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How politicking and empire building ruined Wests Tigers
By Nick Tedeschi
If the joint venture continues to focus on the past it will never find a way out of its current mess.
The seeds of the Wests Tigers’ calamitous situation were sown nearly two decades ago, a time that seems increasingly ancient, the dark days of the Super League war, when Rupert Murdoch marched on the game.
It was the traditional Sydney clubs that had the most to lose. Those who sided with the rebel league – Canterbury, Penrith, Cronulla – rolled the dice and won. Eastern Suburbs, all money and power, thrived. Dennis Fitzgerald’s incomparable politicking put Parramatta in a prime position. Souths were cast out but on passion and persistence returned. The Saints bowed to the obvious and joined with Illawarra in what was more a takeover than merger. Manly got the good end of a joint venture deal with the luckless Bears and then tanked until they returned as a sole entity.
For both Western Suburbs and Balmain, two foundation clubs, a joint venture was the only option. Both were struggling on the field and off it. Merger or death. Both let pragmatism prevail. Rugby league types have always had a sixth sense for survival.
It was the genuine parity of the joint venture – neither team had the chips to force a takeover – that created the power vacuum that has left the club in the depths of despair, the Tigers on their knees and at their lowest point following weeks of embarrassing in-fighting, culminating in Saturday’s shameful 64-6 defeat to North Queensland.
The dynamic of the Wests Tigers, at board level, is as unique as it is constricting. The Balmain faction have typically held the power, at least until the costly debacle that has been the stalled redevelopment of the Balmain Leagues Club, now an eyesore on Victoria Road and a political poison pill in the halls of power. The Wests side – hardly united themselves with the Ashfield and Campbelltown factions bitter enemies – have supplied the money. The chairman of the club is limited to a two-year term, alternating between factions, reinforcing the “us and them” mentality that has undermined the club from the beginning and ensured long-term planning is not a priority.
In 14 years, no efforts have been made to put ancient enmities aside and run the Wests Tigers as a new, fresh, single club. In true rugby league tradition, small time politicking and empire building has trumped all.
There have been times when the club have been able to papier-mâché over the problems. They did manage an unlikely premiership in 2005 and their on-field combination of transcendent talent and an exciting brand made them not too long ago the darling of the league.
For many years the club’s experienced coach Tim Sheens seemed to keep the Tigers’ ship at least relatively stable. The club did little to help itself but for the most part of the Sheens reign, there was little self-harm.
The departure of CEO Steve Noyce in 2008 was a pivotal moment for the club. A respected administrator, his successors have lacked his steady-hand or disdain for club politics.
The Tigers made a rare splash into free agency in 2011, spending big on Storm forward Adam Blair. The move forced out prop Bryce Gibbs and the talented Andrew Fifita, who both headed to Cronulla.
The move was not a popular one among the playing group and when extremely popular duo Chris Heighington and Beau Ryan had their contract talks stalled and delayed until they both upped and signed with the Sharks. It was the Archduke Ferdinand moment for this Tigers’ war.
And so began the winter of the Tigers’ discontent.
The players turned on Sheens. It was widely reported that Benji Marshall and a key group of senior players were hostile to the coach. In late September, buried in the grand final build-up, Sheens was sacked, opening up another bitter, self-inflicted battle that only ended earlier this month, nearly two years after he was deposed. The feud – which landed in court – got so ugly that Sheens was not invited to a function honouring the Tigers’ greatest team in July.
It was a moment of realisation for the players, who came to understand that in a club without leadership or front office experience, they held the cards. They quickly soured on new coach Mick Potter, a strong disciplinarian who has been chided as a poor communicator. Marshall bailed to rugby union. Robbie Farah told Gorden Tallis that Potter couldn’t coach, a claim he has not denied.
Whether Farah still doubts Potter’s credentials or not is beside the point. He set the wheels in motion. And when he could be painted as being against Potter, those on the board and in the front office who wanted a new coach already had the set-up. It was a simple case of paint by numbers.
Farah could be positioned as the bad guy. A player revolt against the coach was not a hard case to lay out. Everyone would be happy with the outcome. A faction across the club – players, front office personnel, board members, the man himself – reportedly wanted to promote assistant Todd Payten.
Except nothing is easy at the Wests Tigers.
Potter was remarkably saved by the board’s ineptitude when they delayed sacking their coach until season’s end despite it being reported he would be axed following the defeat to the Dragons.
Payten, reportedly told he would be promoted, could now be forced out of the club.
Renowned as a prickly character, Farah didn’t take kindly to being painted as the bad guy or as having his private views aired publicly. He went on the attack Tallis and CEO Grant Mayer, before saying plenty by saying nothing until he accepted a pre-recorded exclusive interview deal with Nine on The Footy Show. His words did not go down well.
Three days after the interview, the Tigers were embarrassed by North Queensland, conceding 64 points and suffering the added humiliation of Johnathan Thurston attempting a conversion left-footed.
Battles continue to rage on many fronts, both hot and cold. The skipper’s reputation has been tarnished. The playing group are rightly being regarded as fickle. The CEO has been marginalised. The board has been shown for what it is – not up to running a rugby league club, a sad state of affairs for a team wrapped up in so much history.
And it is perhaps that history which is suffocating the club. The Balmain faction and the Western Suburbs factions are too concerned with yesterday and not enough with tomorrow. It is the same reactionary, small-time scheming that has hamstrung the game for so long and the same that has kept the Tigers from reaching their potential for most of their existence.
It may not seem it but the best thing to happen to the Tigers is the Balmain board growing broke. The NRL’s forced intervention should bring an end to the bickering and back-biting. The three independent directors will be a majority on the board until Balmain can pay back their debt – if ever – and even then on a seven-man board both clubs will need to be united to stop any NRL-led modernisation.
It is time to stop thinking about Balmain and Wests and joint ventures and accept that this is a new club. Most fans have moved on. It is time for the powerbrokers at the club to do so as well.
It won’t be enough to save Potter. It probably won’t be enough to save Mayer and it is unlikely it will be enough to save Farah’s reputation but it will be a rare positive step forward for a club that has spent too long looking back.
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IMO ,Never has a sports journalist got our club"s current situation and our club's history so right !!
Bring on the Next 15 years
By Nick Tedeschi
If the joint venture continues to focus on the past it will never find a way out of its current mess.
The seeds of the Wests Tigers’ calamitous situation were sown nearly two decades ago, a time that seems increasingly ancient, the dark days of the Super League war, when Rupert Murdoch marched on the game.
It was the traditional Sydney clubs that had the most to lose. Those who sided with the rebel league – Canterbury, Penrith, Cronulla – rolled the dice and won. Eastern Suburbs, all money and power, thrived. Dennis Fitzgerald’s incomparable politicking put Parramatta in a prime position. Souths were cast out but on passion and persistence returned. The Saints bowed to the obvious and joined with Illawarra in what was more a takeover than merger. Manly got the good end of a joint venture deal with the luckless Bears and then tanked until they returned as a sole entity.
For both Western Suburbs and Balmain, two foundation clubs, a joint venture was the only option. Both were struggling on the field and off it. Merger or death. Both let pragmatism prevail. Rugby league types have always had a sixth sense for survival.
It was the genuine parity of the joint venture – neither team had the chips to force a takeover – that created the power vacuum that has left the club in the depths of despair, the Tigers on their knees and at their lowest point following weeks of embarrassing in-fighting, culminating in Saturday’s shameful 64-6 defeat to North Queensland.
The dynamic of the Wests Tigers, at board level, is as unique as it is constricting. The Balmain faction have typically held the power, at least until the costly debacle that has been the stalled redevelopment of the Balmain Leagues Club, now an eyesore on Victoria Road and a political poison pill in the halls of power. The Wests side – hardly united themselves with the Ashfield and Campbelltown factions bitter enemies – have supplied the money. The chairman of the club is limited to a two-year term, alternating between factions, reinforcing the “us and them” mentality that has undermined the club from the beginning and ensured long-term planning is not a priority.
In 14 years, no efforts have been made to put ancient enmities aside and run the Wests Tigers as a new, fresh, single club. In true rugby league tradition, small time politicking and empire building has trumped all.
There have been times when the club have been able to papier-mâché over the problems. They did manage an unlikely premiership in 2005 and their on-field combination of transcendent talent and an exciting brand made them not too long ago the darling of the league.
For many years the club’s experienced coach Tim Sheens seemed to keep the Tigers’ ship at least relatively stable. The club did little to help itself but for the most part of the Sheens reign, there was little self-harm.
The departure of CEO Steve Noyce in 2008 was a pivotal moment for the club. A respected administrator, his successors have lacked his steady-hand or disdain for club politics.
The Tigers made a rare splash into free agency in 2011, spending big on Storm forward Adam Blair. The move forced out prop Bryce Gibbs and the talented Andrew Fifita, who both headed to Cronulla.
The move was not a popular one among the playing group and when extremely popular duo Chris Heighington and Beau Ryan had their contract talks stalled and delayed until they both upped and signed with the Sharks. It was the Archduke Ferdinand moment for this Tigers’ war.
And so began the winter of the Tigers’ discontent.
The players turned on Sheens. It was widely reported that Benji Marshall and a key group of senior players were hostile to the coach. In late September, buried in the grand final build-up, Sheens was sacked, opening up another bitter, self-inflicted battle that only ended earlier this month, nearly two years after he was deposed. The feud – which landed in court – got so ugly that Sheens was not invited to a function honouring the Tigers’ greatest team in July.
It was a moment of realisation for the players, who came to understand that in a club without leadership or front office experience, they held the cards. They quickly soured on new coach Mick Potter, a strong disciplinarian who has been chided as a poor communicator. Marshall bailed to rugby union. Robbie Farah told Gorden Tallis that Potter couldn’t coach, a claim he has not denied.
Whether Farah still doubts Potter’s credentials or not is beside the point. He set the wheels in motion. And when he could be painted as being against Potter, those on the board and in the front office who wanted a new coach already had the set-up. It was a simple case of paint by numbers.
Farah could be positioned as the bad guy. A player revolt against the coach was not a hard case to lay out. Everyone would be happy with the outcome. A faction across the club – players, front office personnel, board members, the man himself – reportedly wanted to promote assistant Todd Payten.
Except nothing is easy at the Wests Tigers.
Potter was remarkably saved by the board’s ineptitude when they delayed sacking their coach until season’s end despite it being reported he would be axed following the defeat to the Dragons.
Payten, reportedly told he would be promoted, could now be forced out of the club.
Renowned as a prickly character, Farah didn’t take kindly to being painted as the bad guy or as having his private views aired publicly. He went on the attack Tallis and CEO Grant Mayer, before saying plenty by saying nothing until he accepted a pre-recorded exclusive interview deal with Nine on The Footy Show. His words did not go down well.
Three days after the interview, the Tigers were embarrassed by North Queensland, conceding 64 points and suffering the added humiliation of Johnathan Thurston attempting a conversion left-footed.
Battles continue to rage on many fronts, both hot and cold. The skipper’s reputation has been tarnished. The playing group are rightly being regarded as fickle. The CEO has been marginalised. The board has been shown for what it is – not up to running a rugby league club, a sad state of affairs for a team wrapped up in so much history.
And it is perhaps that history which is suffocating the club. The Balmain faction and the Western Suburbs factions are too concerned with yesterday and not enough with tomorrow. It is the same reactionary, small-time scheming that has hamstrung the game for so long and the same that has kept the Tigers from reaching their potential for most of their existence.
It may not seem it but the best thing to happen to the Tigers is the Balmain board growing broke. The NRL’s forced intervention should bring an end to the bickering and back-biting. The three independent directors will be a majority on the board until Balmain can pay back their debt – if ever – and even then on a seven-man board both clubs will need to be united to stop any NRL-led modernisation.
It is time to stop thinking about Balmain and Wests and joint ventures and accept that this is a new club. Most fans have moved on. It is time for the powerbrokers at the club to do so as well.
It won’t be enough to save Potter. It probably won’t be enough to save Mayer and it is unlikely it will be enough to save Farah’s reputation but it will be a rare positive step forward for a club that has spent too long looking back.
#########################################################
IMO ,Never has a sports journalist got our club"s current situation and our club's history so right !!
Bring on the Next 15 years
