5. Can we see Koe and Flegg all played at the same ground once in a while.
OFFICIAL Q&A Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp
- Thread starter ShaunMielekamp
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liltiger
Well-known member
There is a way through this. New ownership. No more 4 boards to keep happy, no more boards with control whos members are not accountable. Just one owner who is a Wests Tiger.
The sooner we drop the Western Suburbs and Balmain history the sooner we can all move on. I always hoped we could move forward and remain loyal to both histories of the joint venture. Though as times gone on it appears imo its the histories causing the contentions in the joint venture. Now i firmly believe that it must be one or the other. Its either we remain loyel to our history or we move on and remain loyal to Wests Tigers. Imo the sooner we drop Wests and Balmain and all this history talk the sooner we can all move on, its whats holding us back. Wests and Balmain had their chance it led to them merging. Wests Tigers have never been given that same opportunity. Thats why i say we need new owners. An owner with no connection to the past and only cares about our future.
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hammertime
Well-known member
I just asked Gemini for a ranking on our board vs some of our main local competitors. Here's its summary, which should not be a surprise to anyone. We are not #1 on the field, because we are not #1 at the top.
The challenge @ShaunMielekamp is that all of us can clearly see the problem, including richo, but no one has the power to change it, even you. We understand you're not at fault.
Our frustration squarely lies at the feet of these "owners". These guys are members' representatives who should be custodians of this club, not swinging around a sense of entitlement because of some incestuous debenture system. Essentially, we're all at the mercy of 20 people to do the right thing for the club, rather than themselves.
We need the best possible people on an independent board (even with HBG ownership still), and until we get that, you're unfortunately left to play the unification angle which, i feel, just papers over the cracks.
Until that circuit breaker happens, their culture of entitlement will continue to plague the organisation.
The challenge @ShaunMielekamp is that all of us can clearly see the problem, including richo, but no one has the power to change it, even you. We understand you're not at fault.
Our frustration squarely lies at the feet of these "owners". These guys are members' representatives who should be custodians of this club, not swinging around a sense of entitlement because of some incestuous debenture system. Essentially, we're all at the mercy of 20 people to do the right thing for the club, rather than themselves.
We need the best possible people on an independent board (even with HBG ownership still), and until we get that, you're unfortunately left to play the unification angle which, i feel, just papers over the cracks.
Until that circuit breaker happens, their culture of entitlement will continue to plague the organisation.
| nk | Club | Football Nous & Elite Governance Rating | Football Experience & Capability | Corporate & High-Level Connections | Key Governance Strength |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | Elite (9.5/10) | High: Directors like Luke Ricketson bring premiership-winning, elite-level player experience, complemented by decades of sports administration under Nick Politis. | Unmatched: Direct lines to Australia's top corporate circles, media executives, and ASX-level billionaires. | Exceptional stability; perfect integration of elite football ops and massive corporate backing. |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | Strong / Elite Ops (8.5/10) | Elite: Led on the football side by Greg Alexander (Deputy Chair, premiership captain, Origin/Kangaroo representative). Deep understanding of elite pathways and football culture. | Moderate-High: Solid Western Sydney commercial networks, corporate health/tech figures (ex-Visa/Mastercard), and local civil enterprise. | Clear separation between football operations and group assets; unmatched junior pathway governance. |
| 3 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Strong (8.0/10) | High: Features premiership winners like Peter Mortimer and Joe Thomas, combining historic club culture with modern high-performance alignment. | High: Led by Adam Driussi (Quantium co-founder/CEO), bringing top-tier data analytics, corporate strategy, and tech networks. | Sharp pivot toward analytical corporate governance paired with authentic club legends. |
| 4 | Parramatta Eels | Moderate-High (7.0/10) | Moderate: Relies heavily on executive sports administrators and committee setups rather than direct elite former-player voices on the board. | Moderate-High: Strong modern corporate governance, risk strategy, and executive management credentials. | Restructured constitutional framework that prevents factional gridlock, though lower in elite football pedigree. |
| 5 | Cronulla Sharks | Moderate (6.5/10) | Moderate-Low: Strong on general club administration, but lacks top-tier, former elite-level football champions embedded directly on the board. | Moderate: Heavily weighted toward property development and local commercial networks. | Excellent financial asset managers, but lower direct football IQ at the board table compared to Roosters or Panthers. |
| 6 | Wests Tigers | Developing / Low (4.5/10) | Low-Moderate: Michael Liubinskas brings local Wests Magpies coaching and team admin background, but the board lacks proven elite (NRL/Test level) football credentials. | Low: Dominated by suburban licensed club directors (Holman Barnes Group) and local SMB owners; limited top-tier ASX or national corporate networks. | Historically hindered by constitutional factionalism between Balmain/Wests, ongoing restructures, and a lack of corporate power. |
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Bubba
Active member
A few weeks ago, I went to Belmore Oval to watch Javon Andrews play in person.
One thing I will never understand is how we can possibly ever be a truly united entity when our reserve grade team is fully represented only by one side of the merger. If you play for the Wests Tigers and you are a contracted player, you should play for the Wests Tigers. Not Balmain and not Wests.
What made it even more concerning for me was that there were ex-players/club officials in Wests polos, rain jackets and hoodies.
We need to unite, fully, completely and totally.
If we have 12 home games, play six at Campbelltown and six at Leichhardt.
Once revamped, there is no longer an excuse.
We can have a heritage jersey, if necessary or play one game in the bush/magic round but from next season, enough is enough.
Forward looking from now on only.
Let's remove the rear vision mirror once and for all.
One thing I will never understand is how we can possibly ever be a truly united entity when our reserve grade team is fully represented only by one side of the merger. If you play for the Wests Tigers and you are a contracted player, you should play for the Wests Tigers. Not Balmain and not Wests.
What made it even more concerning for me was that there were ex-players/club officials in Wests polos, rain jackets and hoodies.
We need to unite, fully, completely and totally.
If we have 12 home games, play six at Campbelltown and six at Leichhardt.
Once revamped, there is no longer an excuse.
We can have a heritage jersey, if necessary or play one game in the bush/magic round but from next season, enough is enough.
Forward looking from now on only.
Let's remove the rear vision mirror once and for all.
Buttface
Well-known member
When they botched up my auto renewal for this season I got a few emails and then finally a phone call from a lady that said something about renewing and I said just said maybe later to see how good her sales training was and she said “ok then bye 👋 “ and hung up. Had she of at least tried to sell me on it, I would’ve membered up there and then, I had my card out.
But nope, just “bye 👋 ✋👋✋👋”
I won’t be giving them my money without some change and I don’t mean 40c.
So they contacted you multiple times (guessing your CC numbers or expiry changed). The club then personally phone you… and… they’re the problem?
Do you have any idea what memberships would cost if they had to phone everyone? Easily double.
Feedback for you, take it or leave it. I’m not excited that you wasted that lady’s time. I would prefer you to not tick the box. I’d prefer our clubs time and resources to go into make it stronger, rather than you testing its ‘sales capabilities in an admin call’
Gosh we live in the time of zero personal responsibility.
wstigers11
Well-known member
Doesn’t cancelling your membership just hurt the club more than them?
We’ve had the lowest membership in the comp especially during the spoon years it didn’t wake them up?
Might I recommend Shaun to appease the rusted on fan in this forum to
1 when you refer to pathway changes you can then add i expect to announce changes by x date
2 I expect coaching changes to be announced on this date..
Ect ect
Would be good to know when we will hear about big ticket items
P.s whats happened to jock there no injury update
1 when you refer to pathway changes you can then add i expect to announce changes by x date
2 I expect coaching changes to be announced on this date..
Ect ect
Would be good to know when we will hear about big ticket items
P.s whats happened to jock there no injury update
tigertragic
Well-known member
Hi Shaun
On what basis are you making your statements re fans
“Is it a challenge to bring the fans together - yes?
Is it a big rift? yes
Does it impact the organisation? yes
Are the fans to blame? absolutely not”
As I have been a supporter of tigers/wests tigers for 65 odd years and in recent times have been following multiple wests Tigers forums/pages and the clear message I get is that the majority of supporters follow wests Tigers and want things done in their best interests (not Balmain or Wests).
The only ‘rift’ appears to be with HBG
I think a more correct statement would be
Is it a challenge to bring HBG and fans together - yes
Is it a big rift between HBG and fans - yes
Does it impact wests tigers - yes
On what basis are you making your statements re fans
“Is it a challenge to bring the fans together - yes?
Is it a big rift? yes
Does it impact the organisation? yes
Are the fans to blame? absolutely not”
As I have been a supporter of tigers/wests tigers for 65 odd years and in recent times have been following multiple wests Tigers forums/pages and the clear message I get is that the majority of supporters follow wests Tigers and want things done in their best interests (not Balmain or Wests).
The only ‘rift’ appears to be with HBG
I think a more correct statement would be
Is it a challenge to bring HBG and fans together - yes
Is it a big rift between HBG and fans - yes
Does it impact wests tigers - yes
WHY?? Why aren't our heritage jerseys the 2000 or 2005 jerseys? THAT is the heritage of Wests Tigers! Look how quickly they sold out when those options were offered. It's madness to keep pushing WSM and BT as Wests Tigers heritage, same as getting Blocker and Benny up as "Wests Tigers Legends".
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Fainu Brothers
Well-known member
Shaun,
You are a straight shooter. Was there an issue between HBG and Shane Richardson when he was trying to make the NSW Cup Team Wests Tigers?
Honestly feels like as a club we have take. 1 step forward and 2/3 steps back and feels worse than winning 3 wooden spoons. I am gutted, but i do not see that in the playing group.
Pathways, i look at clubs like the Warriors/Knights/Storm why is when they debut players the look physically ready for NRL? When the majority of WT debut their physicality and defence is not up to NRL standard. How do you fix that?
You are new, but majority of the people here are suffering from 15 years of pain. 95% of people want the club to succeed as Wests Tigers not Balmain or Wests. The current game plan of high competition and hope for the best is not working. You were part of the conversations but as fans we were led to believe a player sat out due to standards, looking at his game on the weekend he didn’t meet them as a senior player. Would that happen with Sticky or Bellyache? We need to be better in so many ways.. To finish the year with 11 straight loses is unacceptable, we are the dragons from last year and look how they went this year.
You are a straight shooter. Was there an issue between HBG and Shane Richardson when he was trying to make the NSW Cup Team Wests Tigers?
Honestly feels like as a club we have take. 1 step forward and 2/3 steps back and feels worse than winning 3 wooden spoons. I am gutted, but i do not see that in the playing group.
Pathways, i look at clubs like the Warriors/Knights/Storm why is when they debut players the look physically ready for NRL? When the majority of WT debut their physicality and defence is not up to NRL standard. How do you fix that?
You are new, but majority of the people here are suffering from 15 years of pain. 95% of people want the club to succeed as Wests Tigers not Balmain or Wests. The current game plan of high competition and hope for the best is not working. You were part of the conversations but as fans we were led to believe a player sat out due to standards, looking at his game on the weekend he didn’t meet them as a senior player. Would that happen with Sticky or Bellyache? We need to be better in so many ways.. To finish the year with 11 straight loses is unacceptable, we are the dragons from last year and look how they went this year.
Jedi_Tiger
Well-known member
HBG has 20 Debenture holders roughly ?
Every tigers game at the 20 minute mark the supporters should turn there back on the game as a protest to HBG for 1 minute.
This would generate coverage, stupid Voss would be like "what are they doing ?"
it might gain some attention.
Every tigers game at the 20 minute mark the supporters should turn there back on the game as a protest to HBG for 1 minute.
This would generate coverage, stupid Voss would be like "what are they doing ?"
it might gain some attention.
Whilst it’s good the club is taking comfort in the younger generation of fans, like myself, who don’t care about the colour of the jersey, etc, I made the point on another thread that a 16 year old fan has never seen the Tigers play finals. I personally haven’t witnessed a finals series that I can remember.
The club needs to be prioritising the retention of these fans because it is very easy to become disinterested following years of failure. Whilst we wouldn’t necessarily support other clubs (I can only speak for myself), I can only reflect on the lows this club has achieved, and I take no satisfaction in any prior success because I simply do not remember it.
So you can imagine, there is very little positivity in my support for this club. If it wasn’t for this forum, I probably would have tuned out a little while ago. I barely watch the NRL anymore because I have learned not to care, and I haven’t properly watched a WT game since we copped a belting from Penrith. A day on my weekend I had set aside to watch my team compete.
If we can’t achieve results on the field, we need to be doing things off the field for the younger generation to keep them engaged.
Of course, no criticism of you, but just a general observation.
426Tlgerland
Well-known member
Shaun
Can you let the debenture holders ( HBG ) directors know that it would be better for the junior pathways , if we spend the money they will use to go to Vegas on the pathways system , we never see these directors anywhere so no need to go to Vegas but much better to spend the thousands of dollars it will take to get these people to Vegas on the juniors , it would be a very good move , we only need to send our coach , assistants coaches , head of football etc , we don’t need to send people just for a holiday , it would be a fantastic move by HBg to do this ,
Can you let the debenture holders ( HBG ) directors know that it would be better for the junior pathways , if we spend the money they will use to go to Vegas on the pathways system , we never see these directors anywhere so no need to go to Vegas but much better to spend the thousands of dollars it will take to get these people to Vegas on the juniors , it would be a very good move , we only need to send our coach , assistants coaches , head of football etc , we don’t need to send people just for a holiday , it would be a fantastic move by HBg to do this ,
Hi Shaun,
I admire your input and conversations throughout this forum..I agree that you have a hard job ahead of you to get things in order for this team and club to be the successful entity it was supposed to be via the JV...
I have been a member and supporter of the WTs since inception,however,this year I have not attended games and I am seriously thinking of relinquishing my membership as of next year..
I no longer want to defend a club and team who is constantly under scrutiny due to the many failures we have endured over the years,not only on field but at the stupidity at board level,the so called owners and the debenture system..
As far as Western suburbs and Balmain go,they are HISTORY and I had a mate who played for the Maggie's in the 70s and was an strong Balmain supporter myself..
When all and sundry finally realise that we are members,supporters and fans of The Wests Tigers as a whole then this squandering of time and money arguing over the 2 foundation clubs that WERE part of our great game can no longer exist,this is the rift that still exists in the older generation..
I can only give you my best wishes and appreciate your efforts,however,it gives me no comfort having to face other successful teams members and supporters constantly abusing and calling me a loser for putting in money and time for no joy whatsoever to have to look forward to another year of dismal failure..
Thank you for your efforts and input to the forum...
I admire your input and conversations throughout this forum..I agree that you have a hard job ahead of you to get things in order for this team and club to be the successful entity it was supposed to be via the JV...
I have been a member and supporter of the WTs since inception,however,this year I have not attended games and I am seriously thinking of relinquishing my membership as of next year..
I no longer want to defend a club and team who is constantly under scrutiny due to the many failures we have endured over the years,not only on field but at the stupidity at board level,the so called owners and the debenture system..
As far as Western suburbs and Balmain go,they are HISTORY and I had a mate who played for the Maggie's in the 70s and was an strong Balmain supporter myself..
When all and sundry finally realise that we are members,supporters and fans of The Wests Tigers as a whole then this squandering of time and money arguing over the 2 foundation clubs that WERE part of our great game can no longer exist,this is the rift that still exists in the older generation..
I can only give you my best wishes and appreciate your efforts,however,it gives me no comfort having to face other successful teams members and supporters constantly abusing and calling me a loser for putting in money and time for no joy whatsoever to have to look forward to another year of dismal failure..
Thank you for your efforts and input to the forum...
weststigers
Well-known member
Shaun,
I think I speak for many supporters, although obviously not all, when I say that the problems fans have with this club are too often misdiagnosed as some ongoing Balmain v Wests war.
Personally, I am sick of seeing the issue reduced to something so petty, because it avoids the much bigger issue: our largest shareholder, Holman Barnes Group, and the influence it has over Wests Tigers.
Balmain is a 10% shareholder with one board seat. It has not had meaningful power on the board for well over a decade. Yes, Balmain and Wests butted heads when the joint venture was 50/50, and there is plenty of history there, but that is no longer the structure we have. Balmain simply does not have the power to dictate the direction of Wests Tigers.
So, to be absolutely clear, this is not a Balmain/Wests argument.
The club is called Wests Tigers. That is the club we should be building, strengthening and growing.
What many supporters cannot understand are decisions that seem completely counterintuitive to that objective.
For example:
- Why does a club called Wests Tigers have more Magpies appearing on its NRL jersey than its own Wests Tigers logo? Would it make sense to put three Tigers logos on the Western Suburbs Magpies reserve-grade jersey? From a branding and marketing perspective, how does this make sense? The Balmain and Wests emblems already appear on the neck of the jersey and appropriately recognise where Wests Tigers came from. That should be enough. We are Wests Tigers.
- Why do underperforming HBG administrators continually seem to be recycled through positions of influence? We keep seeing essentially the same small group of people who have presided over years of failure. From the outside, it feels as though Wests Tigers is permanently held hostage by an administrative structure that is never genuinely accountable for results.
- Why are we so willing to abandon a home ground where the team is winning? In professional sport, surely winning should be the priority. When decisions appear to work against that, supporters naturally start wondering whether other agendas are being prioritised ahead of football success.
- Why did we rush into a five-year extension for Benji? I love Benji and desperately want him to succeed, but what was the competitive pressure requiring a five-year commitment? No other NRL club was trying to sign him as head coach. Was committing for that length of time really the smartest decision available to us at that moment?
- Why does Wests Tigers appear to receive such poor financial support from its so-called owners, while those same organisations are prepared to invest significant money elsewhere, including soccer? If Wests Tigers is supposedly such an important asset, why doesn't the level of investment reflect that?
- Why is the answer to failure always the coach and the players? At what point do the owners and administrators accept responsibility for the disgraceful way this club has been run for so many years, and for the reputational damage that has followed?
- Why does it increasingly feel as though our owners are pushing a Magpies agenda rather than a Wests Tigers agenda? When you say, "What's good for HBG is good for Wests Tigers," supporters are entitled to ask what that actually means. Does it mean we should expect Wests Tigers to gradually become more and more aligned with the Magpies identity? Because if we keep adding birds to the jersey, eventually we're going to run out of sponsorship space.
The two foundation clubs should absolutely be respected and celebrated as part of our history, but the whole purpose of the joint venture was to create something new. More than 25 years later, surely our objective should be to strengthen the identity of Wests Tigers, not continually drag the club backwards into arguments about which foundation club has greater ownership of it.
And if people believe those raising these issues simply have some sort of anti-Wests or pro-Balmain agenda, I would ask a very simple question:
Why does virtually every major rugby league media outlet eventually arrive at the same criticism of our administration?
This club has been an absolute disgrace administratively for far too long and, frankly, it has disrespected its supporters for far too long as well.
Unfortunately, Shaun, you have arrived at a time when a large portion of the supporter base has finally stopped accepting the spin. I don't envy the position you've walked into, and this post isn't directed at you personally. In fact, I genuinely hope you succeed.
But supporters have seen this movie before.
A new CEO arrives enthusiastic, intelligent and determined to change things. Eventually they run into the same brick wall: an ownership and governance structure that appears to be the one constant through over a decade failure.
That is the concern. Even when V'Landys got involved - he reduced everything to Balmain/Wests, but it was never about that. It was about governance and independence that allowed Wests Tigers to make decisions in the interests of Wests Tigers, not Balmain or Wests.
For the most part, Wests Tigers fans actually get along remarkably well. Of course there will always be the occasional 70-year-old Balmain or Wests supporter who never accepted the merger and never will. That is inevitable. But they are not representative of the core problem facing this club today.
Please don't reduce the current anger to Balmain supporters fighting Wests supporters, because that completely misunderstands what many of us are saying.
This is about Wests Tigers supporters wanting Wests Tigers to finally be governed, funded, branded and operated in the best interests of Wests Tigers.
It is not Balmain versus Wests.
It is about whether the people controlling the club are genuinely prepared to put Wests Tigers first.
We desperately need one singular change.
HBG in its current form must go. All the other crap we all go on about are just symptoms of ownership failure.
When a GP assesses a patient, they identify symptoms so they can find a common cause. Literally 99% of fans realise that the disease linking our symptoms is HBG.
-_- the-flip-side -_-
Member
Hi @ShaunMielekamp
Not sure if you missed this one. As a Leichardt member I will need to get some clarity on what the future looks like if I am to renew my family membership moving forward.
You and I have a mutual connection (ill DM you). If you're open to a coffee I'd be happy to come by concord for a chat next week.
Locking for now. We'll clean it up, again, and see if and how we can re-open it, for the CEO to be able to respond.
- Status
