HBG, Independent Directors Sacked

gallagher said:
Cheers Ink. I missed that.

So $1.8 million isn't a small amount, less than some clubs but probably more than others.

If a club can't make a go of it when they get close to $20mill in grants from its owners and governing body the maybe the board / management arnt up to scratch. I'd be suggesting that to PVL when asked why the board was removed.

Now this isn't me backing HBG's group actions but it's another angle to look at things.
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So the finances of the football club arent seperated out from the Holman Barnes annual figures. The 2025 numbers arent out yet (late Feb 26 for 25 numbers).

But Year Ended Oct 2024:

  • Grants - NRL - $19,652,102
  • Grants - Other - $935,404
  • Sponsorship - $6,514,945
  • Ticket Sales - $ 3,308,751
  • Corporate Hospitality - $564,737
  • Holman Barnes Group - $1,775,00
Total = $32,750,939
This is what can be gleaned from the HBG annual report.

ANNUAL REPORT​


1769228514218.png
Holman Barnes Group
https://holmanbarnesgroup.com.au › 2025/02



From what we know of the 2025 season there is an additional one off grant from the NRL to the value of $1.75m as part of the PNG deal. In 2026 this "one off" grant reduces down to $1m per club.
 
cdinoz007 said:
Why are you so blinkered to see what he did, and what his character was. And if he was so squeeky clean, why did this story result in his resignation. In an investigation commissioned by the Opal Board... and it found no wrong doing. What a suprise.

Open your eyes to what happened.

He resigned in disgrace. And now this is the kind of person you want on the board at Ashield?

Its just taken the leagues club to finally rid themselves of Simon Cook and Tim McAleer, who created an absolute bullying culture within the club, one fostered and supported by at least 2 of the then board members (now removed).

There is now decent human beings who want to drive a positive culture at that business a new board of, and a CEO who also wants to foster that same culture.

And yet you want to break that up and appoint Barnier (linked to bullying and harrasment at Opal), Cheung and Coolican, who are supporters of both Tony Andreachhio and Rick Wayde and used their influence to have the cricket members to vote for them both... (and it was Tony and Rick who both asked Simon Cook to investigate bullying at the club... asking the BULLY to investigate BULLYING)... and then there is Scott Drummond (a Balmain Football Club board member, whos parent organisation couldnt run a chuck raffle and make a profit) and Lucille McKenna, who is now in her 80's.

Thats the top and tail of who you want to run Wests Ashfield?

Are you serious?


Yup
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How can you describe the new board as decent human beings when they shafted the Wests Tigers board independents when they were turning the club around for no apparent reason other than a power grab.
 
gallagher said:
Compared to the rest of the clubs? Or just some of them? I still havnt seen what other owners put in. If you think we are underfunded then you must know what every one else puts in..

And other clubs choose to play at modern stadiums to maximise revenue aswell. But fans draw a line at that source of revenue. I don't think we can turn our back on matchday/corporate revenues then whinge that we need a bigger handout.

It's a bit like turning down job offers then whinging that the dole isn't big enough.
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Mentioned it in another post re stadium costs/revenue. That hurts us badly and the owners who have been the board made the decision to sacrifice that revenue stream so the offset needs to come from another source which sits with the owners who are the board to step up.
 
gallagher said:
Cheers Ink. I missed that.

So $1.8 million isn't a small amount, less than some clubs but probably more than others.

If a club can't make a go of it when they get close to $20mill in grants from its owners and governing body the maybe the board / management arnt up to scratch. I'd be suggesting that to PVL when asked why the board was removed.

Now this isn't me backing HBG's group actions but it's another angle to look at things.
Click to expand...
You also asked about other clubs.

Lets examine the Sharks books:

Game Day Ticketing - $2,680,624
Sponsorship and Corporate Hospitality - $7,174,136
NRL Grant - $19,575,004
NSWRL Grant - $215,000

Total excl any subsidy from the leagues club to the football club = $29,644,764

What is less easy to establish is of their Member Subscriptions is just related to the leagues club, the football club or both.

They also list a "Football Expenses" as being $22,545,587, but given this is on their Income Statement, I am assuming that is the total cost of running the Football operations, and not an allocation of funds FROM the leagues club to the football club.

HBG make this easier to understand in their financials. Sharkies dont disclose that figure. What we can say is that the Sharks arent nearly in as good a financial revenue position as Ashfield and looking at the numbers here, are probably on par with revenues as Wests Tigers.
 
mtd#2 said:
Its interesting you use the bulldogs as an example..

Over the past 2 years they poured close to 13 million into football... HBG gave under 4 million.

You do understand that if HBG invested that amount of money into the wests tigers, the majority of people (including myself) wouldn't give two craps what was happening at HBG - give us the money and let the footy club do their thing..

Not only do HBG not contribute a sufficient amount, they compund it by making stupid decisions that impact the football club that draw attention to them. I dont see that happening at the bulldogs?
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@cdinoz007 any comments on this after YOUR comparison to the bulldogs?
 
I can take or leave Gary Barnier - also the chair of Affinity - Early Childhood Ed.
Profiteering from caring for the elderly and young children doesnt sit well with me - especially when both industries are raking it in while employing some of the lowest paid workers that are consistently undervalued in society.
 
Before we hold the Bulldogs up as the shining example of how money makes you competitive...

I think we can all agree that their financial investment has gotten them just as many premiership wins as the HBG run Tigers in recent years.

They also spent a decent chunk of money on players like Galvin, who most on here happily question as a 'good business decision'.

I think to support (I think it's Gallagher?)....it's not really important HOW much money a Leagues club invests, but more how it's spent?

What was different the last couple of seasons at Wests Tigers? Was it the board members that turned the club around? Or the money spent on Luai, Turuva, May, Skelton, Fainu's x 3 etc?

HBG along with the money granted to the club, provided enough financial support for the club to invest in the right players. I think we put too much weight on the importance of the figures provided, and not enough on HOW it is used.

To double down on that- before we then praise Richo & the board- it has been repeated over & over that recruitment fell on Benji.

So are the players & Richo lying & Benji wasn't the main turning point? Or are we putting too much weight on the impact of the board?
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
Mentioned it in another post re stadium costs/revenue. That hurts us badly and the owners who have been the board made the decision to sacrifice that revenue stream so the offset needs to come from another source which sits with the owners who are the board to step up.
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Wasnt it the independent board in 2025 that has made the call on the new stadium strategy?
In don't think funding from owners is an issue.i think it's been said by HBGout to pad out their cause.
 
Telltails said:
I can take or leave Gary Barnier - also the chair of Affinity - Early Childhood Ed.
Profiteering from caring for the elderly and young children doesnt sit well with me - especially when both industries are raking it in while employing some of the lowest paid workers that are consistently undervalued in society.
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Maggots and pedo, can u get any worse
 
The Chad said:
Before we hold the Bulldogs up as the shining example of how money makes you competitive...

I think we can all agree that their financial investment has gotten them just as many premiership wins as the HBG run Tigers in recent years.

They also spent a decent chunk of money on players like Galvin, who most on here happily question as a 'good business decision'.

I think to support (I think it's Gallagher?)....it's not really important HOW much money a Leagues club invests, but more how it's spent?

What was different the last couple of seasons at Wests Tigers? Was it the board members that turned the club around? Or the money spent on Luai, Turuva, May, Skelton, Fainu's x 3 etc?

HBG along with the money granted to the club, provided enough financial support for the club to invest in the right players. I think we put too much weight on the importance of the figures provided, and not enough on HOW it is used.

To double down on that- before we then praise Richo & the board- it has been repeated over & over that recruitment fell on Benji.

So are the players & Richo lying & Benji wasn't the main turning point? Or are we putting too much weight on the impact of the board?
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The NRL grant pays the salary cap 🤦‍♂️ not HBG.
 
gallagher said:
I have the feeling that Darcy Byrne will attempt to set off a bomb right before our first game.
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I hope not . Then it will be literally just a power struggle , and no one acting in the best interest of wests tigers .
The action taken where the Wests Ashfield members can vote for change in constitution ie. removal of the debenture system , is a far less destabilising, and probably democratic way of doing it .
The press are frothing at the mouth to even a sniff of this bleeding into the football program . Anything everyone can do to create a clear separation has to be be taken . I’m 💯 in favour of governance changes , it can’t be at the expense of the football operations . Otherwise hypocrisy much ? Hopefully Darcy is well aware of the optics and wests tigers RLFC is put first above all else .
 
wstigers11 said:
The NRL grant pays the salary cap 🤦‍♂️ not HBG.
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For sure. But people are equating that leagues club financial investment & on field success are a direct result - the Bulldogs being used as the example.

One of the arguments against HBG is their level of financial investment.

However, in 2025, the Wests Tigers improved on field using the smaller amount of leagues club investment but also using the grant money more wisely.

Point being- the level of investment from the leagues club doesn't necessarily impact results. Gallagher said it better.
 
The Chad said:
Before we hold the Bulldogs up as the shining example of how money makes you competitive...

I think we can all agree that their financial investment has gotten them just as many premiership wins as the HBG run Tigers in recent years.

They also spent a decent chunk of money on players like Galvin, who most on here happily question as a 'good business decision'.

I think to support (I think it's Gallagher?)....it's not really important HOW much money a Leagues club invests, but more how it's spent?

What was different the last couple of seasons at Wests Tigers? Was it the board members that turned the club around? Or the money spent on Luai, Turuva, May, Skelton, Fainu's x 3 etc?

HBG along with the money granted to the club, provided enough financial support for the club to invest in the right players. I think we put too much weight on the importance of the figures provided, and not enough on HOW it is used.

To double down on that- before we then praise Richo & the board- it has been repeated over & over that recruitment fell on Benji.

So are the players & Richo lying & Benji wasn't the main turning point? Or are we putting too much weight on the impact of the board?
Click to expand...

You cant focus on a few signings who wanted to play under Benji and claim all is good in the hood. What happens when the next generation who didn't grow up watching Benji come through, what do we have to fall back on then?

The Bulldogs are using their clubs money to reinvent the club and appeal to future generations. They have consistent branding from under 16s and up. They are investing in grass roots development. They want the south west corridor which is currently under the wests tigers... but what are the wests tigers doing with it? Not much... and whos fault is that? It'd be like a mining company sitting on billions of dollars of natural resources and just twiddling their thumbs and saying "well old mate down the road isnt doing it"...

I guess I've seen the success at Penrith and think that the tigers could be replicating that... failure isnt acceptable anymkrr.. mediocre isnt enough any more, we want the club to be where it should be; a regular top 8 side.
 
mtd#2 said:
You cant focus on a few signings who wanted to play under Benji and claim all is good in the hood. What happens when the next generation who didn't grow up watching Benji come through, what do we have to fall back on then?

The Bulldogs are using their clubs money to reinvent the club and appeal to future generations. They have consistent branding from under 16s and up. They are investing in grass roots development. They want the south west corridor which is currently under the wests tigers... but what are the wests tigers doing with it? Not much... and whos fault is that? It'd be like a mining company sitting on billions of dollars of natural resources and just twiddling their thumbs and saying "well old mate down the road isnt doing it"...

I guess I've seen the success at Penrith and think that the tigers could be replicating that... failure isnt acceptable anymkrr.. mediocre isnt enough any more, we want the club to be where it should be; a regular top 8 side.
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I'm not saying you're wrong- but why are we assuming the Wests Tigers are doing nothing with junior development?

Particularly when it's pretty much accepted that the Bulldogs, Souths & Parramatta are trying to break in.

Breaking in suggests that it's being held by someone- Wests Tigers.

Is there an indication that the club is actually losing it's junior base? Because it seems the club itself does nothing but promote the large amount of juniors coming through & development of pathways.

If the Bulldogs junior development is going gangbusters through financial investment- why are they outlaying on Galvin, Burton, Crichton, Kikau etc from other clubs junior paths? For every player they are losing, shouldn't their junior development investment be throwing out the next Makasini etc for them to NOT have to buy from other clubs?
 
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