CEO - Shane Richardson

[Merlot]

Yes, we seem to be at opposite ends of the membership spectrum.

I’m ok you’re happily dining out on club news and youre content.

And the fact you’ve signed on, I can take your comments much more seriously. I salute thee.

But as you can see, I expect more.

And if the spoon isn’t bad enough and the catastrophic mayhem of the recent seasons, I think it’s up to Richo and his entourage to take members requests and concerns very seriously.

And if he’s out there trying to encourage new memberships with promises of occasional communications to him, my experience is that he’s simply not being candid about it.

Now I can appreciate when he promises things that he might truly believe in and they fail but…..when he’s got things in his control he doesn’t deliver on, it’s in the clubs best interests that he should be called out.

Weve had enough of subterfuge and idiots thinking they are in a James Bond movie at the club, we need truth and transparency in about as many things as we can manage ( ie without compromising our roster ambitions etc).

If he’s not going to engage with members, he should just tell us so we aren’t wasting out time. Do us a favour instead of being selfish and slack.

Never settle for second best in these matters I think. Especially as a club member. We may at be unyielding and resolute.

Being apathetic and happy clappers gave us the Lee tenure and everything we didn’t want. We can’t let the club down again.

And being a member, yes, as @Merlot spoke to that for me.

your OCD;s are on you buddy as are your CEO;s

 

[mtd#2]

I don't know if his health has had an impact on his ability to be more engaged with members, but I have seen him at events making genuine effort to engage with people.

some people get upset that he doesnt personally respond to every email lol

 

[TSP]

Some people get disappointed when they are promised a response, don’t get one, chase them up …but still don’t get one.

Then they become recipients of relentless emails asking them for support and more money.

And learn that a former player playing for a rival club gets a dose of high praise without even asking.

Maybe if I become a member of a rival club, I’ll finally get my response!

 

[mtd#2]

Some people get disappointed when they are promised a response, don’t get one, chase them up …but still don’t get one.

Then they become recipients of relentless emails asking them for support and more money.

And learn that a former player playing for a rival club gets a dose of high praise without even asking.

Maybe if I become a member of a rival club, I’ll finally get my response!

Go for it

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Be glad it ain't the ATO

 

[innsaneink]

Some people get disappointed when they are promised a response, don’t get one, chase them up …but still don’t get one.

Then they become recipients of relentless emails asking them for support and more money.

And learn that a former player playing for a rival club gets a dose of high praise without even asking.

Maybe if I become a member of a rival club, I’ll finally get my response!

Pretty sure he said he would "talk" to supporters if they were members.... Not reply to emails which I'm sure he'd recieved hundreds each week

 

[TSP]

Pretty sure he said he would "talk" to supporters if they were members.... Not reply to emails which I'm sure he'd recieved hundreds each week

Perhaps, but I got an acknowledgement and a promise of a reply which he then didn’t follow through on.

So I don’t find the undertakings reliable.

Maybe he’s in a continuing dialogue with other members?

 

[innsaneink]

Perhaps, but I got an acknowledgement and a promise of a reply which he then didn’t follow through on.

So I don’t find the undertakings reliable.

Maybe he’s in a continuing dialogue with other members?

Yeah I'm calling BS here

I really can't see him saying :I promise to get back to you"
He would do it there and then...

You need to let this go

 

[TSP]

Yeah I'm calling BS here

I really can't see him saying :I promise to get back to you"
He would do it there and then...

You need to let this go

I’ll let it go if and when he responds.

 

[innsaneink]

He's not replying to you.
Most people would realise this.
Youre emails.probably been blocked.

You've been on about this for months.... do you seriously think he's gonna dig up an old email from back then

Your just hanging onto this to have a continual crack at him

 

[TSP]

He's not replying to you.
Most people would realise this.
Youre emails.probably been blocked.

You've been on about this for months.... do you seriously think he's gonna dig up an old email from back then

Your just hanging onto this to have a continual crack at him

No you don’t have all the details and I’m not giving them to you.

I’ve been more than happy to praise him when it’s due. Ie his spoon bowl conduct, saving Galvo, I like the new home ground arrangements etc.

But he should respond to members.

Especially now, we are on the club’s robo-debt member scheme. Automatic renewals unless we opt out.

I don’t remember agreeing to that when I signed up, but I’m not running off to ASIC.

 

[cochise]

No you don’t have all the details and I’m not giving them to you.

I’ve been more than happy to praise him when it’s due. Ie his spoon bowl conduct, saving Galvo, I like the new home ground arrangements etc.

But he should respond to members.

Especially now, we are on the club’s robo-debt member scheme. Automatic renewals unless we opt out.

I don’t remember agreeing to that when I signed up, but I’m not running off to ASIC.

You can turn off the auto renewal.

 

[TSP]

You can turn off the auto renewal.

Yes that’s true and its open to any member if they want to.

Originally the dog and I contracted as soon as we could…. following the inspiring knee capping and uplifting public humiliation of Lee and Co.

There at the gates of the COE, I was ready to set the dog on the rascals if they didn’t go quietly.

Woofy lifted his leg on Lees Fereri as he drove off in a rage, spitting on us.

But we thought membership was an annual thing, maybe there was some fine print we missed.

 

[Groundup]

Yes that’s true and its open to any member if they want to.

Originally the dog and I contracted as soon as we could…. following the inspiring knee capping and uplifting public humiliation of Lee and Co. Rivers of blood at the COE.

We thought it was an annual thing, maybe there was some fine print we missed.

Anyway, @Merlot seems to have made up our minds for 2025. Im not sure he meant to, but life is like that.

You need some balance. Do you remember when football was fun? Go back to that place. 80 minutes on Sunday then Move on. I Hate what footballs become, I hate hearing “it’s a business these days” from wealthy 23 year olds. These days….please. But I love watching the tigers, I'm mostly disappointed with results but as a tigers fan what we have more than any other club fan is ooodles of hope. Nobody has more hope than us 😁 an email won’t give you any joy

 

[TSP]

You need some balance. Do you remember when football was fun? Go back to that place. 80 minutes on Sunday then Move on. I Hate what footballs become, I hate hearing “it’s a business these days” from wealthy 23 year olds. These days….please. But I love watching the tigers, I'm mostly disappointed with results but as a tigers fan what we have more than any other club fan is ooodles of hope. Nobody has more hope than us 😁 an email won’t give you any joy

It’s not really a joy thing, I think it’s an accountability thing. I think we should be relentless about lifting club standards, because it helps on the field. The joy will follow when we get the office in order.

It takes an extraordinary amount of hope to support the Wests Tigers, it tests us every season.

We need to keeping trying to turn that hope and reality.

That’s how I see it.

And sometimes that means we have to shine a light on things we’d rather not.

 

[Harvey]

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.

 

[Fainu Brothers]

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

 

[Harvey]

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

At $1.4m per year. Does that make him the highest paid half in the competition?

Hope he plays like it.

I think he will massively improve the culture, but if results don’t back that up, he will be a target

 

[finnzo]

Wait until the start of next seasons before judging Richos performance. The seasons hasn’t even ended yet last time everything went quit there was a bunch of quality signings happening in the back ground. This bloke has had success at every club he’s been at give the bloke a chance. He has never been sacked from any nrl club that is super rare.
HE HASN’T EVEN BEEN HERE A YEAR
Not to mention previous management was probably some of the worst in nrl history it’s gonna take a while for him to be able to make his mark

 

[Jolls]

I am looking to throw blame where it belongs.

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!