Jolls
Well-known member
Hi Team,
This is a long read so strap yourself in for the ride.
I drove up to the Interim CEO’s forum yesterday. It was a worthwhile event despite the fact that there were some attendees that thought it was more about them and their issues than an opportunity for constructive discussion. I’m sure from Shaun and his team’s point of view it was a first-hand opportunity to get a feel for the angst in the fan base.
Barry O’Farrell was in attendance for most of the session; but, unfortunately he ducked out early so I didn’t get a chance to catch him over the bite to eat we had post the event. The vocal minority also dominated Shaun’s time post the event so it was difficult to get much out of him there. Single issue zealots just don’t drop their wheelbarrow unfortunately!
So what did I get out of it?
The Bottom line up front is that there is nothing, from a governance perspective, to stop the owners (HBG) throwing their toys out of the cot in the future. However; Barry O’Farrell stated very clearly that Peter V’landys has given HBG clear guidance on the future of Wests Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies and also provided a stern warning on the consequences of any actions similar to those that occurred in December. BOF does not expect a repeat performance as the consequences would be dire. He did not expand on what that meant but did state the PVL sends shivers down the spines of Premiers and Prime Ministers, so you can imagine the effect on HBG’s board. He also advised that he is still as confused as everyone else at what happened in December. His only reason for returning is PVL, he is confident that HBG will toe the line.
Shaun went on to discuss the us and them dynamic that occurred as a result of the independence of the sacked Wests Tigers Board. The future, yet to be presented to the WT Board, is a move from independence to “Collective Strength”. So what does this “Collective Strength” mean? Shaun told us the Penrith Story: when he arrived at the Club the owners were upset about spending $2M per year on the Football Department, they wanted to see the Football side of the house generating revenue not “bleeding the club dry”. He did not elaborate on the how, but did say that the team, under Gus Gould, turned this around and by the time Shaun left the owners were happily tipping in $9M per year. He went to say that working under Mike Charlesworth at the Central Coast Mariners makes working with the Wests Tigers and HBG boards feel like child’s play; so if they could turn the Mariners around, he and his team can turn Wests Tigers around. He is confident that the collective strength of WT and HBG boards is the way to go – and if that battle is won HBG will “self regulate” its board membership.
He also advised that Benji and the team are professional and focused on results; however, did acknowledge the effect it has had, and will continue to have on recruiting and retention. But he had outlined earlier in the meeting the approach to overcoming this and it relates to the collective strength referred to above. I will get to the "how" later in the washup. He also advised, although he couldn’t release information, that the next Wests Tigers Board has some very experienced business personnel on it that he is really looking forward to working with. (Not sure if this is true or not; but what else could he say?).
That opened a can of worms in relation to makeup of the board and particularly the unhelpful statements by Leo Epifania. It was a “rowdy” discussion led by a few “upset” individuals. The end result is that Shaun advised that he is the one responsible for getting Leo on board and he will be personally having the hard discussions with him. Although I expect BOF will have a bit to do with it as well. The continuing theme was developing the collective strength so that HBG self regulates its members.
Other tid bits:
This is a long read so strap yourself in for the ride.
I drove up to the Interim CEO’s forum yesterday. It was a worthwhile event despite the fact that there were some attendees that thought it was more about them and their issues than an opportunity for constructive discussion. I’m sure from Shaun and his team’s point of view it was a first-hand opportunity to get a feel for the angst in the fan base.
Barry O’Farrell was in attendance for most of the session; but, unfortunately he ducked out early so I didn’t get a chance to catch him over the bite to eat we had post the event. The vocal minority also dominated Shaun’s time post the event so it was difficult to get much out of him there. Single issue zealots just don’t drop their wheelbarrow unfortunately!
So what did I get out of it?
The Bottom line up front is that there is nothing, from a governance perspective, to stop the owners (HBG) throwing their toys out of the cot in the future. However; Barry O’Farrell stated very clearly that Peter V’landys has given HBG clear guidance on the future of Wests Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies and also provided a stern warning on the consequences of any actions similar to those that occurred in December. BOF does not expect a repeat performance as the consequences would be dire. He did not expand on what that meant but did state the PVL sends shivers down the spines of Premiers and Prime Ministers, so you can imagine the effect on HBG’s board. He also advised that he is still as confused as everyone else at what happened in December. His only reason for returning is PVL, he is confident that HBG will toe the line.
Shaun went on to discuss the us and them dynamic that occurred as a result of the independence of the sacked Wests Tigers Board. The future, yet to be presented to the WT Board, is a move from independence to “Collective Strength”. So what does this “Collective Strength” mean? Shaun told us the Penrith Story: when he arrived at the Club the owners were upset about spending $2M per year on the Football Department, they wanted to see the Football side of the house generating revenue not “bleeding the club dry”. He did not elaborate on the how, but did say that the team, under Gus Gould, turned this around and by the time Shaun left the owners were happily tipping in $9M per year. He went to say that working under Mike Charlesworth at the Central Coast Mariners makes working with the Wests Tigers and HBG boards feel like child’s play; so if they could turn the Mariners around, he and his team can turn Wests Tigers around. He is confident that the collective strength of WT and HBG boards is the way to go – and if that battle is won HBG will “self regulate” its board membership.
He also advised that Benji and the team are professional and focused on results; however, did acknowledge the effect it has had, and will continue to have on recruiting and retention. But he had outlined earlier in the meeting the approach to overcoming this and it relates to the collective strength referred to above. I will get to the "how" later in the washup. He also advised, although he couldn’t release information, that the next Wests Tigers Board has some very experienced business personnel on it that he is really looking forward to working with. (Not sure if this is true or not; but what else could he say?).
That opened a can of worms in relation to makeup of the board and particularly the unhelpful statements by Leo Epifania. It was a “rowdy” discussion led by a few “upset” individuals. The end result is that Shaun advised that he is the one responsible for getting Leo on board and he will be personally having the hard discussions with him. Although I expect BOF will have a bit to do with it as well. The continuing theme was developing the collective strength so that HBG self regulates its members.
Other tid bits:
- MAIN POINT. Internally to WT what has changed? Less Richo moving on – nothing.
- BOF expanded a little on the Authur Laundy news reports. Apparently BOF and Laundy are mates and Laundy has offered to help WT as he is a supporter of the club. He did not offer to buy the club at all – that was never on the table and never discussed.
- The team is well ahead on its performance metrics at this time last yea, and last year was big step up from the year prior. So all he can say at this time is that our baseline fitness and strength has improved. In addition:
- Bunty Afoa has surprised everyone with his attitude and performance and is a great fit for the club. Shaun is of the opinion that he may do enough over the off season to have a starting spot come round 1.
- Bula wants to stay. Disregard the noise from the Drag Queens and Bulldogs. He wouldn’t be drawn on the hold up to signing; however, you can expect it is linked to how he performs in the early rounds to try and justify a pay rise. There was discussion about simply paying overs to keep him with many in the audience believing he will be the next superstar. There was some heated discussion in the audience about previous losses of Papenhuyzen and Tedesco etc. It was shut down: WT are not dwelling on the past as they can only control our future.
- Vegas. We are pushing to be the last team to go to Vegas in 29 along with PNG or the Bears. PVL is keen for us to go sooner; the discussion is scheduled for today I believe. I picked up at the post event gathering from Shaun that he expects PVL to be using the resolution of the December fiasco as leverage to have us attend to play Parra in 27. The counter to PVL is that we have been “disadvantaged” (Shaun used more colourful words) by the round 1 draw twice and we need to win games. He thinks that having the Tigers back playing finals footy earlier may be enough to win the day. Wait Out – watch the news for updates.
- Stadium Policy. This raised significant debate: Allianz v Commbank, who to play at Commbank (ie not Parra), seating arrangements, ticket pricing, and of course the Eighth Wonder v Cambo “debate”. The end result is about $ in the coffers. The Allianz experiment did not bring in the expected number or $ but Commbank does. The example offered: Sold out Leichardt at the end of 25 bought in $385K in ticket sales and $60K in corporate $, a not sold out Commbank bought us in $860K in ticket sales and $120K in corporate $. Having said that the plan is not to abandon our spiritual homes. The planned breakdown (all less 26 yet to be finalised) is as follows:
- 26: Cambo 4, Leichardt 3, Commbank 4, Magic Round 1.
- 27: Cambo 7, Commbank 4, Magic Round 1.
- 28: Cambo 8, Commbank 4 with a Magic Round contract decision yet to be made. My gut feel is that Magic Round will continue but the home teams will change – but how knows.
- 29: Leichardt/Cambo split with Commbank 1, same deal for Magic Round.
- The final point on stadiums is that WT job is to fill them and that is based on performance and membership.
- Wests Macarthur. Wests Macarthur have reached out asking to be part of the Wests Tigers and will be incorporated into the Clubs's system. They will be a separate entity but perform a role similar to St Marys Leagues Club does as the preferred destination for developing players for Penrith.
- Post game engagement with the fans. This was raised as a negative and Shaun picked up on it quickly. There are four disparate forces pulling on the players. There are some that want to run up into the crowd and thank every supporter, there is one Captain that wants to be off the paddock and commencing rehab ASAP post-game, there is a coach that wants to conduct a hotwash for the game and NRL demanding interviews as part of the media deal. He could not guarantee a change in post-match engagement due to the competing forces but noted the desire for it to be “improved”, he also noted that other teams seem to do it well. Interesting to see what comes of this.
- NRLW. The NRLW were training at the end of the session so there was a small discussion on the balcony with Shaun about the NRLW team. Basically, we scrapped the NRLW program as it was underperforming and have rebuilt it from the foundation up under Charmain Steventon and Craig Sandercock. Charmain was out on the paddock while the girls were going though their paces under Craig and his team. Shaun was full of praise for her and Craig and thinks they have their fingers on the pulse. Interesting to see what 2026 brings for our girls after two consecutive spoons.
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