Lee Hagipantelis

[Tom Shines]

I think you are underestimating how easy it is to find another backer to the extent of what he puts in.

Is there another major backer of any club who is also the Chairman?

to me it’s a clear conflict of interest … Laundy probably puts more into the bulldogs for instance ….

 

[Vicious]

Just imagine that worked. Like WA would only make changes if we pay more. Think how insane that is.

I’m not sure what you’re referring to, I’m simply stating what right do people who pay nothing have to ridicule and criticise someone who puts their hand deep in their pockets to support the club financially?
Offer a viable solution such as the additional financial support such as becoming/renewing as a paying member/season ticket holder then the argument starts to carry a little bit of weight.

 

[Kaito]

The vast majority of criticism direct towards Lee is based on our lack of on field success.

Precisely this. And how he dresses and what
car he drives, or whenever he has a soundbyte
in the media, (coincidentally most of the time
he's defending the club). It really irks me. To
think our fortunes would have changed in the
last few years if we had another Chairman and
sponsor shits me up the wall. The hate for Lee
is unwarranted and mostly personal imho

 

[dazza65]

My only comment is that from a pure corporate governance point of view - being Chairman and major sponsor is, to me, a clear conflict of interest.

 

[Vicious]

Is there another major backer of any club who is also the Chairman?

to me it’s a clear conflict of interest … Laundy probably puts more into the bulldogs for instance ….

I’m not arguing against it being a conflict of interest, which I understand is extremely annoying to many.
However that does not change the fact there is an extremely high chance Wests Tigers could be much worse off financially without his backing.

 

[Tom Shines]

The vast majority of criticism direct towards Lee is based on our lack of on field success.
What can he or the board be expected to do better except hire better coaches and recruitment managers ?

Two points,

- the only thing that fans really care about in ANY professional sport is on field success.
- they have burned through 7 coaches in 5 years or something ridiculous so their failure rate is huge… but there is never any consequences… they also meddle in player comings and goings which should be really kept to an absolute minimum and left primarily to the coaches and recruitment managers … in short, they appoint them but never let them do their jobs..

 

[Tom Shines]

I’m not arguing against it being a conflict of interest, which I understand is extremely annoying to many.
However that does not change the fact there is an extremely high chance Wests Tigers could be much worse off financially without his backing.

They will find another sponsor… one person is not bigger than the club… pretty much Rule 1 for any professional sports team I have seen

 

[Papacito]

What I don’t understand with all that resent Lee Hagipantelis is Wests Tigers can potentially be worse off without him.
I understand he’s arrogant and not a real likeable person, but he puts plenty of money into Wests Tigers and is so self indulgent he will do whatever he can to help the club become successful on the field.
If he ends up quitting due to the constant backlash from fans, we then need a new backer which would be extremely hard to find and it’s every chance the club will be worse off.
As a diehard fan, I’m happy to live with an arrogant chairman knowing he will put his hands deep into his pockets for the betterment of our team.

Exactly how much he put in?

 

[AdelaideTiger]

This is all incredibly dumb and just more poor publicity that the club does not need while anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
But the SMH adding a photo of "Lee in his Ferrari" is straight up hilarious.

 

[TieDye]

They will find another sponsor… one person is not bigger than the club… pretty much Rule 1 for any professional sports team I have seen

He knows he’s not bigger than Wests Tigers. We’re always in a (censored)kn game!

 

[Magpie_Magic]

Precisely this. And how he dresses and what
car he drives, or whenever he has a soundbyte
in the media, (coincidentally most of the time
he's defending the club). It really irks me. To
think our fortunes would have changed in the
last few years if we had another Chairman and
sponsor shits me up the wall. The hate for Lee
is unwarranted and mostly personal imho

People here had trouble accepting that the board appoint the coaching staff and the coaching staff are in charge of recruitment and retention....like he is lying regarding this.

Or picking up Mitch in his Ferrari.....which is his daily most days.

Amazing one can put millions in and cop this much hate.

And his the sort of guy who would stump millions more in pursuit of success for the club.

 

[TieDye]

People here had trouble accepting that the board appoint the coaching staff and the coach staff are in charge of recruitment and retention....like he is lying regarding this.

He’s not.

 

[The Fresh Oil]

I’m not sure what you’re referring to, I’m simply stating what right do people who pay nothing have to ridicule and criticise someone who puts their hand deep in their pockets to support the club financially?
Offer a viable solution such as the additional financial support such as becoming/renewing as a paying member/season ticket holder then the argument starts to carry a little bit of weight.

Not sure what membership you have but I don’t get a vote with mine.

Either way, time will tell with LH.

Rather than what sponsor the club can get once he’s gone I’m more worried about what sponsor would want to be aligned with wests once he’s done with us. PR nightmare that could take years to fade.

 

[The Fresh Oil]

Precisely this. And how he dresses and what
car he drives, or whenever he has a soundbyte
in the media, (coincidentally most of the time
he's defending the club). It really irks me. To
think our fortunes would have changed in the
last few years if we had another Chairman and
sponsor shits me up the wall. The hate for Lee
is unwarranted and mostly personal imho

Do you honestly believe that anyone here would give a shit what car he drove if the club was even semi-successful?

Come on man, get a grip. The only reason he has to defend the club so much is because of things he’s said or decisions he’s made.

Stockholm syndrome got all you guys confused.

 

[Tom Shines]

Not sure what membership you have but I don’t get a vote with mine.

Either way, time will tell with LH.

Rather than what sponsor the club can get once he’s gone I’m more worried about what sponsor would want to be aligned with wests once he’s done with us. PR nightmare that could take years to fade.

They will be fine,,, doubt they have ever had more sponsors then currently

 

[hank37w]

Anyone know what the go is with Harry Triguboff these days.

I believe that some time ago Harry was on the record as saying that if no one else stepped up as a major sponsor of Wests Tigers then he would still be willing to tip in if no one else would.

Would like to know if he still plays some part in the background.

That scene in our block buster doco where Pascoe pays a visit to Harry, all be it a couple of years ago now, seems to point to him still being in the picture in some way back then at least.

Can @Aubanon, or anyone else that may be close to the club shed a bit of light on it.

 

[Tom Shines]

Anyone know what the go is with Harry Triguboff these days.

I believe that some time ago Harry was on the record as saying that if no one else stepped up as a major sponsor of Wests Tigers then he would still be willing to tip in if no one else would.

Would like to know if he still plays some part in the background.

KFC will probably move up from minor to major sponsor,,,

The fan base of the Tigers already consume a lot of their product

 

[The Sniffer]

So this snowflake has threatened to sue Wests Life podcast over comments made last week. What a soft cock.

What a thin skinned POS. Can we sue this prick for what he has done to the Tigers.

 

[The Sniffer]

They take everything on face value, out of touch with reality.
Any true supporter should forget about the past and appreciate what is being done to try and make us become a much more successful team moving forward.
There are still massive challenges for 2024 as we have around 6 players taking up top 30 spots who I’m sure the club would like to move on based on 2023 form, but when contracted it is not that simple as they can only be moved on if another club is willing to take them.
For that reason alone it’s likely 2024 will be another tough one, but if we can keep our most valuable players including our best youngsters moving forward, then we should see a massive improvement from 2025 onwards.
What can or could the chairman have done about this ? In reality next to nothing as our board like every other NRL board bases it’s recruitment & retention on the advice of the coach with assistance from the recruitment manager 99.9% of the time.
The board stepped in and signed Scott Fulton as our new recruitment manager hoping that would be a positive step in the right direction. Obviously they should have notified Sheens, Benji & co before doing it, but realistically what difference would if have made as Sheens wasn’t going to agree with his mate getting the flick regardless of whether he was told about it before or after.
Then Benji & Scott Fulton having differences of opinion over player recruitment is standard process which happens at every club, it was only made a big deal of with us because we are an easy target based on our position on the ladder.
By all reports the board stepped in, told them both to sort out their differences which seeming has since happened.

This is one of the dumbest takes ive read on here this week and Kaito posts a lot, well done Vicious, well done.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

People here had trouble accepting that the board appoint the coaching staff and the coaching staff are in charge of recruitment and retention....like he is lying regarding this.

Or picking up Mitch in his Ferrari.....which is his daily most days.

Amazing one can put millions in and cop this much hate.

And his the sort of guy who would stump millions more in pursuit of success for the club.

Agreed. I don't understand the negativity towards someone who is so generous towards the club.