CEO - Shane Richardson

[Bigscreentv]

I seem to recall Richo acknowledging that WT never had any money in the bank, around the time he was doing some forensic accounting and found membership numbers were overstated. His strategy included having a $6m bank account to entice quality players. He would achieve this through cost cutting measures.
The old method of hand in cap for HBG to top up the shortfall never made anyone happy.

There comes a time in every teenagers life where they get sick of asking their parents for money to buy something. They go and get a job at Mcdonald's or equivalent so they can start to pay their own way. This is no different. Can't get what you want if someone else is always deciding.

 

[tig_prmz]

I seem to recall Richo acknowledging that WT never had any money in the bank, around the time he was doing some forensic accounting and found membership numbers were overstated. His strategy included having a $6m bank account to entice quality players. He would achieve this through cost cutting measures.
The old method of hand in cap for HBG to top up the shortfall never made anyone happy.

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

 

[TSP]

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

I think it’s a bit lower, $16m but it’s a fat wad anyway.

 

[weststigers]

It was merely an observation on his delivery....I found him a bit hard to follow, but thats fine as long as hes getting the job done he can speak in arabic

I dont know if its a learned tactic, or its just the way he is...hes very frenetic

Polarising perhaps. He seems to get that reputation. Being a CEO, you need to fight a lot of battles every day. I don't think people fully appreciate what the role entails. Being CEO of the Wests Tigers, you can multiply that by 10. I dunno...I guess his delivery is subjective as expected. I quite like listening to him.

 

[twentyforty]

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

Most players at most clubs get paid more than the cap don't they? Our players possibly fall short due to minimal corporate support.

 

[gallagher]

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

It covers the salary cap plus another $5mill or so. Every club should be making profits.

 

[WestsEffTheRest]

Do people not understanding that the club making a profit ties in to future success on the field? If the club is returning profits every year then there's room for the club to start hiring additional staff, additional resources to the team, additional programmes for pathways/juniors etc.

 

[twentyforty]

I'd love to know how much HBG puts into Wests Tigers compared to other clubs.

I remember there were talks on a cap about how much $$ is spent on support staff like coaching.

I think the last couple of annual reports indicate about $1m- $2m? Depending on how many personel get paid to join other clubs? Such as Bud, Souths paying $150k and were paying the balance of the $600k.

 

[twentyforty]

Do people not understanding that the club making a profit ties in to future success on the field? If the club is returning profits every year then there's room for the club to start hiring additional staff, additional resources to the team, additional programmes for pathways/juniors etc.

I think everyone understands that,

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

I think the last couple of annual reports indicate about $1m- $2m? Depending on how many personel get paid to join other clubs? Such as Bud, Souths paying $150k and were paying the balance of the $600k.

If I'm reading the latest annual report correctly, the latest grant from HBG for WT was $1.775M. See page 19.

https://holmanbarnesgroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Annual-Report-24_web.pdf

 

[Tom Shines]

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

It covers all the salary cap and about $3mil more … of course clubs still spend more on the football operations like coaching and pathways

 

[BAGNF05]

I might be completely wrong but I remember reading that NRL grants each club around $18-$20m a year. That mostly covers the salary cap anyway.

I think the general consensus is the best clubs financially have ways of using their wealth that sit outside the salary cap. e.g. the influence of the powerful Thoroughbreds group at the Broncos. It’s why the make up of the Board is important in a “who you know” world.

 

[cochise]

If I'm reading the latest annual report correctly, the latest grant from HBG for WT was $1.775M. See page 19.

https://holmanbarnesgroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Annual-Report-24_web.pdf

Yes and $1.5m in 2023.

 

[BAGNF05]

I'd love to know how much HBG puts into Wests Tigers compared to other clubs.

I remember there were talks on a cap about how much $$ is spent on support staff like coaching.

Interesting that the Roosters powerhouse leagues club don’t even contribute to Easts in recent years, further highlighting that strong clubs get their revenue from all over the place. Expecting HBG to dip into their pocket for everything is unrealistic.

 

[twentyforty]

I think it’s a bit lower, $16m but it’s a fat wad anyway.

Do the clubs also get another $6m to cover admin costs?

 

[Tom Shines]

Interesting that the Roosters powerhouse leagues club don’t even contribute to Easts in recent years, further highlighting that strong clubs get their revenue from all over the place. Expecting HBG to dip into their pocket for everything is unrealistic.

Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith put in more money than our owners … they can probably afford to … but that doesn’t help us compete against them

 

[BAGNF05]

It covers all the salary cap and about $3mil more … of course clubs still spend more on the football operations like coaching and pathways

The things you don’t see like cushy jobs or courses for the wife add up too. There’s a whole world outside the cap.

 

[BAGNF05]

Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith put in more money than our owners … they can probably afford to … but that doesn’t help us compete against them

Yeah but all those clubs would have a lot more lucrative sponsorship and third party arrangements too, that’s the part we’re behind in, in my opinion. e.g the Laundy money.

 

[Tom Shines]

The things you don’t see like cushy jobs or courses for the wife add up too. There’s a whole world outside the cap.

Maybe ,,
I’m talking specifically about what they put in for Pathways and coaches … we are at a considerable disadvantage

 

[Tom Shines]

Yeah but all those clubs would have a lot more lucrative sponsorship and third party arrangements too, that’s the part we’re behind in, in my opinion. e.g the Laundy money.

I’m referring to the Leagues club grants specifically