OFFICIAL Q&A Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp

Fraze23 said:
Hi Shaun,

Thank you for engaging with the forum in the way you have. I know this is going to be a tough job and I wish you all the best for it.

You've been given a lot of questions that you probably can't answer, but I think this one could be answered pretty easily.

The retro tracksuit jumpers have been sold out for most of the season and I've been told that there won't be a restock of these. I've looked everywhere online and can't seem to find them anywhere. I'm just wondering why there hasn't been or won't be a restock?

It has been a long time since we've had genuinely good merch on offer and a quality supplier like Canterbury. It just seems a bit bizarre that there's a product people want and we don't seem to be willing to sell more of it.

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Hey Fraze, the restocking comes down to ultimately having to commit to minimum orders to purchase and also the timing of the delivery. It is a complicated balance between ordering enough initially and not ordering too much that you end up with over stock that you have to sell at a discounted or below cost rate. If we overstock the issue gets compounded when the next years new tracksuits don't sell as well because we are trying to clear this years stock. By the time the new delivery was due to come in we would be heading towards the warmer months so made the call to let the line run out and plan for next years - this decision is in consultation with the apparel provider as well as they assess what they can sell into general retail. if they can sell some in general retail then our minimum orders and risk are reduced. I hope this make sense as it is a tricky balance to negotiate.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Hey Fraze, the restocking comes down to ultimately having to commit to minimum orders to purchase and also the timing of the delivery. It is a complicated balance between ordering enough initially and not ordering too much that you end up with over stock that you have to sell at a discounted or below cost rate. If we overstock the issue gets compounded when the next years new tracksuits don't sell as well because we are trying to clear this years stock. By the time the new delivery was due to come in we would be heading towards the warmer months so made the call to let the line run out and plan for next years - this decision is in consultation with the apparel provider as well as they assess what they can sell into general retail. if they can sell some in general retail then our minimum orders and risk are reduced. I hope this make sense as it is a tricky balance to negotiate.
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Leaves me a bit underwhelmed when out of the many questions raised the only response is in relation to a track top availability.
 
Chunk said:
Hi Shaun,

For me this is without doubt the most pressing issue at the Wests Tigers.

Powerhouse clubs like the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs receive more leagues club funding than the Wests Tigers comes down to differing board control structures, severe geographical division of profits, and the unique financial burdens of a merged joint venture.

While the Canterbury League Club routinely pours millions into the Bulldogs NRL team, the Holman Barnes Group (HBG) operates under a completely different corporate reality:

1. Board Control: Direct Ties vs. Separation. The most critical difference between the two setups is who controls the purse strings:The Bulldogs Model: The Canterbury-Bankstown Football Club holds a guaranteed structural majority on the Canterbury League Club board (appointing four out of seven directors). Because the football side legally controls the commercial leagues club, they can easily vote to approve massive, multi-million-dollar annual grants straight to their NRL football program.

The Wests Tigers Model: The Wests Tigers football management has zero control over HBG's corporate board. HBG operates completely independently as a licensed hospitality group. Their primary corporate priority is running profitable hospitality venues, treating the Wests Tigers as an investment portfolio piece rather than their singular purpose.

How can you help stop HBG treating the Wests Tigers as an investment portfolio rather than a singular purpose?

Thanks
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Hi Chunk, I appreciate the constructive question.

What I can do is communicate and engage with all 4 boards to ensure that they have a full understanding of what the club is going through and how we are moving forward. It is important to note that there are 4 boards here and they all play their vital part so communication is integral.

I saw and experienced this first hand at Penrith Panthers when I worked there as the alignment between to the football club and the group leagues club was important.
What is best for HBG, Magpies, Balmain and Wests tigers is a well performing club on and off the field. The structure of Wests tigers and HBG that you compare to the Bulldogs is of course very different and unique, I am keen to find the most effective model that we have within the current structure - anything outside of that is out of my control and definitely not in my JD.

So how can I help stop the perceived portfolio approach by HBG? Primarily is through the strong communication of the clubs needs and strategy. This will enable to focus on the governance decisions made by the club and result in the best allocation of resources available (and requesting more as needed in the right areas). There is obviously a long way to go here but it is important aspect to call out.

The primary role of boards HBG included is governance and whilst this seems a simple notion it does appear that over the course of the history of the club this has not always been the case. At times it is clear to me that boards have become involved in the operations and daily decision making, whilst at other times the board have been totally left out and unaware of key big impact decisions or areas that needed better corporate governance and regulatory oversight - I will leave you guys to align which moment match which issues in our history.

It's obvious that what is best for Wests Tigers will also be best for HBG so it is important this is a clear focus both in the long and short term.

For example right now there is a huge focus of my energy and drive on the pathways structure and resources. The club must be set up to ensure that the talent coming through are properly developed in all areas, physically, mentally, technically and cultural. This must come from the coaches, the club must put more energy resources and expertise into our coaching development and curriculum. I will have plenty more to roll out publicly about the detail in this but as it is a work in progress I need to crack on in getting this right quickly without rushing it as well.

Whilst it is match day today I had a moment of time and clear head space to jump on quickly and answer a couple questions, I will try and get to the rest through the week ahead.

I'm not sure I'm ever going to appease anyone being critical of me being a "HBG puppet" - they are the board and I report to them, my conversations with them must remain confidential and they are. I can't see the value in spending time trying to prove anything here either way for anyone when what I need to be doing is focus on doing my job and improving this club's results.

I'm happy to have hard conversations and I am having those conversation, but I would rather be judged for my actions than any words that are said on forum's, podcasts or in the media.

by being on here I just want to make sure that members of this forum do know that I am listening and appreciate their time, effort and support for the club. you are some of the most if not the most loyal fans I have ever seen.

Hopefully i see plenty of you at the game today and will jump back on later this week to catch up on so many questions and posts
 
426Tlgerland said:
Is there any discussion within the club that the reserve grade side ( wests magpies ) be re branded as Wests Tigers or even lower grades or are we stuck with the magpies to satisfy the HBG debenture holders and all old wests supporters involved at board levels
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The whole pathways process and resources are on top of my agenda - I have a lot of work to do here and a lot of hard conversations.
 
Tommy Magpie said:
New year - same results. Never seems to change. Been supporting Magpies and Tigers since the mid 70s. Dad been following them since the 1940s and grandfather since the 1920s. Apart from a few unicorn years, we are the same every year. An underfunded and low achieving team. The team has always lacked true leaders on the field, and strong, aligned leadership off the field. There is no unrelenting drive to be the best, we seem just happy to participate and jag the odd win. Off-field we need alignment from the board to the administration and coaches. We dont have it, and with HBG, I doubt we ever will. On field, we have no resilience and no one driving the standards and resilience and mental side of the game. SM - I honestly wish you all the best but you have an uphill battle. It is not good for the fans to suffer every week. We deserve better, and as the CEO, you need to deliver. I am sick of the talk, I just want results delivered consistently week after week. I dont think I will see it in my lifetime. Failure is ingrained deep at this club. So deep I dont know if it will ever come out. SM - your challenge it to prove me wrong. Incremental improvement will never be enough. Work out a way to be #1. The roosters can have 6 SOO players, why cant we. Dont say salary cap constraints. If they can do it, why cant we. They dont accept anything other than being premiership contenders every year. Our club needs to do the same.
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I totally agree that actions have to speak louder than words. My point of being on here is not to speak more words but to have an action that you know your voices are being heard.
 
liltiger said:
Hi Shaun,

As Wests Tigers CEO can you please give some form of assurance to us fans that you personally will investigate what exactly it is at the Wests Tigers that is rotten. Players careers very raerly develop on an uphill trajectory, it seems no matter who we sign they vary raerly imprpve, we had the last 2 coaches who won a combined 5 premierships, one ran as soon as he could, one was sacked. We had Shane Richardson amongst other ceo's who had vast experience leave, we vary raerly develop our juniors as well as other clubs. We have changed players, coaches, executives and still the Wests Tigers seems to be a career killer. Will you personally guarantee to investigate and find out what the actual problem is. It must be something structural in the clubs running. As its not been rectified with new coaches, players and executives. Can you interview former players, coaches and executives who left to find out exactly what theyre experiances were. Noone at the club currently under employment can discuss certain things. If you speak privatly to those who have left. People who speak negativly about the club like Braith Anasta they will tell you the truth. You as CEO must get to the bottom of what is rotten at the club and rectify whatever it is. Even if its the owners intervening constantly. You are the CEO of Wests Tigers not HBG. Your loyalty lies first and foremost to the Wests Tigers. Can you guarantee us fans you will begin looking into the issues. From a fans perspective it just looks like we are an amature team in a professional competition.
Thanking you.
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Liltiger - I am doing this and agree that there are some systemic challenges at the club that is keeping us in this loop. I can guarantee you that I am currently looking into the issues as I see them and more importantly looking to focus on how to fix them. I'll be honest I don't have the answers right now but I'm am not going to stop until it is clear for everyone where we need to get to.

One of the biggest challenges is bringing all the fans together - it's actually one of the most significant rifts i have ever seen in a club and does have an impact on the entire organisation.

Is there ever a world where fans who are either Wests Tigers only, fans who are West Tigers and Wests Magpies fans and fans who are Wests Tigers and Balmain Tigers could all be in collective support of the club? I initially thought that the only way to achieve this was to win football games on the field - however there is a connection here between the two and when i see the younger generation of fans coming together and not caring if the jersey being worn next to them has a Pepper, Victor or Phillips brand on the front it gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Just a thought for one of the items we need to find a way to resolve if the club is ever going to truly move forward.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Liltiger - I am doing this and agree that there are some systemic challenges at the club that is keeping us in this loop. I can guarantee you that I am currently looking into the issues as I see them and more importantly looking to focus on how to fix them. I'll be honest I don't have the answers right now but I'm am not going to stop until it is clear for everyone where we need to get to.

One of the biggest challenges is bringing all the fans together - it's actually one of the most significant rifts i have ever seen in a club and does have an impact on the entire organisation.

Is there ever a world where fans who are either Wests Tigers only, fans who are West Tigers and Wests Magpies fans and fans who are Wests Tigers and Balmain Tigers could all be in collective support of the club? I initially thought that the only way to achieve this was to win football games on the field - however there is a connection here between the two and when i see the younger generation of fans coming together and not caring if the jersey being worn next to them has a Pepper, Victor or Phillips brand on the front it gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Just a thought for one of the items we need to find a way to resolve if the club is ever going to truly move forward.
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Thanks for the response Shaun much appreciated, im in absolute agreement with you that the fan base must be united. Wests and Balmain no longer exist we are now the Wests Tigers, that is why im of the opinion that it should be of upmost importance for the club to promote uniformity throughout not just our organisatiin but our stake holders aswell. Is there a time you could ever see puerly Wests Tigers teams playing in various comps instead of the Western Suburbs and Balmain teams we have now. We really need to finally embrace who we are, not who we were. I think in bringing in Wests Tigers through all grades would go a massive way to achieving that. The vast majority of fans, myself included could care less about Western Suuburbs and Balmain. We are Wests Tigers supporters. Also any way you could look into accepting paypal for online membership fees, i live on the Gold Coast and dont have a credit card, it would make paying online for membership so much easier, if possible. Thanks again for your reply mate i know your copping it fron everyone at the moment, iv gained immense ammounts of respect for you as youve fronted to discuss it. Legendary effort. Be patient with us fans, its not you, its that we have heard all these tgings for 15 years and esp after what happened in the boardroom at the end of last year we are very skeptical, cynical and have had an absolute gutfull. Dont take it personally, we all want the same thing.
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
For example right now there is a huge focus of my energy and drive on the pathways structure and resources. The club must be set up to ensure that the talent coming through are properly developed in all areas, physically, mentally, technically and cultural. This must come from the coaches, the club must put more energy resources and expertise into our coaching development and curriculum. I will have plenty more to roll out publicly about the detail in this but as it is a work in progress I need to crack on in getting this right quickly without rushing it as well.
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That's amazing to hear but Id love more information about this. You don't have to divulge funding or confidential information but in your opinion how do the pathways look like in 5 years? Are we training the coaches and performance staff at every single level or do they just come in for training and game days do their job and leave?

Professional development has to start with the coaches, physios, trainers and sports scientists at every single level, before we can expect our athletes to be professional.

Any further info or plan will be much appreciated Shaun
 
I see Shaun is working with 4 boards , to me there is the first major issue , that’s just to many people and from 4 different sides really , Shaun should be dealing with HBG and the Wests Tigers board , Balmain and wests magpies need zero say now as the directors of HBG and wests tigers should be mak8ng decisions best for wests tigers , , If you try and apeeze 4 groups of people most likely pulling in different directions your asking for trouble , stupid way to do stuff this is already in a broken set up ..
 
426Tlgerland said:
I see Shaun is working with 4 boards , to me there is the first major issue , that’s just to many people and from 4 different sides really , Shaun should be dealing with HBG and the Wests Tigers board , Balmain and wests magpies need zero say now as the directors of HBG and wests tigers should be mak8ng decisions best for wests tigers , , If you try and apeeze 4 groups of people most likely pulling in different directions your asking for trouble , stupid way to do stuff this is already in a broken set up ..
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Not to mention working with the NRL as well - especially being a potential shareholder in the new 20th team and providing them with insights into how to run a polished NRL club. 🥸🍻🐯
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Hi Chunk, I appreciate the constructive question.

What I can do is communicate and engage with all 4 boards to ensure that they have a full understanding of what the club is going through and how we are moving forward. It is important to note that there are 4 boards here and they all play their vital part so communication is integral.

I saw and experienced this first hand at Penrith Panthers when I worked there as the alignment between to the football club and the group leagues club was important.
What is best for HBG, Magpies, Balmain and Wests tigers is a well performing club on and off the field. The structure of Wests tigers and HBG that you compare to the Bulldogs is of course very different and unique, I am keen to find the most effective model that we have within the current structure - anything outside of that is out of my control and definitely not in my JD.

So how can I help stop the perceived portfolio approach by HBG? Primarily is through the strong communication of the clubs needs and strategy. This will enable to focus on the governance decisions made by the club and result in the best allocation of resources available (and requesting more as needed in the right areas). There is obviously a long way to go here but it is important aspect to call out.

The primary role of boards HBG included is governance and whilst this seems a simple notion it does appear that over the course of the history of the club this has not always been the case. At times it is clear to me that boards have become involved in the operations and daily decision making, whilst at other times the board have been totally left out and unaware of key big impact decisions or areas that needed better corporate governance and regulatory oversight - I will leave you guys to align which moment match which issues in our history.

It's obvious that what is best for Wests Tigers will also be best for HBG so it is important this is a clear focus both in the long and short term.

For example right now there is a huge focus of my energy and drive on the pathways structure and resources. The club must be set up to ensure that the talent coming through are properly developed in all areas, physically, mentally, technically and cultural. This must come from the coaches, the club must put more energy resources and expertise into our coaching development and curriculum. I will have plenty more to roll out publicly about the detail in this but as it is a work in progress I need to crack on in getting this right quickly without rushing it as well.

Whilst it is match day today I had a moment of time and clear head space to jump on quickly and answer a couple questions, I will try and get to the rest through the week ahead.

I'm not sure I'm ever going to appease anyone being critical of me being a "HBG puppet" - they are the board and I report to them, my conversations with them must remain confidential and they are. I can't see the value in spending time trying to prove anything here either way for anyone when what I need to be doing is focus on doing my job and improving this club's results.

I'm happy to have hard conversations and I am having those conversation, but I would rather be judged for my actions than any words that are said on forum's, podcasts or in the media.

by being on here I just want to make sure that members of this forum do know that I am listening and appreciate their time, effort and support for the club. you are some of the most if not the most loyal fans I have ever seen.

Hopefully i see plenty of you at the game today and will jump back on later this week to catch up on so many questions and posts
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the response Shaun, I have faith that you will do the best job possible and I'll be at the game today cheering the Tigers on. Thanks again
 
Last edited:
SM said
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One of the biggest challenges is bringing all the fans together - it's actually one of the most significant rifts i have ever seen in a club and does have an impact on the entire organisation.
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Tell us about it Shaun
If its not the grounds, its the logos, the districts, the crowd numbers, the jerseys, the histories, even our name
Some families would break up after 27 years of these ongoing melodramas....how some of us are still here after all this time its got me beat....but amazed.
If we could channel some of the supporters longevity, desire, persistence and perserverance we'd be unbeatable
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
It was just the one that I saw first - sorry i will try and get to them all.
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Ok Shawn, thanks for coming on board with the fans, assume there will be a full review at seasons end, especially on the coaching team. Without divulging too much, and assuming they have KPIs, how are they tracking ( general question).
My rationale is that nothing seems to change in game plans etc. Being a nearly 70 year follower of the Tigers I always thought that if something is not working, you try something different.( I won’t bore you with the insanity thing).
Now we’ve all heard the Benji spin that
“ we trained really well” and “that is not who we are” and yet they serve up the same thing( aka mediocrity)
week after week. Can you please explain
exactly “ what we are” and what they’re doing different to get us there.
The frustration levels on this sight are off the charts, and whilst we are armchair critics, plenty of us have played, coached and watched footy for yonks, and kinda have a good idea of what we need to do.
Why the hell can’t our coaches and players gel on that !
Look forward to hearing from you.
HB61
 
ShaunMielekamp said:
Liltiger - I am doing this and agree that there are some systemic challenges at the club that is keeping us in this loop. I can guarantee you that I am currently looking into the issues as I see them and more importantly looking to focus on how to fix them. I'll be honest I don't have the answers right now but I'm am not going to stop until it is clear for everyone where we need to get to.

One of the biggest challenges is bringing all the fans together - it's actually one of the most significant rifts i have ever seen in a club and does have an impact on the entire organisation.

Is there ever a world where fans who are either Wests Tigers only, fans who are West Tigers and Wests Magpies fans and fans who are Wests Tigers and Balmain Tigers could all be in collective support of the club? I initially thought that the only way to achieve this was to win football games on the field - however there is a connection here between the two and when i see the younger generation of fans coming together and not caring if the jersey being worn next to them has a Pepper, Victor or Phillips brand on the front it gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Just a thought for one of the items we need to find a way to resolve if the club is ever going to truly move forward.
Click to expand...
Hi Liltiger, unfortunately for you and many others on this forum, you do not speak for all Wests Tigers supporters. You are certainly entitled to your opinions, which you have given in terms of uniformity throughout the joint venture.

However, I believe that stating “The vast majority of fans, myself included, could care less about Western Suburbs and Balmain” (I think you meant couldn’t) is incorrect, and that many Wests Tigers supporters still have links to both joint-venture clubs. It should be remembered this is a joint venture between Western Suburbs and Balmain, not a new single entity.

I think Shaun was alluding to the 3 club supporter groups coming together as one, not continually sniping at each other.
 
Thanks Shaun
Youve got a ridiculously challenging job,but youve done it before so we have faith,whilst understanding the nuances of the various competing influences you have to confront every day.
Not easy.
The supposed "division" amongst supporters is not really the biggest issue(apart from within the Boardroom!!)... its simply an overt expression of our ongoing frustration with the lack of success of the combined club despite what appears to be huge advantages which we never seem to be able to leverage
achievement and success always unites everybody,and the sentiment from many on this forum is that the actions of both the Board and the coaching staff seem quite often contrary to actually achieving success
Crazy I know,but thats what it looks like from outside
 
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