It's time to take the fight back to HBG

[liltiger]

Is changing owners going to make Benji make better recruitment and retention decisions and better team selections ?

100%. Due to the fact according the guys on the sunday podcast in particular im pretty sure it was Gary and Rob who stated that Benji is running the whole football department on his own so the owners dont get involved. Im not surprised we have a boys club now, with Benji bringing in guys he trusts its less for him to worry about. Hes virtually running everything, if we had competent owners who knew what they were doing and wernt underfunding us our novice coach wouldnt have to carry the weight of the world. Another tid bit they dropped was HBG wanted Mestrov not Mielenkamp. HBG are a cancer on this club. We will never get anywhere with them around. I love my club. But absolutly detest, loath and hate HBG. The Ayatollah in Iran has less of a grip on Iran than these parasites do on our Wests Tigers.

 

[liltiger]

Is this true though?

Richo himself said that HBG had always come to the party when he'd asked for help.

While theyre paying his salary and payout with NDAs when he left, what else would he say.

 

[tig_prmz]

Just a question regarding coaching wages. A few people are asking if Wests Tigers pay enough for coaches etc. I'm not sure- but would the coaches be employed as Staff under this report or under the $1.5 given to the football club?

That's a great question. Unfortunately, this is all the information I have. I doubt we will ever get more information than this.
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Regardless, I don't think it matters that much. Reason being, as I said, we need to be self-sustainable.

 

[The Chad]

That's a great question. Unfortunately, this is all the information I have. I doubt we will ever get more information than this.
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Regardless, I don't think it matters that much. Reason being, as I said, we need to be self-sustainable.

Well, it matters in the context of people's concerns on the amount of money available for coaches.

$1.5m on "football department expenses" vs $40,460,497 on "Employee Benefits Expense".

I'm going to assume that the CEO etc fall under the $40m. I could be wrong. But, if it does cover the wages of people employed by the club- interesting to know who that covers before we burn the barn down.

 

[The Chad]

Also, what's the difference between the 'consolidated' amount & the 'parent' amount?

 

[balmain boy]

As I keep saying, I'm not an accountant, just have had the opportunity to sell and buy businesses.

$40m sorry, not $50m.

https://holmanbarnesgroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Annual-Report-25_HGB-26-Web.pdf

Not questioning your 🧾 skills mate . That number still seems rather high. I wonder how many employees they have? Does anyone know if that's listed in the annual report?
Lots of minimum wage staff in hospitality and cleaning crews. They're pretty small venues all things considered too. Surely they're not including Wests Tigers players in that number

 

[balmain boy]

I went back and listened to Richo's actual quote about funding from HBG:

"... at no stage have they rejected anything. In fact, they've constantly asked, is it enough? Can we give you more?"

HBG have probably made a few mistakes but underfunding the club does not sound like one of them.

That sounded like a quote someone says with a gun against their head. Wests Ashfield fund the Balmain junior reps, that's about all the money they give. We have the fewest coaches and support staff in almost every grade in both male and female footy. We have no scouts. We can't afford to pay our junior players. There's a whole heap of ways we could and should spend at least an extra $5 million a year in the football department.

 

[balmain boy]

I have plenty of Tigers supporters in my family and friends, I can assure you that many, especially under 40yrs old, had no idea about what was going on or who HBG are and why do we care.

If you're 40, or even 25+, and don't know who HBG are then you're nothing more then a casual supporter.

The apathy is huge amongst this club though. Complacency is at the great of absolutely everything we do on and off the field. Nothing happens, nothing changes because no one can be assed making the Changes. On the rare occasion minor changes are made they're undone by greedy selfish morons.

 

[hammertime]

I think it's deeper than the investment. I think it's the culture that HBG brings. These guys have not earned their board positions; they've picked them up through backroom dealing and retain power despite not being in the best interests of WT. Their layering of entitlement on top of that just permeates the wrong message through the club.

Richo was right to start to separate the club from them. It's why we started to pick up momentum. I fear that Shaun has gone the wrong angle with this and brought them back in close. Things like forced dinners to form bonds and bowing to them to thank them for the flights and accommodation in vegas.

I can only imagine what Benji and the players think when they are forced to mix with these guys. How would you bleed for these guys, knowing they hold these positions through no effort.

I fear this is why we've dropped off a cliff. It's the common toxic element in our club through all these years and you can see how the culture started to shift once we had them at arms length.

 

[pacey]

It’s crazy to think they brought in consultants to diagnose the problems at the club, started improving once those findings were communicated, then halfway through decided to backflip on the whole plan.

Shaun probably knows the whole situation is a mess, but he has to play the game with HBG. At the end of the day, he probably cares more about staying an NRL CEO / $$$ than fighting for the long term independence of the Wests Tigers.

 

[tig_prmz]

Well, it matters in the context of people's concerns on the amount of money available for coaches.

$1.5m on "football department expenses" vs $40,460,497 on "Employee Benefits Expense".

I'm going to assume that the CEO etc fall under the $40m. I could be wrong. But, if it does cover the wages of people employed by the club- interesting to know who that covers before we burn the barn down.

I personally don't think that would be included.

Salaries to coaches, physios etc would be part of WTRLFC not HBG.

I assume these are salaries to keep the Leagues Clubs going.

It does matter, but whatever is given is not enough. We aren't going to get anything more from them. In order to sustain ourselves financially to deliver on- field results, we need to do something else.

 

[krissy]

The new TV deal for the NRL make it the most valuable sport in the country. Perfect time for someone with excess cash to buy a football team.

 

[TheEnz]

Well, it matters in the context of people's concerns on the amount of money available for coaches.

$1.5m on "football department expenses" vs $40,460,497 on "Employee Benefits Expense".

I'm going to assume that the CEO etc fall under the $40m. I could be wrong. But, if it does cover the wages of people employed by the club- interesting to know who that covers before we burn the barn down.

The $1.5m from HBG + NRL funding + sponsorship are what fund the Wests Tigers CEO salary down. Employee benefits expense is an expense HBG pay for the salaries of their own staff in admin and the clubs, nothing to do with WT.

 

[hammertime]

It’s crazy to think they brought in consultants to diagnose the problems at the club, started improving once those findings were communicated, then halfway through decided to backflip on the whole plan.

Shaun probably knows the whole situation is a mess, but he has to play the game with HBG. At the end of the day, he probably cares more about staying an NRL CEO / $$$ than fighting for the long term independence of the Wests Tigers.

Yep. The challenge is that Shaun's route probably confines us to the same gutter that we've lived in for the past 15 years. But he has no other option.

I'm honestly starting to lose all hope. HBG has drained it from me. They can't get themselves out of the way - their egos are too large and their thinking too self-centered.

 

[Dr_Ice]

100%. Due to the fact according the guys on the sunday podcast in particular im pretty sure it was Gary and Rob who stated that Benji is running the whole football department on his own so the owners dont get involved. Im not surprised we have a boys club now, with Benji bringing in guys he trusts its less for him to worry about. Hes virtually running everything, if we had competent owners who knew what they were doing and wernt underfunding us our novice coach wouldnt have to carry the weight of the world. Another tid bit they dropped was HBG wanted Mestrov not Mielenkamp. HBG are a cancer on this club. We will never get anywhere with them around. I love my club. But absolutly detest, loath and hate HBG. The Ayatollah in Iran has less of a grip on Iran than these parasites do on our Wests Tigers.

Who made the decision on appointing the full time CEO if HBG wanted Mestrov?

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

The new TV deal for the NRL make it the most valuable sport in the country. Perfect time for someone with excess cash to buy a football team.

unfortunately the hbg blazer brigade will not sell 🙁