Balmain seek extension..Wests Tigers

[goldcoast_tiger]

Surely we won't have this drawn out over another season.
While I don't really want to see either side pull out. It's time for some certainty for the club.
I don't care if Wests buy Balmains half, or if it is sold to another buyer. Just so we can put all these distractions behind us and concentrate on making this a strong financial
Club, and stop all this drama of "will they" or "won't they".
If they gave the money, great.
If they don't, let's start and concentrate on WTs

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Blame shifting is our national pastime, wouldn't surprise me at all. They were dead in the water the day they sold the Leagues Club.

 

[Sabre]

I wonder if Harry is feeling generous….

He could give us one of his Meriton Apartments and we could rebadge it as Tiger Tower. Build a club and a few other facilities/services in there and we'd be laughing.

 

[TrueTiger]

Blame shifting is our national pastime, wouldn't surprise me at all. They were dead in the water the day they sold the Leagues Club.

But weren't they selling it to better themselves until Benny and the developer got involved,money changed hands in enormous amounts,the council seemed to dupe them,and this is the result..I honestly think the Balmain RLF thought they were doing the right thing to stay viable…I think they took a punt and the result is pretty poor.I don't really know all the circumstances,but would suggest dirty politics had a massive input.....

 

[Chris]

I wonder if Harry is feeling generous….

He could give us one of his Meriton Apartments and we could rebadge it as Tiger Tower. Build a club and a few other facilities/services in there and we'd be laughing.

I feel like puking everytime I read a post about Harry saving the tigers.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Blame shifting is our national pastime, wouldn't surprise me at all. They were dead in the water the day they sold the Leagues Club.

But weren't they selling it to better themselves until Benny and the developer got involved,money changed hands in enormous amounts,the council seemed to dupe them,and this is the result..I honestly think the Balmain RLF thought they were doing the right thing to stay viable…I think they took a punt and the result is pretty poor.I don't really know all the circumstances,but would suggest dirty politics had a massive input.....

They should have given it to Harry, not Benny and his mates.

 

[innsaneink]

This is a massive decision; as if the extension is not granted & Wests severe ties with Balmain I would imagine there would be a race between the Roosters & the Eels to align with Balmain & capture the junior nursery.

The roosters dont have a junior league of their own, their teams play in souths DJRL.
Im sure Balmain juniors will be fine, RE & Ashfield are doing a good job there, if it did come to the worst, youd probably see clubs go to Parra Dogs Norths and Souths

 

[Sabre]

I wonder if Harry is feeling generous….

He could give us one of his Meriton Apartments and we could rebadge it as Tiger Tower. Build a club and a few other facilities/services in there and we'd be laughing.

I feel like puking everytime I read a post about Harry saving the tigers.

My post was very tongue in cheek….

 

[2041]

I wonder if Harry is feeling generous….

He could give us one of his Meriton Apartments and we could rebadge it as Tiger Tower. Build a club and a few other facilities/services in there and we'd be laughing.

I feel like puking everytime I read a post about Harry saving the tigers.

Indeed - like he hasn't had the chance to do so for decades and decided against it. When will people get over this fantasy? He's a rich guy who sort of supports the team, and has shown absolutely no inclination whatsoever to give it cash beyond an on-again, off-again jersey sponsorship (for which he gets his company's name on tube jersey, just like every other jersey sponsor).

Face it, the white knight isn't going to ride over the hill. If he was, he would have done so already. Move on.

 

[innsaneink]

Blame shifting is our national pastime, wouldn't surprise me at all. They were dead in the water the day they sold the Leagues Club.

But weren't they selling it to better themselves until Benny and the developer got involved,money changed hands in enormous amounts,the council seemed to dupe them,and this is the result..I honestly think the Balmain RLF thought they were doing the right thing to stay viable…I think they took a punt and the result is pretty poor.I don't really know all the circumstances,but would suggest dirty politics had a massive input.....

They sold it to draw even, clean the slate…they were never and have never been in a position to make decisions for themselves, others have made them for them

 

[innsaneink]

I wonder if Harry is feeling generous….

He could give us one of his Meriton Apartments and we could rebadge it as Tiger Tower. Build a club and a few other facilities/services in there and we'd be laughing.

I feel like puking everytime I read a post about Harry saving the tigers.

Indeed - like he hasn't had the chance to do so for decades and decided against it. When will people get over this fantasy? He's a rich guy who sort of supports the team, and has shown absolutely no inclination whatsoever to give it cash beyond an on-again, off-again jersey sponsorship (for which he gets his company's name on tube jersey, just like every other jersey sponsor).

Face it, the white knight isn't going to ride over the hill. If he was, he would have done so already. Move on.

I think sabres post was taking the pee

 

[TrueTiger]

I was a Balmain boy all my life,trialled for them and only ever saw black and gold,how times change,as sorry as I feel for the great foundation club,and hope they can re coop my real football love is the Wests Tigers..If they were to fold I would no longer follow the NRL,however I was grateful to have been a part of and member of the great Balmain Tigers,I hope things turnout well for them,if not sobeit,many clubs and businesses fold for whatever reason,its a part of life…..

 

[Juro]

How apt that that article was posted on Groundhog Day. I feel like we are Bill Murray going through the same painful events, day after day, year after year.

 

[Geo]

The irony of Balmain's request is that it relies on the Wests Tigers to become self-sufficient….The JV agreement only requires the shareholders to cover the operating loss of the Wests Tigers from year to year and can only contribute what the other can afford..

Their request does not go anywhere in addressing their current debt nor does it answer any questions about Balmain's future capacity to service any on going costs to the Wests Tigers...

The premise being with the increases in grants from the NRL to all Clubs the Wests Tigers will not need to rely on shareholder finances to balance it's books...this is actually a good thing as it means Wests Tigers are self-funding...

2015 believe it or not the Wests Tigers reduced operating costs and it's financial position as an entity is quite solid...the article is also incorrect in saying the Wests Tigers owe the NRL 1.5M...they received an advance from this years grant only as did a number of other Clubs...

 

[Basil_Tiger]

People forget that Balmain could have stood alone,they were in a similar position to Manly & Souths,needed a benefactor/sponsors to ease themselves into a better financial position but the Sydney Tigers fiasco meant the Directors took the easy option of the ARL's pot of fools gold.I won't name any names,other than Alan Jones(LOL),but the Directors were warned some potential backers won't get involved with Wests for a variety of reasons,and thats exactly what happened….what a mess.....

 

[batboy]

The irony of Balmain's request is that it relies on the Wests Tigers to become self-sufficient….The JV agreement only requires the shareholders to cover the operating loss of the Wests Tigers from year to year and can only contribute what the other can afford..

Their request does not go anywhere in addressing their current debt nor does it answer any questions about Balmain's future capacity to service any on going costs to the Wests Tigers...

The premise being with the increases in grants from the NRL to all Clubs the Wests Tigers will not need to rely on shareholder finances to balance it's books...this is actually a good thing as it means Wests Tigers are self-funding...

2015 believe it or not the Wests Tigers reduced operating costs and it's financial position as an entity is quite solid...the article is also incorrect in saying the Wests Tigers owe the NRL 1.5M...they received an advance from this years grant only as did a number of other Clubs...

Problem is - The other clubs are going to use more money to buy better players and improve the club…. We need to do the same, Or we will be in a worse position than we are now.
How they can justify using football money to help Balmain out of debt is beyond me.
It's supposed to be the other way around....

Balmains' debt is based mainly on it's operating costs, Which forever have been more than it's income (Obviously)

 

[hammertime]

I think they've just got to raise the white flag. With the massive debt they've saddled themselves with, they won't be able to match Wests Contributions for the foreseeable future and it will hold WT back from being as strong as they could be.

They only have themselves to blame at the end of the day for 2 main reasons

1) Only talking to 1 developer - Benny - when Harry T was there as an option. Maybe not to have Meriton take it on, but at least to provide them expert guidance and support on how to protect their interests.

2) Not protecting the existing premises with security so they could have moved back in when the Metro deal soured. This was the biggest blunder as far as I'm concerned. I would have got out the SUV and moved the pokies if they couldn't afford the movers back to Rozelle.

 

[balmain boy]

The quicker Leslie Glen leaves Balmain the better. He might mean well, i haven't talked with him for many years now, but his handlings with the club have been poor for some time now. Wests Tigers grants should not be used to prop up Balmain.

I really don't care either way. Balmain has no representation in the NRL. The Magpies don't either. Both teams have ceased to exist in the NRL for sometime and nothing will change that. We are Wests Tigers for now and ever more.

All that changes is the possible make up of the boardroom - which lets face no one really cares who comes from where as long as they make the best decisions possible for the future of the club.

Even if Balmain aren't part of the joint venture they will still be managing their juniors. Ryde Eastwood would still help with juniors and that side of things would remain the same as it is now. And if the leagues club goes ahead, and Glen has actually prepared a smart business plan (unlikely), they could become profitable again.

 

[batboy]

I think they've just got to raise the white flag. With the massive debt they've saddled themselves with, they won't be able to match Wests Contributions for the foreseeable future and it will hold WT back from being as strong as they could be.

They only have themselves to blame at the end of the day for 2 main reasons

1) Only talking to 1 developer - Benny - when Harry T was there as an option. Maybe not to have Meriton take it on, but at least to provide them expert guidance and support on how to protect their interests.

2) Not protecting the existing premises with security so they could have moved back in when the Metro deal soured. This was the biggest blunder as far as I'm concerned. I would have got out the SUV and moved the pokies if they couldn't afford the movers back to Rozelle.

That's the thing though Hammer - They went broke AT Rozelle. They were in debt millions… The only way the new club there will help them out is all the traffic that would be generated from the development. If they had stayed there until the development took off - They'd still be in the same position.

Bennys' deal whilst not ideal, Gave them the clean slate finance wise that Geo referred to. From there they went backwards.
They borrowed millions from the NRL to help them out - From there they've gone backwards again.

That's not even mentioning the fact they needed to merge with Wests to survive.... Even though they apparently "Made the Cut" to survive alone, How would they have... The NRL gave them and Wests 8 mil (Or whatever it was to Merge) AND THEY BLEW THAT MONEY AS WELL!!!!

To hell with them I say - Multi million dollar organisations shouldn't be run by Old Football Players.

 

[Yossarian]

Rozelle was a going concern before council advised the club to buy up land. And the development was on track until the GFC.

Balmain did not need to merge with WM but it was the sensible option at the time. In terms of club backing a standalone Balmain would be on par with Newcastle, NQ or even Souths. Plus they would have been better placed to privatise. This is not to say I disagree with what took place in terms of the JV but I think your assessment is overly harsh.

Now whether WT should assist keeping Balmain afloat is an interesting question. If Balmain has no direct interest in WT there's nothing to stop the juniors affiliating with a different NRL club. So bye bye the Sironens, Mitch Moses, Luke Brooks, Robbie Farah etc etc. Our ability to attract and retain outside talent is already poor. Losing a vital junior feed could be a total disaster.