CEO - Shane Richardson

[bptiger 0]

I am looking to throw blame where it belongs.

Can someone tell me what Richo’s role is.

Our roster is crap with massive amounts of deadwood. Despite a mid season trip to England we have got rid of no one $ brought no one in. Does richo manage our roster? What is he delivering? His English sojourn looks to have delivered as much as a Pascoe mid season holiday. Difference appears to be that it is likely the club paid for richo because he was working.

Did the Hodgson appointment go through him? If next year is a failure will he acknowledge his role, or blame it on benji and the assistants that have now been appointed under his watch.

I am expecting another crap year next year with attempts to downplay results as a long term effort (5 year plan) and developing juniors while the best of those juniors walk out for opportunities elsewhere.

Richo’s performance next year should be judged based on:
- results. Do we improve.
- whether Benji survives and despite the backing he is shown to not be up to the job at hand
- do the young players re-signed under him kick on or has his judgement been misplaced. This probably comes back to the question of what his involvement is in shaping the roster.
- can he keep the youngsters that are expected to be our future. Based on the hype around Large that is fail so far. The true test will be extending Galvin before November next year.

I hope I’m wrong, but at this stage I am not sold on him. The structure above him is crap and what he has delivered appears to be on par with the previous poor bastards that had to work under that.

I agree with u 100% , we got I think 2 million cap space and we have signed , let’s face it two average players , why the hell didn’t we go for the knights frontrower or RCG , at least they could play big minutes and are good defenders. So unless Richo has a ACE up his ar**** I can see another comment so year

 

[BZN]

Throw it at the circus clowns that created the quagmire that was Wests Tigers at the end of 2023. The clowns that appointed Sheens, who annointed Benji and signed the contracts that got us to where we are now.

Richo had no control over what would happen in 2024. The roster and coaching staff had already been contracted and the wooden spoon well withing our grasp before he was appointed.

I'm not putting Richo up on a pedestal as he has done a couple of dumb things (approving the Brooks statement being the dumbest). However, what he has done is:

• Developed a strategy with clear goals
• Cleared out some of the deadwood that didn't want to be here
• Put meat on the bones of the Pathways programme
• Provided some clear leadership guidance and allowed staff to get on with the job.

He can't control, without stuffing up the cap or wasting money: the contracted players who don't want to leave or; the quality of applicants we get for positions we need to fill (players and coaching staff).

2024 was all about stabilising the sinking ship and providing the foundation for the strategy that was unveiled. He supports Benji because he is on the same page - 2024 was never about winning. It was all about assessing what we have and making decisons on who to cull and who to bring on.

The club decided to move ICE on - clearly it was decided that he wasn't worth the effort. We decided to let Large go despite him being contracted so we have to assume there is a plan linked to that decision. Richo has clearly indicated that we are trying to offload some players and make some signings that will address our shortfalls. That may not be achievable in the immediate future so we will probably have to carry some deadwood in 2025 or kick in $ to move players elsewhere if the cap allows.

We haven't done too bad in the market for wooden spooners, so clearly there are players out there that can see the path ahead and are keen to be part of the "new dawn".

Do we have coaches and assistiants banging the doors down yet? Not a chance; why would they? They will be tainted if there are a couple of false starts and big falls over the next couple of years. Which, let's face reality, has a high probability of occurring. Let Benji and Richo do all the hard work of building the foundation and when the seeds that have been planted start to shoot then the Ciraldo's of this worls will want to part of it; to be the saviour of Wests Tigers. That is if we need them; what is to say that Benji doesn't come good, or that Hodgo's experience in SL/Rugby sets him up for success down the track.

In short it is way too early to be laying the blame for our current state of affairs at the feet of Richo. Benji can take a bit of the heat, but the shit show that was 2024 was born in a circus tent that had a disfunctional board as a ring master and two clowns running the show.

2024 wasn't pretty but laying the foundation was essential. 2025 we should be starting to see the rewards for the pain of 2024, but there is every possibility that it will still be a lean year. I can't see us making real strides in the competition until 2026, but I would love to be surprised!

Excellent post Jolls, and I agree with most of it.
What I don't agree with though is your statement re. Brooks.

Imo, he was consistently one of our best players over a period of 10 years and has gone on to better things with Manly and I'm happy for him and content that he has achieved that.

Did he perform to the amount of $$$ we were paying him, unfortunately not, but he seldom had the quality players around him to bring out his best consistently.

Everyone needs someone around them to help them be the best person they can be.
I can tell you from personal experience that there is 1 person on this forum that has recently helped me to think more positive about myself.
How many marriages fail because the person they chose as a partner failed to bring out their best, so ultimately brought out their worst.

What's wrong with sending Brooks good wishes?
I reckon that was a thoughtful act by Richo of sportsmanship, good will, just plain common decency, that we are a club that doesn't hold grudges against our long serving players, and therefore helped to show we are a positive and friendly club.
Surely, that can't be dumb.

 

[happy_tiger]

Far out tough crowd, he has delivered Luai. Let the results speak for themselves, no way we come last in 2025

You more confident than an I am for 2025

We don't find at least 1 and hopefully 2 props and a back rower and we will struggle to avoid the timber again

 

[weststigerman]

So according to Richo there is nothing wrong with the coaching staff. Last in NRL, NRLW, NSW Cup is all on the roster apparently.

 

[Jolls]

Excellent post Jolls, and I agree with most of it.
What I don't agree with though is your statement re. Brooks.

Imo, he was consistently one of our best players over a period of 10 years and has gone on to better things with Manly and I'm happy for him and content that he has achieved that.

Did he perform to the amount of $$$ we were paying him, unfortunately not, but he seldom had the quality players around him to bring out his best consistently.

Everyone needs someone around them to help them be the best person they can be.
I can tell you from personal experience that there is 1 person on this forum that has recently helped me to think more positive about myself.
How many marriages fail because the person they chose as a partner failed to bring out their best, so ultimately brought out their worst.

What's wrong with sending Brooks good wishes?
I reckon that was a thoughtful act by Richo of sportsmanship, good will, just plain common decency, that we are a club that doesn't hold grudges against our long serving players, and therefore helped to show we are a positive and friendly club.
Surely, that can't be dumb.

I see your point and agree with the sentiment. I think the execution was poor though and the associated media attention unwarranted. This is where Richo should have called him personally and, if he wanted attention for the club, had someone leak to the media. Same outcome, positive media spin through the different execution.

 

[Jolls]

So according to Richo there is nothing wrong with the coaching staff. Last in NRL, NRLW, NSW Cup is all on the roster apparently.

You are only using the ladder as the assessment metric. You have to remember that the coaching staff and rosters were not of his doing. What were the KPI's besides ladder position. Given that across the grades we had many individuals playing up a level we clearly weren't measuring success in terms of winning trophies or ladder positions. If this was the case we would have fielded strong representative teams in the lower grades and let NRL and Cup play with the experience they had.

Right or wrong in our eyes doesn't matter. 2024 wasn't about winning - it was about developing the foundation to build from. Totally different metric and if they have met the planning guidance they have achieved. It is hard to watch another rebuild start to unfold, but that is where we are at.

 

[Lestronge]

You are only using the ladder as the assessment metric. You have to remember that the coaching staff and rosters were not of his doing. What were the KPI's besides ladder position. Given that across the grades we had many individuals playing up a level we clearly weren't measuring success in terms of winning trophies or ladder positions. If this was the case we would have fielded strong representative teams in the lower grades and let NRL and Cup play with the experience they had.

Right or wrong in our eyes doesn't matter. 2024 wasn't about winning - it was about developing the foundation to build from. Totally different metric and if they have met the planning guidance they have achieved. It is hard to watch another rebuild start to unfold, but that is where we are at.

I’ve said it before . When you rob Peter to pay Paul there’s a cost . We robbed our lower grade teams re. The flegg and NSW cup , to supplement an underperforming nrl team . Injuries also were mot kind throughout all grades .
The flegg team for example were killing it in the first half of the season , then they got cannibalised for the top grade .
They ended up fielding the an almost second string flegg side for the second half of the season . It took a long time for the flegg players to step up to NSW cup as well . They got there towards the end of the season but it was too little too late .
And people including Balmain as apart of the “last in X grades” argument is very political . Considering the other half of the juniors wests , were very successful . But once again we had 4-5 sg ball eligible players in any given week training with the nrl team .
It’s just too complicated to even remotely assess . Hopefully next year we are kissed kinder by the injury gods , everyone stays to thier respective level and we can get a far better gauge on how our lower grades are really going .

 

[TSP]

@BZN i saw your remarks earlier.

I think you are right to adopt a more optimistic view of life.

And so far as I know everybody here wants us to succeed but have quite different views as to how we get there, the actors, the theatre and the big calls.

And we are a passionate lot.

I chose to support the Wests Tigers because the whole show, the chaos, the mess, the high times…well it was all just too seductive and irresistible.

Anyway, I think you are very positive and get things quicker than others.

 

[Jolls]

I’ve said it before . When you rob Peter to pay Paul there’s a cost . We robbed our lower grade teams re. The flegg and NSW cup , to supplement an underperforming nrl team . Injuries also were mot kind throughout all grades .
The flegg team for example were killing it in the first half of the season , then they got cannibalised for the top grade .
They ended up fielding the an almost second string flegg side for the second half of the season . It took a long time for the flegg players to step up to NSW cup as well . They got there towards the end of the season but it was too little too late .
And people including Balmain as apart of the “last in X grades” argument is very political . Considering the other half of the juniors wests , were very successful . But once again we had 4-5 sg ball eligible players in any given week training with the nrl team .
It’s just too complicated to even remotely assess . Hopefully next year we are kissed kinder by the injury gods , everyone stays to thier respective level and we can get a far better gauge on how our lower grades are really going .

You are on the money, the strategy this year really played havoc with the overall outcome for the club(s). However, if the plan was to assess the juniors to see who could/should be fast tracked, who should be developed and what are depth really is then we probably did OK.

I was happy to see that there have been aound 300 pathways mapped so the ball is now in their court and we have plans in place to develop them. This is a good start, now we need to focus on getting some of that into the NRL at a suitable pace. The fast track will help us short term but we really need to be developing them at a much slower rate in line with succession. Some will naturally gett here much earlier, some of the forward will need more time to develop physically and some will not have the maturity to cope.

2025 should be the start of the climb off the bottom; I trust that we will nbe making real strides in 2026.

 

[cktiger]

Excellent post Jolls, and I agree with most of it.
What I don't agree with though is your statement re. Brooks.

Imo, he was consistently one of our best players over a period of 10 years and has gone on to better things with Manly and I'm happy for him and content that he has achieved that.

Did he perform to the amount of $$$ we were paying him, unfortunately not, but he seldom had the quality players around him to bring out his best consistently.

Everyone needs someone around them to help them be the best person they can be.
I can tell you from personal experience that there is 1 person on this forum that has recently helped me to think more positive about myself.
How many marriages fail because the person they chose as a partner failed to bring out their best, so ultimately brought out their worst.

What's wrong with sending Brooks good wishes?
I reckon that was a thoughtful act by Richo of sportsmanship, good will, just plain common decency, that we are a club that doesn't hold grudges against our long serving players, and therefore helped to show we are a positive and friendly club.
Surely, that can't be dumb.

It's dumb as dogshit.... especially when you've got a very long list of ex players.
Does everyone of them get a turn to be lauded for leaving?

 

[colinbh]

It's dumb as dogshit.... especially when you've got a very long list of ex players.
Does everyone of them get a turn to be lauded for leaving?

Gratitude, decency, friendship. Look them up. Check out humility while you're at it.

 

[cktiger]

Gratitude, decency, friendship. Look them up. Check out humility while you're at it.

All very good… may I also suggest pandering, unwarranted and undeserved to the list

 

[BAGNF05]

Excellent post Jolls, and I agree with most of it.
What I don't agree with though is your statement re. Brooks.

Imo, he was consistently one of our best players over a period of 10 years and has gone on to better things with Manly and I'm happy for him and content that he has achieved that.

Did he perform to the amount of $$$ we were paying him, unfortunately not, but he seldom had the quality players around him to bring out his best consistently.

Everyone needs someone around them to help them be the best person they can be.
I can tell you from personal experience that there is 1 person on this forum that has recently helped me to think more positive about myself.
How many marriages fail because the person they chose as a partner failed to bring out their best, so ultimately brought out their worst.

What's wrong with sending Brooks good wishes?
I reckon that was a thoughtful act by Richo of sportsmanship, good will, just plain common decency, that we are a club that doesn't hold grudges against our long serving players, and therefore helped to show we are a positive and friendly club.
Surely, that can't be dumb.

Well said. A 200 gamer at any club is probably a future life member, and should be treated with that level of respect. It’s how good clubs are built.

 

[TIGERS]

I’ve said it before . When you rob Peter to pay Paul there’s a cost . We robbed our lower grade teams re. The flegg and NSW cup , to supplement an underperforming nrl team . Injuries also were mot kind throughout all grades .
The flegg team for example were killing it in the first half of the season , then they got cannibalised for the top grade .
They ended up fielding the an almost second string flegg side for the second half of the season . It took a long time for the flegg players to step up to NSW cup as well . They got there towards the end of the season but it was too little too late .
And people including Balmain as apart of the “last in X grades” argument is very political . Considering the other half of the juniors wests , were very successful . But once again we had 4-5 sg ball eligible players in any given week training with the nrl team .
It’s just too complicated to even remotely assess . Hopefully next year we are kissed kinder by the injury gods , everyone stays to thier respective level and we can get a far better gauge on how our lower grades are really going .

This post is too intelligent and nuanced for this forum. Correlation means causation here.

 

[cktiger]

Well said. A 200 gamer at any club is probably a future life member, and should be treated with that level of respect. It’s how good clubs are built.

He was a dud. Did zilch to build the club.

 

[Merlot]

All Hale Richo D Great,n his little side kick Benjie - what r the odds of that paying of -fkn massive outcome allround -fingers X'd

 

[balmain boy]

I’ve said it before . When you rob Peter to pay Paul there’s a cost . We robbed our lower grade teams re. The flegg and NSW cup , to supplement an underperforming nrl team . Injuries also were mot kind throughout all grades .
The flegg team for example were killing it in the first half of the season , then they got cannibalised for the top grade .
They ended up fielding the an almost second string flegg side for the second half of the season . It took a long time for the flegg players to step up to NSW cup as well . They got there towards the end of the season but it was too little too late .
And people including Balmain as apart of the “last in X grades” argument is very political . Considering the other half of the juniors wests , were very successful . But once again we had 4-5 sg ball eligible players in any given week training with the nrl team .
It’s just too complicated to even remotely assess . Hopefully next year we are kissed kinder by the injury gods , everyone stays to thier respective level and we can get a far better gauge on how our lower grades are really going .

Yes of course our extreme incompetence from our previous management left us with massive holes that we couldn't dig ourselves out of immediately. No excuses in 2025.

However to say including Balmain in our poor performance is political is just plain wrong. We are fielding sides that represent our club. When we totally neglect half of these sides it reflects very poorly on Wests Tigers. Balmain had the worst rosters in Ball and Matts that i've ever seen. It certainly appeared that Wests Ashfield were playing bigtime political games with Balmain junior reps. Every side we send out should be packed with talented players with the potential to push on through the grades. Local boys and girls where possible, but recruiting from country areas and interstate/overseas where appropriate too.

 

[innsaneink]

Balmain jnr reps don't have open trials any more?
Used to get a lot of kids that missed out at parra Penrith manly to. These trials

 

[Lestronge]

Yes of course our extreme incompetence from our previous management left us with massive holes that we couldn't dig ourselves out of immediately. No excuses in 2025.

However to say including Balmain in our poor performance is political is just plain wrong. We are fielding sides that represent our club. When we totally neglect half of these sides it reflects very poorly on Wests Tigers. Balmain had the worst rosters in Ball and Matts that i've ever seen. It certainly appeared that Wests Ashfield were playing bigtime political games with Balmain junior reps. Every side we send out should be packed with talented players with the potential to push on through the grades. Local boys and girls where possible, but recruiting from country areas and interstate/overseas where appropriate too.

Wasn’t it less wests Ashfield , and a certain coach with questionable ideas around roster / players . At least in sg ball.

 

[TIGERS]

“We're not like any other NRL club, and we don't want to be like any other club. We’re outlaws,” -Shane Richardson.

The man is a genius.