HBG, Independent Directors Sacked

Jolls said:
By your own logic BZN you have lost absolutely nothing as we still have the Wests (Magpies) name.

Both factions in the JV have been stupidly childish in their off field approach to runing the JV. Unfortunately our major shareholder has a demonstrated track record of ineptitude when it comes to running a football department and does not fairly represent the views of its members due the protectionist nature of the constitution.

There are plenty of people that want Balmain back and probably an equal number that want the Magpies back. But they are the minority.

Sure I get the 90% ownership argument etc; however, given the makeup of the HBG and Wests Magpies boards what give you the impression that the decisions made are the decisions the majority of members want? Has there been a vote taken by the membership?

I'm sure that if the debenture holders did not have next to absolute power you would have plenty of people jump on board so that their opinions can be heard - not that it guarantees it will be enacted upon, but at least heard and a democratice decision made.
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Let's get to the crux if the issue though. 90% or not, Balmain majority or Wests majority. Do 20 unelected people speak for thousands of fans and stakeholders?

I'd be exactly the same if Balmain owned the club and they were setup like that. It has nothing to do with Wests or Balmain. It is squarely on the 20 unelected individuals that control power.
 
mtd#2 said:
No, I'm not missing the point.

What I am trying to do is focus on the upside that we still have Shaun and Benji leading the charge from the football club... And that's the best possible outcome at this point in time given what has transpired over the last week. It gives us SOME hope for a competitive season in 2026.

#HBGout
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I agree with you that Shaun and Benji are our best option currently.

I don't necessarily agree that HBG needs to go, although that would be a great outcome. What we need is for the debenture system to go so that the HBG board can be elected by the full membership.

The crux of this problem is about governance and representation.

While this is going on it is unhelpful for HBG (or other players in support of HBG) are destabilisng the joint through leaks, misinformation and silence on the matter.

Paton, on behalf of HBG, spoke about leadership and how they fully support Benji (and Richo at the time) yet they have not backed this up at all. They are the owners and have a responsibility to prevent this from occuring - and they aren't.

So I guess that we are somewhat in ageeance.
 
Tito Santana said:
I struggle to understand what the NRL can do legally. It’s an ownership issue. Not an NRL licence issue.

The only regulator I can see maybe having influence is Liquor and Gaming.
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NRL can threaten the licence. NRLC oversees national rugby league including touch football. They have no direct authority on WT Board decisions however they can compel HBG actions.

People have to remember that Wests Ashfield is a Leagues Club and therefore one of their primary constitutional goals is to promote local rugby league (Constitution dated 2022, Section 10(b) - its the second Object after "care of Members").

The NRLC has national jurisdiction over rugby league. Therefore the NRLC controls one of the primary Objects of the Leagues Club and the club must submit to NRLC governance to fulfil their constitutional obligations.
 
twentyforty said:
My understanding is that the ARL /NRL own the brand “Wests Tigers” which must give them some rightful intervention powers, like they showed in 2014 by appointing a couple of board members.
When PVL has sufficiently researched this latest imbroglio I believe he could appoint administrators, in the belief that HBG debenture holders will never let any of us cruise into the Christmas spirit of peace and good will to all.
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NRL appointed Board members in 2014 in compensation for covering Balmain's debt. Then HBG bought out the Balmain debt and were permitted to reconstitute the WT Board.
 
jirskyr said:
NRL can threaten the licence. NRLC oversees national rugby league including touch football. They have no direct authority on WT Board decisions however they can compel HBG actions.

People have to remember that Wests Ashfield is a Leagues Club and therefore one of their primary constitutional goals is to promote local rugby league (Constitution dated 2022, Section 10(b) - its the second Object after "care of Members").

The NRLC has national jurisdiction over rugby league. Therefore the NRLC controls one of the primary Objects of the Leagues Club and the club must submit to NRLC governance to fulfil their constitutional obligations.
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PVL has said that the NRL may not be able to do anything after its investigation …. I seem to recall that other intervention by the NRL has followed financial issues …like with us in 2014 …

There has been considerable dysfunction at HBG for years , including with their own and the NRL clubs board …and I don’t recall them taking any action then
 
AmericanHistoryX said:
Burgess is done. It's only a matter of time now .
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100% at least for the NRL.


I kinda wonder if this is just a brain fart. He gets pissed off at Barry O'Farrell and fires the independent directors. Jealousy...

Never underestimate stupidity and this all seems stupid.

Another part of me thinks that there is bad accounting and Barry + independent board was about to bring it to light.... or may have brought it to light.

Ofcourse it may be due to Ctown stadium upgrade being 50m and HBG not wanting to pay that.
As a board of directors, surely they would have fought that.. Naturally shenadigans and it may have been rammed through.


Overall, yes Burgess is done. PVL is either going to defend him and face the wrath of us or make him resign. If Chris Minns gets involved it's going to be even more pressure.
 
Coastie_Tiger said:
Lets do some revision here Balmain were granted or set to be granted the 14th license at the time. The magpies were out, Balmain realized unless they merged it was only a matter of time for them also before they got the punt forever. They were more financial than Wests at the time iirc, It was a marriage that served both parties at the time.
Fast forward and Balmain shot themselves in the foot with the leagues club debacle which gave Wests Ashfield the chance to step up which at the time they did.
As i stated above Wests nor Balmain would be here without the other, so the in fighting from the old dinosaurs from both sides tbf need to wake up to themselves and stop a very long time ago. You would have thought 2005 would have been enough to galvanize and stick solid but not us can't have that squabbling at board level is the name of the game.
If we aren't careful We might get what was coming to us both 25 years ago extinction, I dont want that i moved on 25 yrs ago along with the majority on here and realized that we needed to co exist.
Its the Wests Tigers thats the only license that will surivive and so it should be, if your under the age of 30-35 you likely wouldn't have a scooby doo about the history of Wests and Balmain. I really don't understand why its so har4d for some to fathom.
BTW not having a crack at your post whatsoever just led into my points.
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100% agree with all that.

Here's the thing. We talk about revisionist history in relation to the Magpies side of things on here a lot.

Recently- what has Balmain offered the JV? What have Wests offered the JV?

If I have to make a point, it's this- right NOW, the Wests Magpies/Ashfield/HBG side of things are doing most of the heavy lifting. It may not always be that way, there might even be agenda's on that side of the JV...that isn't the point.

If I was putting in 90% of the work into anything....and I wasn't happy with how the 'independent' side of the board were acting...feeling overlooked, or not consulted or whatever....chances are, I'd probably feel a little more entitled to swing it in my favour too.

HBG might be Darth Vader's cousin's best idea. Don't know.

But, them deciding that they would rather it more 'their way' at the moment isn't completely misunderstandable.

Here we are, kicking off about the money side of the JV doing things they want. The way I see it, they kind of have some right to do so.

Now, before I get bombarded with HBG apologist comments- I want to also point out, HBG have NOT said they want to move away from an independent board or CEO.

My point about the reaction on here being lead by hysteria seems to be overlooked.

WHAT IF....HBG hire 4 new independent board members & a CEO that isn't a stooge?

Shouldn't they get the chance to do that?

I know...they have history...their intent is obvious...I don't know what I'm talking about.

Rage on.
 
Tom Shines said:
PVL has said that the NRL may not be able to do anything after its investigation …. I seem to recall that other intervention by the NRL has followed financial issues …like with us in 2014 …

There has been considerable dysfunction at HBG for years , including with their own and the NRL clubs board …and I don’t recall them taking any action then
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It's more likely that if the NRL was to do something they could be subject to court action from HBG.

NRL could definitely sell or revoke the licence under some interpretation, again subject to legal intervention, and that doesn't necessarily help the fans.

People have to remember that soft power can be used here to coerce, it doesn't have tob e brute force dumping or expelling people. That brute force nonsense is what keeps getting HBG into trouble.
 
Tom Shines said:
PVL has said that the NRL may not be able to do anything after its investigation …. I seem to recall that other intervention by the NRL has followed financial issues …like with us in 2014 …

There has been considerable dysfunction at HBG for years , including with their own and the NRL clubs board …and I don’t recall them taking any action then
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Well the focus is on them now.

The NRL can de-license the Wests Tigers. That would be a big enough threat to get HBG to pull out.
If us fans blame HBG, they won't have a leg to stand on.

Plus people will be starting to make anonymous tips to regulatory authorities...
 
A big part of the reason the fight is on is that you feel insecure.
And I can understand that.
You feel like you are losing your miniscule grip in the JV.
I understand that as well.
But y'all have to face facts.
Wests Magpies hold a major share of the JV.
But y'all 'not' facing the facts so you are fighting back in an attempt to gain more control.
I believe whoever the organisers of Saturdays march are, are probably the most insecure of all, and they are taking out their frustrations on the people that are providing the $$$ to keep WTigers functioning.
As @Joel Helmes is a health care professional, I'm interested to hear what he has to say in regard to this.
 
Spartan117 said:
These were highly coincidental and most would come to the same conclusion that the allegations were fabricated
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Quite possible. However, not impossible that he still has to answer for it.

I believe Romero at some point brought the whole Enriched thing to the NRL to look at back in her time too.
 
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The Chad said:
100% agree with all that.

Here's the thing. We talk about revisionist history in relation to the Magpies side of things on here a lot.

Recently- what has Balmain offered the JV? What have Wests offered the JV?

If I have to make a point, it's this- right NOW, the Wests Magpies/Ashfield/HBG side of things are doing most of the heavy lifting. It may not always be that way, there might even be agenda's on that side of the JV...that isn't the point.

If I was putting in 90% of the work into anything....and I wasn't happy with how the 'independent' side of the board were acting...feeling overlooked, or not consulted or whatever....chances are, I'd probably feel a little more entitled to swing it in my favour too.

HBG might be Darth Vader's cousin's best idea. Don't know.

But, them deciding that they would rather it more 'their way' at the moment isn't completely misunderstandable.

Here we are, kicking off about the money side of the JV doing things they want. The way I see it, they kind of have some right to do so.

Now, before I get bombarded with HBG apologist comments- I want to also point out, HBG have NOT said they want to move away from an independent board or CEO.

My point about the reaction on here being lead by hysteria seems to be overlooked.

WHAT IF....HBG hire 4 new independent board members & a CEO that isn't a stooge?

Shouldn't they get the chance to do that?

I know...they have history...their intent is obvious...I don't know what I'm talking about.

Rage on.
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Here is a question which I haven’t seen any of the HBG aligned people answer …

Do you agree that based on the reasons provided by HBG to remove the independent board, this act was justified. considering there was improved performance from the club both on and off the pitch in 2025 ?
 
We’re getting louder.

We need to keep it going….. PVL has reached out to all 4 independent board members that were sacked investigating the situation.

Lies about the HBG not being notified about decisions will be exploited, given this was the main reason they were sacked it’ll open a can of worms.

I have absolutely no doubt that Richo will get a call soon and most likely Lee as well getting their opinions on it all.

Both men believe the club aren’t operating with the best interest of the Wests Tigers along with the 4 independent directors, but that they’re more focussed on pushing this Wests agenda.

Lee also stated on radio a few days ago the HBG are in no shape to run the football club even claiming he was confronted by a HBG member stating “remember who runs this club” implying that the Wests do.

How can the NRL allow ownership of a club that ignores on/off field performance - it doesn’t make sense.

Everything Richo was holding onto in that press conference that he wanted to say, will be dished out to the NRL.

Combine that with the noise this march is getting with us fans.

I think the HBG are slowly turning into the walking dead.
 
BZN said:
A big part of the reason the fight is on is that you feel insecure.
And I can understand that.
You feel like you are losing your miniscule grip in the JV.
I understand that as well.
But y'all have to face facts.
Wests Magpies hold a major share of the JV.
But y'all 'not' facing the facts so you are fighting back in an attempt to gain more control.
I believe whoever the organisers of Saturdays march are, are probably the most insecure of all, and they are taking out their frustrations on the people that are providing the $$$ to keep WTigers functioning.
As @Joel Helmes is a health care professional, I'm interested to hear what he has to say in regard to this.
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Is the march getting under your skin a bit? I think there’s gonna be a few people there.
 
Telltails said:
.
Your smug amusement and voice of reason comments were designed to irritate and get a reaction and have done just that - just like you knew they would when people are triggered.

And you end off with an invitation to come at you again. Please ...attention seeking much.
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Everyone who posts is trying to get a reaction.

Every reaction so far has been to be mildly abusive (amusing at times).

What is interesting is that people would rather resort to insults than ponder the possibility that there might be a different option or opinion. I've not said anyone is wrong.

I could very well be.

But maybe HBG isn't inserting their own people? Maybe Richo did do something dodgy?

What I know is that....I don't know for sure. I could guess that close to 100% of you on here don't know for sure either.

But you'll convince yourself you do & abuse anyone that thinks differently.
 
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