mikey
Well-known member
Ignore is your friend.
HBG, Independent Directors Sacked
- Thread starter BlackWhiteGold
- Start date
mikey
Well-known member
Accept. Give the message from a disgruntled fan's perspective.
BAGNF05
Well-known member
$34m in 25 years from our owners. No wonder we’re in a coma.When John Singleton was engaging with the Bears to take over management rights of NSW’s Central Coast stadium after their joint venture with Manly collapsed, he bemoaned to me: “Where’s the strongman over at North Sydney I can negotiate with?”
NRL club Wests Tigers, another joint-venture club formed following the Super League war, has the same problem.
As Brian Cook, a Western Suburbs player during my time coaching at the Magpies, said of the fragile relationship with fellow 1908 foundation club Balmain, “There’s no JR Ewing running the show” – a reference to the fictional character in the US sitcom, Dallas.
Wests Tigers is 90 per cent owned by the Magpies’ licensed club, Wests Ashfield, whose parent company is the Holman Barnes Group.
That group also owns licensed clubs at Flemington Markets and Croydon, and will control one planned for Rozelle on the site of the old Balmain Leagues Club.
The choice of the name, Holman Barnes – after former Wests halfback Keith Holman and former Balmain fullback Keith Barnes – is designed to reflect the equality of the joint venture, despite Balmain owning only 10 per cent.
Barry O’Farrell, Charlie Viola and Michelle McDowell were appointed as chair and independent directors of Wests Tigers in January.Credit:Steven Siewert
Wests Ashfield, after settling all Balmain’s debts, gifted them their share and fund their junior teams.
It’s not as if the HBG directors are opposed to a strongman “running the show”. There have been overtures to John Coates, the former 30-year chair of the Australian Olympic Committee and a recently retired senior vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, to be drafted in as boss.
Coates is a lifelong Magpie but respects the Balmain legacy. His roots are so strong that he recently made a rare visit to Sydney from the Gold Coast, where he now lives, to attend a 60-year reunion of the Waratah Shield-winning team of his alma mater, Homebush Boys High School.
However, Coates’s battles with ill health and his need to be close to planning for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics forced him to decline. “I’d love to see the club do well, particularly with our vast catchment area of talent,” he said.
Wests Tigers have received $34 million in subsidies from the licensed clubs in the 25 years since the joint venture was formed. Basically, the Holman Barnes Group directors want to be consulted on commercial decisions in return.
This resulted in the move last week to oust four independent directors of the NRL club, including chairman Barry O’Farrell, a former NSW premier, ahead of a board restructure. The HBG directors were particularly riled at having been shut out of stadia policy decisions and details of the contract of the now former Wests Tigers chief executive, Shane Richardson.
On Thursday, O’Farrell and fellow directors Annabelle Williams and Michelle McDowell agreed to return to their posts after an intervention by Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys. The fourth, Charlie Viola, is not expected to return.
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Wests Ashfield directors learnt of a whistleblower complaint against Richardson only after V’landys met with HBG chief executive Daniel Paton following the board sackings. A frustrated Richardson resigned from his post, unable to work with the owners.
The dismissal of the independent directors was ridiculed across NRL land, particularly with two Wests-aligned directors – HBG chair Dennis Burgess and Magpies general manager Leo Epifania – sitting on the Wests Tigers board.
Epifania insists they were not privy to some decisions. He cites a 15-year agreement to play games at an upgraded Leichhardt Oval.
“The south-west corridor is one of the biggest growth areas in Australia,” he said. “While important progress has been made, we would like to see the bigger picture and map out how a rugby league gold mine can provide Wests Tigers with long-term success.”
Epifania acknowledges Richardson negotiated a $50 million upgrade of Campbelltown Sports Stadium with Campbelltown City Council and launched a junior Centre of Excellence with Macarthur University to help develop the rich seam of football talent in the region.
Epifania, who played 117 games for the Magpies, including 24 in first grade, insists there has never been an agenda to oust Balmain from the joint venture. “There is no intention for Wests Magpies to return as a standalone club in the NRL. It’s never been discussed,” he said.
Former Holman Barnes Group director Tony Andreacchio with current chair Dennis Burgess back in 2021.Credit:Edwina Pickles
“The only contention that regularly arises is the fact Wests Magpies have never been respected in the joint venture and always tainted as the bad guys. An opportunity to discuss a fairer representation would go a long way in ending 25 years of war.”
Epifania rejects any notion that Burgess, a board member of Wests Ashfield for 20 years, is a devious, Machiavellian character, responsible for sacking rivals. In November last year, long-term Wests Ashfield directors Rick Wayde and Tony Andreacchio, as well as Dave Gilbert, were sacked, followed by chair Julie Romero.
The three directors were punted for “not acting as directors,” a nebulous catch-all crime equivalent to the NRL’s “bringing the game into disrepute”.
With his long, platinum hair and background as a bass guitarist with rock band The Masters Apprentices, Burgess doesn’t look like some shadowy puppeteer.
He is one of 20 debenture holders who control HBG via a constitution that demands five of the debenture holders hold seven of the board seats at Ashfield. The 1956 founders of the club deliberately structured it this way to ensure the club continued to propagate rugby league, particularly the Magpies brand.
Debentures are held for five years, with the 20 holders voting directors on and off the island.
Epifania, a recent debenture holder, says, “There have been many attempts to tamper with the debenture system, but it would just cause more damage than good. The club is very clear on its purpose, and most debenture holders understand that life and people change, so they must always be open-minded about the direction the club is heading.”
Mick Liubinskas, another HBG director who has been a debenture holder since 2009, played 122 top games for Wests and spent one season at Balmain (1979). He backs Epifania’s comments, saying: “Debenture holders with personal interests, or who are motivated in securing power and votes, are not acting in the best interests of the club. It’s a system that needs to be protected.”
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He points out the Magpies football club and licensed Ashfield club have “never been more united”.
Essentially, the debenture system is little different from the system at the ARLC, where directors vote themselves back on. The difference, of course, is that the ARLC has a strongman in chair V’landys, who is acceptable to stakeholders, while HBG does not.
Given the obligation Holman Barnes has to its 20 debenture holders to propagate rugby league, it’s difficult to see the directors agreeing to a Wests Tigers board that does not have them controlling the purse strings.
Sound financial stewardship has seen the group hold over $30m in cash, including the revenue from the successful Markets club – which, ironically, was once owned by Balmain.
O’Farrell is returning as chair for a third time – another irony considering Wests Tigers have been mired in political turmoil for a quarter-century. Meanwhile, the club will presumably await the arrival of a coat of only three colours: black, white and a gold that isn’t too close to the old Balmain jumper.
supercoach
Well-known member
Benji has a get out of jail card in his back pocket if 2026 goes pear shape. The media and everyone else will be pointing their finger at the boardroom…and rightly so. To think the last week’s drama will have no effect on the club would be naive
Canberratiger
Well-known member
New intro song for the podcast!
Tired Tiger
Well-known member
100% less than 1.5 million a year and we turned a profit.
I honestly believe they don't want us making a profit for 2 reasons.
1. They loose the ability to use the club as a tax write off.
2. They don't have any access to the profits the football club makes.
It's only about money and power for these jokers, they don't care or want a successful football club......
I honestly believe they don't want us making a profit for 2 reasons.
1. They loose the ability to use the club as a tax write off.
2. They don't have any access to the profits the football club makes.
It's only about money and power for these jokers, they don't care or want a successful football club......
hammertime
Well-known member
I feel like I need a shower after reading that article.When John Singleton was engaging with the Bears to take over management rights of NSW’s Central Coast stadium after their joint venture with Manly collapsed, he bemoaned to me: “Where’s the strongman over at North Sydney I can negotiate with?”
NRL club Wests Tigers, another joint-venture club formed following the Super League war, has the same problem.
As Brian Cook, a Western Suburbs player during my time coaching at the Magpies, said of the fragile relationship with fellow 1908 foundation club Balmain, “There’s no JR Ewing running the show” – a reference to the fictional character in the US sitcom, Dallas.
Wests Tigers is 90 per cent owned by the Magpies’ licensed club, Wests Ashfield, whose parent company is the Holman Barnes Group.
That group also owns licensed clubs at Flemington Markets and Croydon, and will control one planned for Rozelle on the site of the old Balmain Leagues Club.
The choice of the name, Holman Barnes – after former Wests halfback Keith Holman and former Balmain fullback Keith Barnes – is designed to reflect the equality of the joint venture, despite Balmain owning only 10 per cent.
Barry O’Farrell, Charlie Viola and Michelle McDowell were appointed as chair and independent directors of Wests Tigers in January.Credit:Steven Siewert
Wests Ashfield, after settling all Balmain’s debts, gifted them their share and fund their junior teams.
It’s not as if the HBG directors are opposed to a strongman “running the show”. There have been overtures to John Coates, the former 30-year chair of the Australian Olympic Committee and a recently retired senior vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, to be drafted in as boss.
Coates is a lifelong Magpie but respects the Balmain legacy. His roots are so strong that he recently made a rare visit to Sydney from the Gold Coast, where he now lives, to attend a 60-year reunion of the Waratah Shield-winning team of his alma mater, Homebush Boys High School.
However, Coates’s battles with ill health and his need to be close to planning for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics forced him to decline. “I’d love to see the club do well, particularly with our vast catchment area of talent,” he said.
Wests Tigers have received $34 million in subsidies from the licensed clubs in the 25 years since the joint venture was formed. Basically, the Holman Barnes Group directors want to be consulted on commercial decisions in return.
This resulted in the move last week to oust four independent directors of the NRL club, including chairman Barry O’Farrell, a former NSW premier, ahead of a board restructure. The HBG directors were particularly riled at having been shut out of stadia policy decisions and details of the contract of the now former Wests Tigers chief executive, Shane Richardson.
On Thursday, O’Farrell and fellow directors Annabelle Williams and Michelle McDowell agreed to return to their posts after an intervention by Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys. The fourth, Charlie Viola, is not expected to return.
Loading
Wests Ashfield directors learnt of a whistleblower complaint against Richardson only after V’landys met with HBG chief executive Daniel Paton following the board sackings. A frustrated Richardson resigned from his post, unable to work with the owners.
The dismissal of the independent directors was ridiculed across NRL land, particularly with two Wests-aligned directors – HBG chair Dennis Burgess and Magpies general manager Leo Epifania – sitting on the Wests Tigers board.
Epifania insists they were not privy to some decisions. He cites a 15-year agreement to play games at an upgraded Leichhardt Oval.
“The south-west corridor is one of the biggest growth areas in Australia,” he said. “While important progress has been made, we would like to see the bigger picture and map out how a rugby league gold mine can provide Wests Tigers with long-term success.”
Epifania acknowledges Richardson negotiated a $50 million upgrade of Campbelltown Sports Stadium with Campbelltown City Council and launched a junior Centre of Excellence with Macarthur University to help develop the rich seam of football talent in the region.
Epifania, who played 117 games for the Magpies, including 24 in first grade, insists there has never been an agenda to oust Balmain from the joint venture. “There is no intention for Wests Magpies to return as a standalone club in the NRL. It’s never been discussed,” he said.
Former Holman Barnes Group director Tony Andreacchio with current chair Dennis Burgess back in 2021.Credit:Edwina Pickles
“The only contention that regularly arises is the fact Wests Magpies have never been respected in the joint venture and always tainted as the bad guys. An opportunity to discuss a fairer representation would go a long way in ending 25 years of war.”
Epifania rejects any notion that Burgess, a board member of Wests Ashfield for 20 years, is a devious, Machiavellian character, responsible for sacking rivals. In November last year, long-term Wests Ashfield directors Rick Wayde and Tony Andreacchio, as well as Dave Gilbert, were sacked, followed by chair Julie Romero.
The three directors were punted for “not acting as directors,” a nebulous catch-all crime equivalent to the NRL’s “bringing the game into disrepute”.
With his long, platinum hair and background as a bass guitarist with rock band The Masters Apprentices, Burgess doesn’t look like some shadowy puppeteer.
He is one of 20 debenture holders who control HBG via a constitution that demands five of the debenture holders hold seven of the board seats at Ashfield. The 1956 founders of the club deliberately structured it this way to ensure the club continued to propagate rugby league, particularly the Magpies brand.
Debentures are held for five years, with the 20 holders voting directors on and off the island.
Epifania, a recent debenture holder, says, “There have been many attempts to tamper with the debenture system, but it would just cause more damage than good. The club is very clear on its purpose, and most debenture holders understand that life and people change, so they must always be open-minded about the direction the club is heading.”
Mick Liubinskas, another HBG director who has been a debenture holder since 2009, played 122 top games for Wests and spent one season at Balmain (1979). He backs Epifania’s comments, saying: “Debenture holders with personal interests, or who are motivated in securing power and votes, are not acting in the best interests of the club. It’s a system that needs to be protected.”
Loading
He points out the Magpies football club and licensed Ashfield club have “never been more united”.
Essentially, the debenture system is little different from the system at the ARLC, where directors vote themselves back on. The difference, of course, is that the ARLC has a strongman in chair V’landys, who is acceptable to stakeholders, while HBG does not.
Given the obligation Holman Barnes has to its 20 debenture holders to propagate rugby league, it’s difficult to see the directors agreeing to a Wests Tigers board that does not have them controlling the purse strings.
Sound financial stewardship has seen the group hold over $30m in cash, including the revenue from the successful Markets club – which, ironically, was once owned by Balmain.
O’Farrell is returning as chair for a third time – another irony considering Wests Tigers have been mired in political turmoil for a quarter-century. Meanwhile, the club will presumably await the arrival of a coat of only three colours: black, white and a gold that isn’t too close to the old Balmain jumper.
What absolute BS spin. They take fans for mugs
mikey
Well-known member
Epifania -
“The only contention that regularly arises is the fact Wests Magpies have never been respected in the joint venture and always tainted as the bad guys. An opportunity to discuss a fairer representation would go a long way in ending 25 years of war.”
Shows the paranoia of some. How much more opportunity than controlling the club does HBG need.
“The only contention that regularly arises is the fact Wests Magpies have never been respected in the joint venture and always tainted as the bad guys. An opportunity to discuss a fairer representation would go a long way in ending 25 years of war.”
Shows the paranoia of some. How much more opportunity than controlling the club does HBG need.
Yep and confirms the fighting has not stopped
Wish the nrl brought in the administrators
tigertragic
Well-known member
Who wrote that promotional piece
hammertime
Well-known member
Notice how they mention how much money theyve tipped into the club in the past, not current day? You know why that happened?
Because they were in charge and mismanaged the place.As soon as a decent operator came in, they contributed nothing.
And as for the support of RL as the reason for the debenture holders, thats absolute BS. Others do that, more successfully i might add, without the need for that structure. Those commitments can be enshrined in a constitution and probably already are.
Because they were in charge and mismanaged the place.As soon as a decent operator came in, they contributed nothing.
And as for the support of RL as the reason for the debenture holders, thats absolute BS. Others do that, more successfully i might add, without the need for that structure. Those commitments can be enshrined in a constitution and probably already are.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
Roy Masters? The writer did mention coaching the Magpies. Couldn’t be anyone else.
hammertime
Well-known member
Yep. They wheeled out Roy
innsaneink
Well-known member
I get that feeling too....nothing but a band aid solution.
Embarrasing hes kept mentioning saving balmain which is either ignorance or a curve ball the placate the general rl population
Tired Tiger
Well-known member
Roy Masters
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
HBG need to examine the membership of their Board with a view to recruiting businessmen and women to mirror the independent membership of WTs. In that way, the club as a whole can move forward as WTs with links to the heritage of Wests and Balmain.
hammertime
Well-known member
Hows their propagation of league going with those directors there? Its been horrible and its about to get even worse.
Note how the article is about them? Nothing about members they are supposed to serve. Thats the way these guys think. Inward to the core. L&G needs to rectify this.
hybrid_tiger
Well-known member
I listened to it. I'm keen to understand what you feel I don't have a grasp of?
The reason why HBG want power has nothing to do with Wests Tigers being successful as an NRL side.
nrlsurvivor
Well-known member
From a financial and legal perspective is this actually correct?
It would be the same for other NRL teams that are owned by leagues clubs though right?
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