Tired Tiger
Well-known member
Appears he has only quit the Tigers board ...
HBG, Independent Directors Sacked
- Thread starter BlackWhiteGold
- Start date
weststigers
Well-known member
I've always thought a crest with the WT Tiger at the front but the Balmain and Magpies emblems integrated was the right thing to do with a slogan "Brothers in battle" or "together we stand"
I don't know if that would solve anything now or if anyone agrees.
Chunk
Well-known member
Interim Wests Tigers chief executive Shaun Mielekamp believes he is equipped to take on arguably the toughest job in Australian sport and has vowed to personally call every disgruntled fan to outline his blueprint for the club.
Mielekamp will take over from Shane Richardson following revelations that coach Benji Marshall has committed to the club until 2029 and sacked chairman Barry O’Farrell will return for a third stint in the role. Mielekamp’s promotion from general manager of football, as well as Marshall’s three-year contract extension, were confirmed at Tigers headquarters on Friday.
In his first interview, former Central Coast Mariners CEO Mielekamp revealed he has ambitions to assume the role full-time.
“I’m really excited about the interim role, and I’m going to really lean into it and embrace that,” Mielekamp told this masthead. “It is in my DNA, so I will work extremely hard and of course I want to do such a good job that it’s impossible for me not to be the CEO long-term.
“What I do know is if I do a tremendous job and they appoint someone else, they’re going to be brilliant because they’re going to have to do a better job than what I’ve done. But absolutely – do I see that I’m going to deliver so well in this job that I’ll be the long-term CEO? That’s the goal.”
In a rare show of unity, all club stakeholders are keen for Marshall to extend his stay to provide stability.
Wests Tigers interim CEO Shaun Mielekamp.Credit:Getty Images
“There’s a collective agreement that Benji is vital in keeping the unity and stability of the club, and we’re backing him,” Mielekamp said.
Marshall’s re-signing is viewed as a vital step towards ensuring key players Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula also recommit.
“It’s at the top of the pile,” Mielekamp said of the star spine players. “We’ve got two guys who want to be here, who want to be with the coach.
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“We’ve got good people, so I’m sure that things will work out pretty positively. Let’s just take a breath and just move forward.”
Tigers fans have vented their displeasure about the latest boardroom brawling, with many contacting the club directly. Mielekamp has begun calling all of them back and has promised to give every member who wants one a personal audience.
“I’ve actually spent all morning calling members, every second I get a gap,” he said. “I’ll call every member that’s asked for a refund, that’s written in and made a complaint. I’ve got through some, I’ve got a lot to get to.
“My message to the members is every member can come and meet me directly. As part of your membership you do have a voice and you have the opportunity to come and meet me … All our members want the same thing. So let’s communicate.”
Despite a history of bickering between the Balmain and Western Suburbs factions – and within the HBG itself – Mielekamp believes the infighting is over.
“The reason I’ve got confidence is everybody I’ve met – every board and every stakeholder – they all want the same thing,” he said.
“So it’s just about communication. I’m actually surprised by how distracted everyone has got at times. When they wind it back, what’s really important is the players, that they’ve got the resources, they’ve got the structure. And our members.
“Just having that clarity for everybody, that’s actually what this is really about. They all do want the same thing. There are a lot of scars, there is a lot of history, but moving forward everybody I speak to actually wants the same thing – a bit of unity and stability, some good communication. I’m very confident that this is something that we will move forward on.”
The twin announcements come as Holman Barnes chairman and influential club powerbroker Dennis Burgess quits the Tigers board.
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Burgess’ position has come under scrutiny throughout the week when it emerged that his Instagram account follows hundreds of sexually explicit pages.
He denied those headlines were the cause of his resignation in an interview with News Corp, claiming instead that his withdrawal from the Tigers board is being made to create stability at the joint venture.
Burgess will remain chairman of HBG, which will hold a five-person majority on the club’s new nine-member board.
Seems like a good appointment but more importantly, I hope BOF and the independants are happy with this.
Bamboo socks only, but good quality ones. Gotta protect these wrinkly old feet.
weststigers
Well-known member
The more I look back, the more I think our CEO was never really the problem.
I don't see how HBG change their opinion of how the club should run overnight.
More incompetence coming.
hammertime
Well-known member
Yeah, just another smoke screen. They think we're too dumb and will fall for this rubbish.
hammertime
Well-known member
Just wait till the new female board director is announced as Denise Burgeso
iirc , Liubinskas was the driving force behind magpie return in KOE few years ago
Doubt he did it without getting something in return that benefits him
weststigers
Well-known member
Was waiting for DJTrump to do this. Announce his transition to female so he could say he was America's first female president 😅
Could put the Dems in an idealogical dilemma.
Jedi_Tiger
Well-known member
liubinskas is pro magpie bigtime while he is around it will never be wests tigers one club unfortunately
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
BOF said the NRL would eventually intervene if the turmoil continued. It obviously did and PVL's intervention occurred with results. I doubt the independent directors would agree to return unless the NRL have given a guarantee that WTs could continue to position itself as it did before the drama ie its current 15-year strategy for grounds and emphasis on the Southwest growth area - Camden, Narrellan, Oran Park. I'd suggest this mirrors the NRL's strategy for the expansion of the NRL and tv rights with sponsorship. Cash talks and $12m pa dwarfs the HBG $1.4pa.
Wests Tigers board member quits amid "sexually explicit" Instagram expose
By SEN
Death, taxes and chaos at the Wests Tigers.
Chairman of the Holman Barnes Group, Dennis Burgess, who serves on the board of the NRL club, has resigned from his position.
It comes just days after it was reported that Burgess followed hundreds of sexually explicit pages on Instagram, though he insists it is not the catalyst behind his decision to step away.
Using the handle "wildmandenny", more than 200 of the 4500 accounts Burgess follows on Instagram display inappropriate content.
“No-one has forced me out, it’s my decision," he told News Corp. “That Instagram page is a relic from my old music life.
“I haven’t touched it since 2017.
“To be clear, I wasn’t ever steering it – someone helping with promotions was driving the account and they likely followed just about everyone to boost the profile.
“Yeah sure, it really should’ve been a generic music handle rather than me, but to me it’s long since been forgotten.
“I wouldn’t say I was hacked, in the technical sense of the word. But I’ve sure been blindsided by it because I was not in control of it.
“At the end of the day, people have jumped on it and weaponised it for their own reasons.”
Burgess' resignation comes just days after the club sacked four board members before being forced to overturn their decision by the NRL.
CEO Shane Richardson was also removed from his position and the club, in the midst of the chaos and instability, looks set to hand Benji Marshall a new contract extending through to 2030.
Burgess has been a director of the Holman Barnes Group since 2001.
It was only in April this year that he was appointed as chairman of the Holman Barnes Group. He has also been serving as a chairman with the Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club.
In his professional life, the former singer has been the chairman of the Australian Songwriters Association since 2003.
With his services to the performing arts and the music industry, he was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2024.
Wests Tigers
derekderekson
Well-known member
https://www.instagram.com/nrl_weststigers/live/17886986994404556
Live press conference
Live press conference
Kelce68
Well-known member
Correct mate, Shaun was his heir-apparent.
Hopefully he steps into the chair. Everything we've heard of Shaun is quality.
The only other acceptable candidate would be Brian Fletcher, formerly at Panthers.
Hi, Paws our future is South West Sydney, no matter what name or mascot we call it. Locking in any ground for 15 years to get funding needs careful consideration with all parties involved and if HBG, as 90% owners, weren't kept informed, I think it would be disrespectful in my opinion.
I reckon this is another bit of damage control by HBG. I am of course happy he is gone from the Tigers board but he is still leading HBG and as evidenced by the events of 2 weeks ago still would have significant influence over the board as HBG can just remove people they don't like. Additionally, with all the new appointees to the Tigers board from the HBG he'd still have a lot of influence over those specific members especially if one ends up being Claire Burgess.
You can see how terrified HBG and the NRL are of the backlash and they're trying to make out as if they are reforming themselves to dissuade people from attending.
They remove the directors which they allegedly had big issues with, only to then agree to NRL terms to re-instate them as long as HBG just increase their numbers to have a majority (in which case the independent directors become pointless).
Then Dennis steps down, except only from one board which is good but he still holds substantial influence.
To the naked eye of a casual observer it looks like the issues have been fixed and everyone should be happy but it's all a smokescreen where they've now managed to gain more control over the club. Don't let any of these facades dissuade you from attending the rally. Enough is enough and HBG have to go.
You can see how terrified HBG and the NRL are of the backlash and they're trying to make out as if they are reforming themselves to dissuade people from attending.
They remove the directors which they allegedly had big issues with, only to then agree to NRL terms to re-instate them as long as HBG just increase their numbers to have a majority (in which case the independent directors become pointless).
Then Dennis steps down, except only from one board which is good but he still holds substantial influence.
To the naked eye of a casual observer it looks like the issues have been fixed and everyone should be happy but it's all a smokescreen where they've now managed to gain more control over the club. Don't let any of these facades dissuade you from attending the rally. Enough is enough and HBG have to go.
nrlsurvivor
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing the press conference link Derek. I only saw the end of it. Will they post the full version at some stage?
