OFFICIAL Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp

ShaunMielekamp said:
That's essentially what we are building towards. in 2029 when the grounds are both completed their renovations the plan is for 7-8 games Campbelltown, 3-4 games Leichhardt and 1 major events match ie: Easter Monday.
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That is so good thankyou

I have believe this is so important to make the 8 home ground advantage is key

If it's 4 games at LO 7 at Cambo and one events game better

And if its only 4 at LO can it please be 3 afternoon games maybe 1 Saturday 3pm start 2 Sunday 4pm starts if all is going well for me next year I would like to take the grandkids


And one other idea with multicultural round it would be nice to have a fair on that day with street food block part of the street or use the oval and make it more then just a football match make it a family day


And a very very Big thank you for your reply I honestly don't know how long you will be on for it's a little crazy in here sometimes but it's banta and fun mostly
 
G’day Shaun.

Think you’re doing a pretty good job looking from afar.

Between Richo in Dec then Luai following closely after, it’s pretty tough being a Tigers fan, and hard not to feel like we can’t have nice things.

Don’t need a reply, but I’d sure love the club to prove us wrong.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Afternoon everyone, I wanted to start a thread to primarily show my personal support for the forum and the importance I see in this medium. This also can be a genuinely helpful way for the club to source feedback from time to time in an online space that will self-regulate and fuel healthy debate.

I tried to post a few days ago but appropriately the moderators ran their checks to confirm that yes this is actually me rather than someone pretending to be the CEO.
I have been actively reading the forum since I started at the club over 2 years ago and several times I was very close to jumping on and saying hi several times but decided to take the safer route.

I've seen many posts on here that wonder if the club does read the forum and it is worth knowing that some staff do at times jump on. I am a huge fan of online forums because I believe it is a key part of fan culture and debate, especially in a modern social media world where it is hard to see through the online trolls and the media agendas. At least here you know someone will call out BS and as long as people remain within the forum rules good debate and conversation can foster.

I am keen to hear from people on their views passions and opinions, but I do want to put in a disclaimer that I simply won't be able to reply to every question or comment on every topic. I'm sure you will all agree that I should be spending 99.99% of my time working as hard as I can as CEO and getting caught up too much on here with debate is not the best use of my time or head space.

Please know that I can't and won't be able to talk on a lot of topics - players and football in particular. I know you all would love me to give a blow-by-blow account of every team list, recruitment discussion, on field decisions, board discussions etc etc obviously that would not be professional and not in the best interest of the club. Plenty of things that happen at the club need to stay confidential at the club and I know that what is said on here simply won't stay on here.

I hope to jump on at random every few weeks or so but there will be times that I might not get on to reply for a few months - like I said I will need to make sure I prioritise 99.99% of my time on the day to day job and hopefully this is still and opportunity that is welcomed here on the forum.

I do have thick skin so I get that I will get some frank feedback at times, just please remember I am a human with a family.

So please know that I will read this thread, unlikely that i will be able to read all the other though. I'm still learning everyday about the very unique journey this club has been on and I can't rewrite or comment on decision made before my time. I do believe in the Wests Tigers and that includes everyone that cheers on our players and spend your hard earned money on supporting this club.

Thanks for being part of this forum and reading my long post, most of all thanks for being part of the Wests Tigers family.
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You must be sick in the head to willingly join this place. Banter aside, thanks for fronting up and putting yourself out there.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Afternoon everyone, I wanted to start a thread to primarily show my personal support for the forum and the importance I see in this medium. This also can be a genuinely helpful way for the club to source feedback from time to time in an online space that will self-regulate and fuel healthy debate.

I tried to post a few days ago but appropriately the moderators ran their checks to confirm that yes this is actually me rather than someone pretending to be the CEO.
I have been actively reading the forum since I started at the club over 2 years ago and several times I was very close to jumping on and saying hi several times but decided to take the safer route.

I've seen many posts on here that wonder if the club does read the forum and it is worth knowing that some staff do at times jump on. I am a huge fan of online forums because I believe it is a key part of fan culture and debate, especially in a modern social media world where it is hard to see through the online trolls and the media agendas. At least here you know someone will call out BS and as long as people remain within the forum rules good debate and conversation can foster.

I am keen to hear from people on their views passions and opinions, but I do want to put in a disclaimer that I simply won't be able to reply to every question or comment on every topic. I'm sure you will all agree that I should be spending 99.99% of my time working as hard as I can as CEO and getting caught up too much on here with debate is not the best use of my time or head space.

Please know that I can't and won't be able to talk on a lot of topics - players and football in particular. I know you all would love me to give a blow-by-blow account of every team list, recruitment discussion, on field decisions, board discussions etc etc obviously that would not be professional and not in the best interest of the club. Plenty of things that happen at the club need to stay confidential at the club and I know that what is said on here simply won't stay on here.

I hope to jump on at random every few weeks or so but there will be times that I might not get on to reply for a few months - like I said I will need to make sure I prioritise 99.99% of my time on the day to day job and hopefully this is still and opportunity that is welcomed here on the forum.

I do have thick skin so I get that I will get some frank feedback at times, just please remember I am a human with a family.

So please know that I will read this thread, unlikely that i will be able to read all the other though. I'm still learning everyday about the very unique journey this club has been on and I can't rewrite or comment on decision made before my time. I do believe in the Wests Tigers and that includes everyone that cheers on our players and spend your hard earned money on supporting this club.

Thanks for being part of this forum and reading my long post, most of all thanks for being part of the Wests Tigers family.
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One more question and I think I will be done let other people ask


Could you please explain the West Tigers structure

Like who's in charge ( you ) and what your role is and so on and so on

Like Benji's Job description


Pat Richards

Who looks after the cap

Who's main job for recruitment

Just a simple break down it would be interesting information
 
Hi Shaun,

I am an existing Wests Tigers member. I have allocated seating for the 3 x Leichardt Games and then get the choice of premium seating at another 2 x home games at Commbank or Campbelltown.

Will existing members like myself get first crack at seats in the newly renovated stand at Leichardt Oval?

My fear is that the club is going to push us flexi members into full season memberships - which I personally think isn't viable for everyone when all of our home grounds are so far apart. But I also believe that existing members like myself should be rewarded for our loyalty during the dark years.

Thank you in advance

P.S. do you have an email address I can contact you on? There is something I'd like to share/ask that isn't appropriate to do so on here .
 
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Shaun my question pertains to fanbase branding. I personally think we should refer to our fanbase as the Wests Tigers Faithful on account of needing to have near monk like faith the club will ever be successful and consider Tigers fans to be highly spiritually evolved by living out a spiritual torment fans of most other clubs could ever dream of.

Heart of the Jungle is also nice but i think WTF speaks to who we are more comprehensively.

The Ambush has runs on the board but I don't think it's an appropriate name for a club that routinely gets ambushed as seen when the last placed Dragons defeated us last week.

Can you put this debate to rest once and for all and issue a royal decree as to the identity of this fanbase.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
 
Shaun, as many have said, welcome. It is a pioneering move for you to get down and dirty on the forum. Kudos to you, this will hopefully place you high in the esteem of us forum guys.
Once you get through the flurry of initial questions, it should settle down and you can focus on topics rather than spread the bore of your shotgun to cover the endless first up questions.
Once again, well done on taking the initiative to do this. Look forward to reading your thoughts.
Oh, and I should warn you . . . . too many on here believe it's always HBG's fault !!! 🙄
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
I appreciate the feedback that you feel like I am a HBG yes man. I can't hide from the fact that HBG own the club and they made the decision to appoint me as CEO. Of course Richo is one of my mentors and taught me a lot - it's worth clarifying that he did resign and wasn't sacked. Richo has never been sacked in his life and I know that is something that he is proud of.

I can only let my actions over time answer the question if you feel like I am a HBG "yes man" - my goal is to run the club as best as I can with the resources I have and can generate.

As I said in my post player discussions such a Luai payment and contract negotiations aren't for me to discuss here on the forum.

Campbelltown is going to take a lot of work to turn the win ratio around. Interesting i was talking the Dolphins CEO yesterday and his take was that when you have a big home ground advantage at one venue it actually causes the problem at the other venue. He was referring to their poor record at Kayo stadium.

As a member I'm more than happy to arrange a catch up coffee or a phone call one day, if you would like.
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Thanks for your response. I am a neville no one. We have to improve Campbelltown next year or it will be another long year!

Good luck, we all want success.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
That's essentially what we are building towards. in 2029 when the grounds are both completed their renovations the plan is for 7-8 games Campbelltown, 3-4 games Leichhardt and 1 major events match ie: Easter Monday.
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Is the long term plan to phase out leichardt oval and have one home ground in campbelltown?

If the Wests Tigers get home semi finals sometime during the next 15 years, which ground will they be played at?

As a unified Wests Tigers club, are we looking to have KOE games played before NRL games moving forward?
 
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I think winning games is the straw that stirs the drink personally. I understand the economic and strategic value of Campbelltown but it can only be maximally realised if we win games and our side wins games at Leichhardt. Until the culture of the side is stronger we need to utilise the very few advantages we have no?
 
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