**Welcome to the first Wests Tigers CEO Update for 2019.**
Before I begin, I’d like to first say thank you to the shareholders of Wests Tigers, the Board, Members, Corporate partners, players, staff and supporters for their unwavering support to myself and the club over the past six months. It has been extremely clear that this process and adversity has brought people together and united this club in their support. I am both proud and humbled to see and receive that commitment.
I have always believed in the need for absolute integrity in our game and I always will. As a club we are completely supportive of the NRL and their desire to improve the game, and we understand how critical integrity is to the game of rugby league.
While a lot has changed in the past six months, one thing that hasn’t is my opinion of Wests Tigers. I remain incredibly proud and passionate about this great club and am extremely grateful of all that we have achieved so far. The job is far from done, however, and I now look forward to continuing what we started — ensuring that the Members, fans and partners of this club all achieve the success that they richly deserved.
Under the resilient leadership of Coach Michael Maguire, it has been a strong start to the season on and off the field for our Wests Tigers players with a number of terrific results. Michael has the squad moving forward in the right direction, and I have no doubt that they will continue to progress in that way over the remainder of the 2019 season.
We were delighted to confirm that Michael Chee Kam, Thomas Mikaele and Corey Thompson have recently extended their playing futures with the club — demonstrating the belief that the playing group has about the direction of Wests Tigers. We are continuing to work on strengthening our playing roster for the immediate future and are filled with confidence that Michael and his coaching staff will take us forward in that regard.
Away from the field, the club also progressed extremely well after our strongest financial performance in club history in 2018. We have intentionally chosen to continue investing in our business in 2019, in order to further grow our capacity and capabilities as an organisation — ensuring our business will continue to grow. We will continue to make strong financial decisions to grow our sustainable position in the game and benefit those who are a part of Wests Tigers.
I would like to thank all our members again for their tremendous support. The passion and commitment from all of you is truly appreciated throughout the whole club — from the Board, players and staff. Wests Tigers Membership numbers have again surpassed 20,000 for the second year in a row as our strong support base continues to grow.
We were extremely proud to hold our Foundation Gala Dinner recently at Bankwest Stadium, raising financial support and contributions to the Wests Tigers Foundation. Launched in 2017, the Wests Tigers Foundation continues to lead the way amongst professional sporting organisations in Australia as it strives to help build sustainable success for the club — both on and off the field. From direct donations to the Foundation, we have been able to greatly improve our football facilities at Concord and make tremendous inroads in regard to our recovery and rehabilitation procedures, while also increasing our impact in both the Community and Heritage space.
All of this would not be possible without the strong financial support of those who donate to the Wests Tigers Foundation, and I urge you to consider a tax-deductible contribution at this time of year to directly impact the future success of this club.
The future of Wests Tigers remains strong and exciting, and we were pleased to recently announce that the final funding required for our Centre of Excellence Project at Concord Oval had been secured. With the support of Liberal Member for Reid Dr. Fiona Martin and the Liberal National Government, the final $5 million required has been committed along with an additional $1 million to be provided over two years for a new “Cubs” engagement program supporting multicultural youth. This is an extremely exciting time for the club, with construction on the new Centre of Excellence to begin in early 2020 in anticipation for an official opening midway through 2021.
With just six home games remaining in 2019, things are certainly starting to heat up for Wests Tigers and I look forward to being at Bankwest Stadium tonight for our home game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Three consecutive home games against three Sydney teams at what is an exceptional rugby league venue that offers a completely unique fan experience is an exciting thing for all rugby league fans to look forward to.
I urge all Members and fans to spread the word and turn up in huge numbers at all our remaining games to support the team as they play their hearts out. Your support is always recognised by the players and certainly does not go unnoticed.
There is no denying that it’s been a big year so far for Wests Tigers, and we are convinced that we can continue to progress with what we want to achieve as a team and an organisation. Things will not always go our way, but we will not be a club that uses problems as excuses for not being successful. As a collective of Members, fans, staff, players and stakeholders, we must recognise that although there will be challenges, we will always rise above and provide solutions to the problems we face — ensuring this football club achieves the heights of success that we all desire.
We have a great opportunity now to reset and focus on driving this club forward.
Wests Tigers is a strong and united club with the right people in place, and I know that what we will achieve going forward will be greater than what we have done so far.
Thank you again for all your support — let’s get back to work.
