It's time to take the fight back to HBG
- Thread starter balmain boy
- Start date
wstigers11
Well-known member
They just stood down the guy involved in it….
Lets.not.forget theres quite a few new consortiums bidding for the NRLs 20th team...I think Ipswich or around there...another NZ mob...and.another i think also qld
While i want .HB gone as.much as the next bloke im a bit worried the nrl may finally flick us if they have to step. In
see what happens but at least hbg are putting their c*ck on the block with funds which seems to be a gripe with the well informed on this space
hammertime
Well-known member
Huh? It's not their money man. Easy to spend it, waste it, or misdirect it when there is no recourse and it's not yours.
wstigers11
Well-known member
I can’t see that happening personally
TigerBurnsy
Well-known member
If that went through the forum would’ve crashed
Pringle Gold
Well-known member
Thank you for posting.Full article:
The NRL may consider stepping in and potentially even taking the Wests Tigers’ licence off their controversy-plagued owners after fresh board chaos this week.
The Holman Barnes Group, the Tigers’ majority stakeholder, is again in turmoil after chief executive Daniel Paton stood down pending an investigation in mysterious circumstances.
Daniel Paton, chief executive of the Holman Barnes Group, was abruptly stood down at a board meeting on Wednesday night.
Paton, who is a Tigers director, was abruptly placed on leave following an emergency board meeting at the club’s Wests Ashfield base on Wednesday night.
It’s understood Paton was made to wait in the corridor outside the meeting room as HBG chairman Dennis Burgess arrived with a lawyer and told fellow board members that allegations had been made against the CEO.
The claims were not shared in the meeting, leading two HBG directors to abstain from a vote to stand Paton aside. It’s believed Paton has also not been made aware of the nature of the allegations against him.
HBG and Paton were contacted for comment.
Wests Tigers had another forgettable season the field in 2026, finishing 15th.Getty Images
Remove ads
The development is the latest in several years of turbulence at the $100 million licensed club operation, which has a 90 per cent share in the Tigers and has the balance of power on the joint-venture’s board.
The bloodletting and dysfunction has now reached a level where the NRL may contemplate intervening.
At the extreme end of possibilities, it could weigh up stripping HBG of its licence to run an NRL team.
Whether it gets that far remains to be seen, but there is a growing belief that something needs to be done about the Tigers’ ownership.
HBG is effectively the Western Suburbs side of the merged entity that was formed in 1999 between Balmain and the Magpies.
It is rich with poker machine takings but amid interminable infighting it has overseen an NRL team that has not made a finals series for 15 years and rarely threatened to.
The Tigers are run separately to HBG, but far from being immune to the travails of the leagues club, they are inextricably linked to it.
It has the numbers to call the shots on the Tigers board after dispensing with the notion of an independent-run board last year less than 12 months after it had been put in place.
That episode cost the Tigers their seasoned CEO Shane Richardson, who resigned only 18 months into a four-year contract.
Just days after HBG reclaimed control at the Tigers, coach Benji Marshall was re-signed for three additional seasons until the end of 2030, reportedly without provisions that allow the club to part ways with him without a full payout.
While the Tigers still have faith in Marshall’s ability to return them to the top eight, it has left them facing the prospect of a multi-million dollar settlement with him should their fortunes not improve and they decide to replace him.
Behind the scenes at HBG, there is friction about the organisation’s shift into soccer, in particular its backing of the A-League’s Central Coast Mariners.
Court bid launched to blow up Wests Tigers power base
Paton, who was HBG’s chief financial officer for nine years before becoming CEO in August 2025, was the driving force behind the deal, under which it has assumed the reins of the Mariners’ women’s team and become a minority investor in the men’s side.
It effectively rescued the Mariners’ women’s side from oblivion after they were left out of a club takeover by the group behind English soccer’s Queens Park Rangers.
However, the spending of HBG resources on another code has angered Magpies loyalists, who believe it is money that should be directed towards Wests and rugby league.
HBG also bought a stake in APIA Leichhardt FC and soccer administrator Frank Primerano has become a leading voice as deputy chairman and a Tigers board member.
The conflict at HBG could be played out in the NSW Supreme Court in coming months after ousted director and former Tigers board member Tony Andreacchio and his wife Denise launched legal action three weeks ago.
There’s a few things that stand out to me from a process standpoint that just seem off.
Bear in mind I hate Daniel Paton so this isn’t because I think he’s a good bloke or anything.
If there’s an allegation even if the complainant is anonymous the board cannot vote on the matter if they don’t know what they are voting on. All board members should have abstained from voting in this instance and it shows a lack of transparency and fairness in the complaints handling process.
Similarly in most instances Paton should be made aware of the nature of the complaint and be given an opportunity to respond. The only exceptions to this would be Lear and severe breaches of the code of conduct or some instance of corruption neither of which would involve the complete withholding of information to other board members.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
So in the past 2 years, HBG has stood down or presumably asked to step down …
BOARD MEMBERS
Tony Andreacchio
Rick Wayde
David Gilbert
Julie Romero
CEOs
Simon Cook
Daniel Paton (temporarily atm)
WESTS TIGERS BOARD
Barry O'Farrell (Reinstated as chairman)
Annabelle Williams
Michelle McDowell (Reinstated)
Charlie Viola
WESTS TIGERS CEO
Shane Richardson
Am I correct?
And the 3 HBG directors who have been on the board continually over this time …
Dennis Burgess
Stephen Montgomery
Michael Liubinskas
Just saying!!!
cochise
Well-known member
Dennis Burgess was also removed from the Wests Tigers Board
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
It just beggars belief that firstly Simon Cook is catapulted than another man who has worked for HBG for over a decade managing their books (and who they got to do their Richo & WT independent director dirty work) has been given the Chaminda Vaas.
Pringle Gold
Well-known member
Absolutely. Simon Cook seemed a good operator , honest guy with integrity and genuinely wanted Wests Tigers and HBG to be successful and succeed. Gotta wonder why he resigned after all those years.
TigerBurnsy
Well-known member
I thought that was by the nrl not hbg though
What do I ask my barber for this haircut
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Yes very true.
Lucky for Dennis, being Chairman of HBG means he can still direct his troops on the WT board.
I’m still perplexed how Dennis didn’t face disciplinary action from HBG over his Instagram account bringing HBG into disrepute. Surely a breach of code of conduct at the time much like what some fellow board members had to face at the time.
Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan
Well-known member
There was never a 1.1 million dollar contract on the table for Galvin. The kid refused to negotiate with the club, his manager didn't want to even look at any potential offer we gave him. The dweeb was completely toxic and he had to go.
Richo leaked that 1.1 million story to make Galvin look like the bad guy.
Rock Hopper Steve
Well-known member
You can't by wigs at the barber shop, well, maybe he could shape an old mop.
