OFFICIAL Q&A Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp

[Spartan117]

@ShaunMielekamp

As a fellow C level leader, I see the strategies and the direction that your implementing. You have my total support

Really respect the courage and honesty. 🐐

Ps. Some of us old timers no longer care about Balmain and Magpie. The future is only Wests Tigers

 

[Blooey]

Hi Shaun,

Just curious if we're active in the overseas player market?

Are we looking at players in the Super League, Rugby Union, Japanese rugby etc?

It seems like it's been forever since we've signed a good Pommy or other international player who wasn't already playing in the NRL.

Considering we've had stars like Patty Richards and Gareth Ellis, it seems crazy that we wouldn't be..

Are there any challenges with these kinds of signings that fans may not be aware of, such as transfer fees, salary cap implications, relocation concerns etc?

 

[krissy]

Hi Shaun,
There has been a lot of discussion on this forum & elsewhere regarding the lack of access to players after games for the young fans.
Clubs like Warriors will go out & sign autographs & take selfies with the kids for ages but it doesn’t seem to happen with Wests Tigers.
It would be nice to see the players express their thanks for the long suffering fans. Those little kids are the future of the club and whilst I know it is tough to smile after a loss they seem to have no problem joking around with the opposition so why not make some kids day & spend some time signing some autographs.

 

[diedpretty]

The jersey - i did a breakdown of which jersey we wear at each game.

Orange jersey - 4 home games ( all the games at Leichhardt and 1 game at Suncorp.
- 6 away games

White jersey - 7 home games ( all the Campbelltown games and all Commbank games)
- 4 away games

the only pattern appears to be that the orange jersey is always worn at Leichhardt and the white always at Cambelltown. No idea why the white is always worn at Commbank nor why we wear the orange jersey at more away games than the white

 

[clontarfkid]

Blows my mind that you are willing to be so open. Respect!!!

Im with you..Shaun is exceeding my expectations atm,particularly with his transparency and smarts
Ask me when the results are in 12 months time ,but so far so good!!

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Hi Shaun,

Just curious if we're active in the overseas player market?

Are we looking at players in the Super League, Rugby Union, Japanese rugby etc?

It seems like it's been forever since we've signed a good Pommy or other international player who wasn't already playing in the NRL.

Considering we've had stars like Patty Richards and Gareth Ellis, it seems crazy that we wouldn't be..

Are there any challenges with these kinds of signings that fans may not be aware of, such as transfer fees, salary cap implications, relocation concerns etc?

Hey Blooey, i think that this is across the NRL not just the Tigers. The gap between super league & NRL has arguably become alot greater. the world cup is usually where the special gems get highlighted and recruited from. Yes we have contacts over there but i get your point for sure.

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Hi Shaun,
There has been a lot of discussion on this forum & elsewhere regarding the lack of access to players after games for the young fans.
Clubs like Warriors will go out & sign autographs & take selfies with the kids for ages but it doesn’t seem to happen with Wests Tigers.
It would be nice to see the players express their thanks for the long suffering fans. Those little kids are the future of the club and whilst I know it is tough to smile after a loss they seem to have no problem joking around with the opposition so why not make some kids day & spend some time signing some autographs.

Hey Krissy, this is something that had been a focus on the last few matches to address this directly. hopefully those at the last home game who hung around might have noticed. We are putting in some better processes for next season.

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

 

[innsaneink]

Hi Shaun.

Id also like to see less Balmain and Magpies jerseys featured so prominently when the clubs media uses live crowd images and vids in promos...

 

[happy_tiger]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

Hi Shaun
Can I suggest we focus on becoming a consistent winning football team than worry about the style and colour of a jersey

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Hi Shaun
Can I suggest we focus on becoming a consistent winning football team than worry about the style and colour of a jersey

Of course that's the focus, winning football games in the ugliest jerseys I'm sure everyone would take that. I hope you can appreciate that spending a bit of time on my day off every fortnight to see what supporters think of the jerseys for next year isn't losing focus. My weekend will not be on here and will be 100% all about winning matches.

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Club colurs are very important they define an identity, some clubs dont value this ala Panthers...I mean, pink> really?
Whose idea was this 😉

Ha that's actually an insightful point, when I was at Panthers the identity was a key part that was missing. the colours were black rust and teal, i was very passionate about getting back to the licorice all sorts and the pink just took off as a replacement for the teal away.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Shaun, what is the situation with Benji’s assistants? Is it a coincidence that the best available are all of Benji’s ex teammates?

 

[liltiger]

Hey liltiger, I might have missed your original question but happy to answer this one. Firstly whilst I don't buy into the "toxic" part I can say that yes the cultural & standards are a huge focus. There are key areas that upon reflection are learnings for the club. For example the clarity on identity of what does it mean to be a Wests Tiger needs to be better defined for all players and staff at all levels. This is also why i am passionate about the pathways because here we can ensure we drive better standards and cultures from the first touchpoint and build our DNA.

Apologies Shaun to clarify on my earlier question it was about if you have begun looking into what was causing the club to never have had long term sustained success. In your response you replied you had begun looking into it and were going to do everything in your power to resolve it. By toxic what i meant was whatever that element is thats stopping that sustained success. Not that the club, players, staff or the work envirinment is negative in any way. My apologies instead of toxic i think perhaps stymie would be a better word for what i meant. Iv no doubt everyone, you, Benji and the coaching staff, the players and everyone else at the Tigers are working your hardest to reach the goal of success. Apologies for miscommunicating what i meant.

 

[tig_prmz]

I can say that at the start of the season our entire pathways communication was non-existent as we were short staffed. We have an amazing media team with some new (and old) faces in the team and I'll let them know the feedback on pathways comms. I agree this is an important area to ensure we keep focus on especially if we are to truly maximise our potential as a development club. What I can say though is that it is a tricky space, whilst every player, parent and supporter wants to know who the hottest property coming through in from a very young age we can run the risk of putting to much public exposure on young talent and also flags for other clubs the players they might want to try and steal from us.

With player contracts below the Top 30, Development and train/trial NRL contracts are the NSWRL contracts, These are for players from 15year old through to Cup contracts. Ultimately they are registration contracts that lock the player to the club for a set amount of time with certain benefits that are specific for each player.
An entry level contract for example might be for 3 years, includes medical cover, sign on fee ($1000) apparel, school levies and education expenses. These type of contracts secure players for Harold Matts and SG Ball for example.
The same format of contract but the increased benefits as you go higher up the pathways including a NSW Cup contract. The threshold is $20k where we can go over because it will then tip into the NRL cap calculations, so whilst there is no direct cap there is a level we can't go over without impacting the NRL cap. This is why you will see ex-NRL players at NSW senior club that can still get paid a decent per match payment but they won't play for the NRL reserve grade teams.

I'm not the expert in this area so I think I have most of it right but some astute forumites on here might be more articulate or accurate on this space of contracting for you.

Would you be able to comment on how you have allocated the funding to help with this?

I understand we can't go over $20k in the benefits but hiring better off field staff that are available full time to entire pathways would be under the cap and also give the players better benefits?

Like what Sydney roosters do which is to give access to mortgage brokers, real estate agents, career advisors, psychologists, physios etc?

Overall, I feel this is where most of the funding is required. Do we have the funds for that or do you think we are still a few years away in properly investing in this?

 

[tigertragic]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

Hi Shaun
Like most things wests Tigers/HBG the difficulty doesn’t seem to be making a decision it’s the lack of ongoing support for that decision by Wests Tigers/HBG. Most decisions rarely last 12 months

 

[davey_farrell]

Hi Shaun.
Like many others thank you for giving up your time on the forum, a few years ago under Richo, Benji and the coaching staff were in shirts trousers and nice jacket on home game days, it actually looked really professional. I know it doesnt help us win matches, just for me personally I thought it looked really good and made us look like a professional outfit compared to the tracksuits.

 

[LeichhardtTiger]

Hi Shaun, Just finished watching the Youtube media conferences with Benji, Fonua (congrats 100) Bula & Api.

Mate, the Club and investors spent a fortune on the COE, but week after week we see these media grabs that are obliterated by the overhead noise of 747's hovering around the joint. So why persist with this amateur hour approach and not set up the Media in a better sound environment indoors? The players can't concentrate at the best of times due to their mates geeing them up. Why not show some professionalism - afterall they are the faces of the squad each week and only look like "gooses" when the distractions (noise and banter) kick in. And whilst you're at it, how about getting the media to use a microphone to ask their questions. Not the biggest issue, but it's the 1% ers mate thay make all the difference! 🐯 🛫✈️🛬🐯

 

[Craegus]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

I do believe that that was the reasoning back then @ShaunMielekamp black was the common colour so was used as the majority colour in the designs. With either orange or white being the alternate design (orange the primary one of those choices). At least from many discussions, but I don't have any insider info on that, just what the discussions were.

But outside of that, as someone who has made a lot of Tigers jersey concepts over the years, even for the competitions the club used to run, I certainly have a very solid preference and belief when it comes to the choice of design for games. I believe we really do need to embrace what other clubs do with jersey choices and have a set home and away/alternate design. The divide that is spoken about across so many areas including a lot in this thread, does cross over into the jerseys. We are one club, we should have a single jersey that is worn at all home games (unless being a specialty round where that one off jersey is worn), and an alternate that is worn only when there is a clash in colours in an away game. No jersey only for Leichhardt, and a different one only for Campbelltown (or Commbank in the next couple of years), just one Wests Tigers jersey that is worn at ALL home games which all fans can wear with pride at all grounds.

The only caveat to that setup (outside of specialty round jerseys) and which would be acceptable is if the primary design was black or dark (as it would be with the colour breakdown suggestion I will discuss below) when we were due to play a game during the day and it was going to be hot (especially early in the season). It would then make sense to choose to wear a away/alternate white jersey and make the opposition wear a darker colour (as is done in american sports to benefit from the lighter colour being easier to wear in the hear).

And as for primary colour of a home jersey in this situation, that is a difficult call, primarily black may annoy or anger some fans, the same with primarily orange. Perhaps a 40% black, 40% orange, and 20% white based design for the home, and a 70-80% White, 10-15% Black, 10-15% Orange away would be the answer, that way it is an even split of the black and orange with a solid amount of white accenting the design for the home, and a distinct away design that avoids any clashes, and of course is still obviously Wests Tigers jerseys.

 

[Canberratiger]

Where can I find that?

Here you go, mate.


Thread 'Jersey Talk - Mega Thread' https://weststigersforum.com/threads/jersey-talk-mega-thread.34281/