up to 8 years.

This is bizarre and out of keeping with basic corporate governance standards.

Loyal and long suffering Wests Tigers fans deserve better than this.

Our team is competing in the most professional rugby league competition on earth.
But our head office continually operates like a volunteer committee for a park footy team.

Petty and short sighted governance of Wests Tigers has been holding our Club back for far too long.
I'm calling for the NSW Government to intervene to fix the undemocratic and seemingly improper governance of the Holman Barnes Group.

That's what the fans want, and that is what's needed for Wests Tigers to survive and thrive.

The current system, in which tens of thousands of members of Wests Ashfield have no real democratic say at all, is improper and unjustifiableh.

We've finally got things moving in the right direction on the football field.
Tigers fans can't afford for backroom brawling to undermine our football team's long-awaited recovery in 2025.

Further to what Darcy has said about undemocratic governance…

This is in Julie Romero’s profile at HBG …

—

Julie became a Debenture Holder in January 2009 and held the role of Secretary from February 2010 to December 2012. In February 2014, Julie was elected Debenture Holder Chairperson and held that role until February 2020, when she was nominated for election to the Board of Directors. Being a Director of Wests Ashfield Leagues has been an ambition of Julie’s and the driving force behind her application for a Debenture.

—-

So that buying of a debenture in 2009 gives her sway over 10s of thousands of members .

Julie might be a lovely person but that kind of undemocratic system leaves itself open to potential disaster if people with ulterior motives bought debentures & control of a club .

Rightly or wrongly I’m actually a life member of parra leagues . I go for a cheap meal occasionally . But I get to vote on all their elections , except my vote counts exactly the same as everyone else who votes . You know , like an actual democracy.

 

[BZN]

Mate in a short reply what do you want for the future of Wests Tigers no smoke and mirrors just a straight answer.

Mate I appreciate your straight to the point style of posting.

I want WTs to be rite on the edge of the 8 this year and into the final 4 next year.
And I want Jerome Luai to be our highest ever try and point scorer before the end of the 20's.

Don't forget to wear a good lifejacket though when you are rock hopping if you want to see Luai turn on the entertainment and reach the pot of gold at the end of the 2029 season.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

The architects of the Wests Tigers review banned for a combined 15 years​

By Michael Chammas​

January 1, 2025 — 6.24pm

​

The three Holman Barnes Group directors who were the driving force behind the independent review that forced significant change at the Wests Tigers have been banned by the club’s majority owner for almost 15 years combined.

Tony Andreacchio, Rick Wayde and David Gilbert were all hit with significant bans on New Year’s Eve for a range of alleged misdemeanours dating back several years.

Board members at the HBG – which runs the rich and powerful Wests Ashfield club and is also the majority owner of the Wests Tigers– have been at loggerheads since an external review of Wests Tigers operations was conducted last year after the side’s second successive last-placed finish.



Andreacchio, Wayde and Gilbert were the chief instigators of the review, which was conducted by businessman Gary Barnier and former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford.



Their banishment throws into doubt whether the recommendations of the Barnier-Crawford report will now be implemented in their entirety.



On Wednesday, Wayde and Andreacchio both expressed dismay at their predicament.

“The tragedy is the club is in great shape through the work of the CEO and the executive team. The remaining directors are only worried about self-interest and winding back the review which is a problem for the Wests Tigers,” Wayde said.

“In the short-term, Shane Richardson and Barry O’Farrell are doing remarkable despite the interruptions. If the Gang of Four get away with this movement, they’ll be intruding even more. That’s the major concern for the Tigers.



“I fear that already they will be interfering with the appointment of the independent directors.”

“This is clearly a star chamber decision,” Andreacchio said.

“How can 18 people in a 30,000 membership have this much power? Rick Wayde and I are the only two elected by the membership and we’ve been discarded by the star chamber.”

Some of the recommendations of the review have already been adopted, including that Shane Richardson should replace Justin Pascoe as Wests Tigers CEO and Barry O’Farrell should replace Lee Hagipantelis as Wests Tigers chairman.

O’Farrell was subsequently asked by the HBG to reapply for his position although sources with knowledge of the situation talking on the condition of anonymity due to confidentiality said he was on the verge of being reappointed.

“We are launching this action because we do not have faith in the current governance of the majority shareholder of the Wests Tigers, the Holman Barnes Group (HBG),” the petition statement said.

“This action commenced after the HBG board continued to drag its feet over introducing and adopting the full recommendations from the 2023 external review into the governance of the Wests Tigers.”

The banning of Andreacchio, Wayde and Gilbert related to a range of alleged misdemeanours dating back several years, including “a number of whistle-blower disclosures and complaints”, according to the disciplinary committee findings obtained by this masthead.

He has also been asked to undertake an anger management course as a prerequisite for a potential return in eight years’ time.

Former HBG chairman Andreacchio, who also previously served on the Wests Tigers board, has been hit with a six-year ban. Gilbert has been issued a six-month ban.

While a number of allegations against Wayde were unsubstantiated, the disciplinary committee found that:

• He engaged in unreasonable conduct towards a fellow director at a board meeting, including personal attacks against the person resulting in requests by other attendees for him to “back off”;
• He engaged in intimidatory, threatening and/or otherwise unreasonable conduct towards other board members, both alone and acting in concert with Andreacchio and Gilbert, in an attempt to coerce the board members into supporting Andreacchio to continue as chair;
• He made comments to a fellow director to suggest he was personally responsible for Andreacchio’s defeat in the board election. Wayde is alleged to have said: “You’ve got to be joking. You don’t know how bad your name is at Wests Tigers” after learning of a fellow HBG director’s appointment onto the Wests Tigers board.

Allegations against Andreacchio, who has also been asked to undertake an anger management course, include:

• That he yelled at a fellow HBG director, calling him a “f---ing suck” approximately 10 times in front of other board members in an aggressive manner. Andreacchio repeated the comments later on despite being told words to the effect, “You can’t do this”, “Enough’s enough, we’re
  one team. Calm down”;
• That he allegedly became red in the face and made abusive comments to a fellow director in a threatening tone;
• That while waiting for a taxi after a function for the West Tigers launch of the 2024 NRL season he approached a fellow director and stood close to him and made a comment to the effect: “You f----- softie”;
• That at an HBG board meeting last September he engaged in aggressive behaviour towards a fellow director, calling him a “parrot” in a raised voice

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ex...gers-civil-war-laid-bare-20241223-p5l0eb.html

The allegation against Gilbert was in relation to comments and actions made to a fellow director concerning his allegiances on the board.

The banned trio fell out of favour after current HBG chair Julie Romero led a coup in March which overthrew Andreacchio at the helm of the HBG board. Documents recently obtained by this masthead show that Romero had previously expressed “grave concerns” about the review.
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The documents and emails also showed that Romero threatened legal action against Tigers chairman O’Farrell should he hold a Tigers board meeting without her blessing.

So if the 3 have been suspended for those indiscretions, Romero, Burgess & co must be absolute cleanskins.

Me thinks all of them would have engaged in some sort of contrary conduct over the years. It just requires multiple complaints to be made.

Hmmmmm they have created their bed, I wouldn’t be surprised if many, many complaints are made about their behaviour since being directors. It happens in politics & this has now become political.

Absolute amateurs this cabal, they will be hammered from all directions.

 

[coivtny]

So … Barry O,Farrell is “on the verge “ of being reappointed as Chairman …this is good news right?

Really, I have no clue. I am not a fan of BO'F at all from his days as Premier. He was not an effective leader in my experience but I'd bet my last dollar he is definitely not in the Romero / Burgess camp.

 

[Pascoes_barber]

Gee whizickers GBarnier you must be a looooooong time lurker on here.
To have noticed my post and acted upon it by becoming an obviously VIP member of the BTF then replying sooooooo quickly, I am rooly flattered to say the least.

But I gotta tell Yuh GBarnier I really appreciate the fact that what I said was only "malicious and subject to defecation proceedings" as most people on here often tell me I'm a dh or a fw or an ah, don't know what I'm talkin about, hate Balmain Tigers 🐯, hate WESTS Tigers 🐯 and only have a great LOVE 😍🥰😘🤪🥰 for WESTS MAGPIES... and myself 🙃🙃. As you can clearly see I am head over heels in Love....with myself.

And talkin about Lurv, do you remember that 1st night we laid eyes on each other, I DO, you were falling over and your head smacked into mine and we were face to face for a very tender moment, yes tender, because we both ended up with black eyes 😵‍💫 as that part of the face is very tender. But you came off worse than I did because one of your very attractive hazel coloured eyes was now so swollen you couldn't see out of it and really the other eye wasn't much better. And the best part of that was you became known a one-eyed WESTS MAGPIES fan and bloody good on yuh dude.

So, to cut a long and without doubt to most a very 🥱😴 story, short, I very caringly drove you home to your mansion in the heart of Lidcombe, quite close to the Railway Hotel where all our Mighty Magpies used to celebrate like wild MAGPIES do, after each and every loss, they 💩 on everything including in one of the Manly players shoes 😱😁😂 and Tommy was so happy that J.D. did that as the Silver Spoon mob thrashed us, but in the end the Mighty Magpies 💩 on them just to show em who the... real... tough guys are.
Oh, I forgot...J.D. Big B.G, and L.B. let down all the tyres on B.F's car 😁😁. So I guess if you are stupid enough to park your car at the front door of the Railway Hotel thinking it's gonna be safe, think again fellas, this is Lidcombe and this is how we do it here, not that 'oh hello and how are you, let's go and have a latte and a nice little yummy polly waffle or 2' place called Leichhardt or even Balmain.

Oh gee GBarnier, you do remember those rooly beaut days don't yuh, or did that smack on the head all those years ago cause you to lose all memory and become overwhelmingly and utterly confused about what constitutes malicious defecation. So, if you have any thought about taking me to court, dont. I'm warning Yuh, dont. Cause if Yuh do I'm gonna tell what happened after we opened your front door.

One last thing, I'm gonna complain very strongly about the fact there is no MAGPIE emoji on the emoji thing. There's a TIGER, but NO MAGPIE, bloody discrimination of the highest order and it just aint fare.

Amazing post 👏🏿

A true roller coaster of emotions, an intriguing tale of a now defunct football club, male bonding, defecation and perhaps even…a burgeoning romance(?)

5/7, would read again.

🐅💪

 

[Tom Shines]

Really, I have no clue. I am not a fan of BO'F at all from his days as Premier. He was not an effective leader in my experience but I'd bet my last dollar he is definitely not in the Romero / Burgess camp.

I don’t think they will be controlling him ,,,

 

[BZN]

I know we disagree on a lot of things , but this I’m 💯 in agreement . It’s very simple . But the reason it hasn’t is the reason the petition exists . Because like @BZN I genuinely think these people actually are delusional enough to think people give a shit about Balmain or the magpies that 1 or either would thrive without each other . Nope that ship has definitely sailed and the only thing left is Wests Tigers . The only reason potentially a Kea Tigers might work is the NZ portion . Not the Balmain side . The LO stuff would tokenism at best . Just a way to cash in on an established brand that has minimal fans but is recognisable .
Wests Tigers is the only way forward . And anyone advocating for either to return is a dinosaur stuck in 1999 . They’re on the wrong side morally and ethically .

G'day Lestronge...while working feverishly all day to get thru my mountains of fan mail, I have obviously missed what could be a very interesting and growing story, as your mention of Kea Tigers in N.Z. is the 2nd post I have replied to in the last couple of hours that has mentioned it.

If there is a story on here about it, can you please direct me to a page or a post.
The fact you have said Wests Tigers is the only way forward, if there is a story behind this it seems to be a pretty weak one.

If I make you feel I lack morality and/or ethics in my dinosaur years, I apologise.

 

[Iron Fist]

Further to what Darcy has said about undemocratic governance…

This is in Julie Romero’s profile at HBG …

—

Julie became a Debenture Holder in January 2009 and held the role of Secretary from February 2010 to December 2012. In February 2014, Julie was elected Debenture Holder Chairperson and held that role until February 2020, when she was nominated for election to the Board of Directors. Being a Director of Wests Ashfield Leagues has been an ambition of Julie’s and the driving force behind her application for a Debenture.

—-

So that buying of a debenture in 2009 gives her sway over 10s of thousands of members .

Julie might be a lovely person but that kind of undemocratic system leaves itself open to potential disaster if people with ulterior motives bought debentures & control of a club .

Rightly or wrongly I’m actually a life member of parra leagues . I go for a cheap meal occasionally . But I get to vote on all their elections , except my vote counts exactly the same as everyone else who votes . You know , like an actual democracy.

Wests Ashfield has been governed this way since inception. So no surprise the football club has been average and have been in a constant battle for survival throughout its history. Folks buy their way into a position of influence, as long as they have mates who’ve already bought their way in and have the same views.

 

[cochise]

G'day Lestronge...while working feverishly all day to get thru my mountains of fan mail, I have obviously missed what could be a very interesting and growing story, as your mention of Kea Tigers in N.Z. is the 2nd post I have replied to in the last couple of hours that has mentioned it.

If there is a story on here about it, can you please direct me to a page or a post.
The fact you have said Wests Tigers is the only way forward, if there is a story behind this it seems to be a pretty weak one.

If I make you feel I lack morality and/or ethics in my dinosaur years, I apologise.

The Kea bid from NZ reached out to the Balmain Tigers to garner interest in a joint bid, they apparently reached out to numerous other clubs as well.

 

[cochise]

Wests Ashfield has been governed this way since inception. So no surprise the football club has been average and have been in a constant battle for survival throughout its history. Folks buy their way into a position of influence, as long as they have mates who’ve already bought their way in and have the same views.

And yes, it’s wrong. Parra leagues exists primarily to fund Parramatta Rugby League. The whole reason I’m against Wests Tigers playing at WSS is because supporters will use Parra Leagues and assist the opposition.

Buy their way for $100