@Benjirific said:
It may not mean the end, but I would have grave doubts about the state of our club if it was run solely by the Wests Group. **You only need to look at what happened to the Magpies when they went to Campbelltown and how they have functioned administratively recently to see they have problems running the show.** I also wouldn't put it past them to try and re-start the Magpies. If you think there is infighting now, just wait until the various Wests Group members get fighting.
Let's just clarify a couple of things:
1\. When Western Suburbs moved to Campbelltown, it was probably a tad early (1987). The area had a large junior pool, but predominantly up to ages 13 & 14\. It was always going to be a slow burn with the development of both the juniors and the market itself. Developing markets is difficult work and it was left to Wests - Arko and co provided no assistance.
2\. The club actually began to thrive in the area in 1996 & 1997\. The major issue was the Super League war and not changing the name of the club to "Macarthur". Player wages went off the scale and Wests Ashfield, as they had since Masters' days, refused to pump more money into player wages. Player retention was impossible and the club relied heavily on local juniors, many of which were not ready for first grade. Interestingly, those tough decisions by Wests Ashfield are now paying large dividends.
3\. Prior to 1999, it was the Western Suburbs Football Club with complete administrative and board control whilst funded by the Leagues clubs. As noted above, it was an uphill task and the Football club probably did not have people of sufficient talent to tackle these issues. In saying that, IF (and I actually think it to be impossible) Balmain was to fall out of the JV, it would be the **Wests Group** that would take ownership, not the Western Suburbs Football club. The current board structure of the Wests Group is as follows:
Wests Ashfield: 60%
Wests Campbelltown: 20%
Wests Football Club: 20%
As pointed out by other posts, it would be envisaged that there would be no change to the brand, administration, home grounds etc. It would just be a change in the ownership structure with the majority of the ownership residing with two very successful businesses.
Wests Ashfield appoints a couple of directors to the football club. Issues between Wests Campbelltown and the Football club have been slowly resolved. There would be minimal infighting.
@Benjirific said:
I think it's underestimated how important David Trodden is to the whole set-up. He seems to have plenty of pull with the NRL (he is the spokesperson for all of the clubs) and is on the NSW board as well, and if Balmain were to fold it could mean we lose a good relationship with the NRL and other clubs. I've never really heard of Mike Bailey or any of the Wests directors on the WT board having any relationship with the NRL or any other club, even when he is the Chairman. Is that a situation we really want to be in?
I think this to be a non issue. Although were you aware an ex Western Suburbs director was put forward as a candidate for the NRL Commission (Jim Marsden), but was rejected to appease the red necks?
