@Jedi_Tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1191078) said:
didnt Harry T try to do something a few years back with Meriton in relation to third party deals and the nrl ruled he couldnt be a tpa as he was too close or attached to the WT's i think this was just after brydens took over sponsorship
Harry's support of the tigers is weak. I'll give him credit for providing sponsorship to the club when they couldn't get any, but I don't think the deals were ever big money and he's let Balmain get merged, the leagues club fold and then Balmain die. Maybe he does stuff behind the scenes for us but it seems more that he likes to attract a lot of public attention for meagre offerings and doesn't mind seeing his supposedly beloved club die. I'm not blaming him for Balmain's death but he didn't help when surely they were desperate and asking.
Mate you are shooting your mouth off, and do not know the story.
How many millions did you want him to tip in? He was the major sponsor
for Wests Tigers for many years.
He wanted to help out with the Leagues Club Upgrade,but Balmain did not
want him to be part of it. They instead chose to go with "Backdoor Benny"
and his associates and get totally rorted.
He was always really a "Balmain side of it" sponsor, they snubbed their
nose at him.
Personally I don't blame him for snubbing them back.
However you go on casting black net on the Harry's name.
Is your source Harry Triguboff? I read that article too. That was him talking, not the club when he talked about how desperate he was to help out with the leagues club development. But they just wouldn't let him throw his money at them! Where has anyone talked about what he's done for the club beside cut price sponsorship for a budget club? Corporates don't sponsor large sporting teams out of charity, it's a marketing decision. Steggles should be given an award for sponsoring the roosters, right? They've been a sponsor 'for many years'. Samsung also a great sponsor of the roosters, because I'm guessing they both just love the club and they should both be hailed as great Roosters fans because of it!
You act like I'm talking about him helping Wests Tigers, I'm talking about his 'passion' for Balmain. I remember in 98 when he got headlines claiming he was going to save our club and would never let us die. The Balmain board bungled just about every financial opportunity they had, but he never helped. I think he was actually just interested in proposals around Callan Park and he saw sponsoring the Tigers and talking the big talk as endearing him to the community. But since Callan Park stopped, where's he been beyond saying no to helping Balmain and not sponsoring Wests tigers with even the smallest sponsorship package? Gee, you just can't hold him back, can you? Why sponsor when all you need to do is talk about how much you care? Get all the positive press that way.
Look at Souths, Brisbane, Melbourne, The Warriors, Manly, The Roosters and even Penrith: big corporate money or well connected people throwing money at the clubs they love and even taking them over because they want success for their team. Russell Crowe fought against his own fans and the greats of his club to take the club over and make them good. Even our current Chairman has done more for our club in his recent involvement than Triguboff ever did. And you're talking up Triguboff? For what? Being good at talking to the media?
But go on believing the Meriton corporate propaganda! And good luck waiting for him to contribute anything useful to the club. You guys are way too naive and should look at what he does, not what he says.
100% in your corner.
What’s that saying, put your money where your mouth is.
He did provide us with a major sponsor when things were looking bad for a a while but since we’ve found a new major sponsor in Bryden’s Lawyers he hasn’t been sighted.
He is 80 something years old so I’ll give him that.
But wasn’t him moving away from sponsoring the club supposed to give him a pathway to providing funds for the club in other areas, and I’m not talking about 3 party deals.
What or where is he actually contributing if at all?
In comparison the struggling Bulldogs have just landed a new major sponsor that has been part of the Bulldogs family for decades. And he not only wants to part with his money to help the club, he wants to be involved in the operation of the club, support the players with whatever they need for the club to be a powerhouse again...
I think we can all agree that nobody really knows what Harry T does or does not put into the club, or how much he has or has not put into the club over the past decades. I'd rather have him as a supporter than not have him, but I think it's rich of people to expect X amount of involvement from famous or wealthy people simply because they are famous or wealthy.
I've heard all sorts of stories about harry T. I heard in the 90s when Balmain sucked he used to personally go to the sheds hand out player bonuses if they won. I heard Harry guaranteed club sponsorship via Meriton when nobody else would touch us. I heard he offered to be involved in some capacity with Balmain Leagues Club. I heard he paid for the kitchen renovation at Concord when Tigers needed a bit of a fix-up. I heard at one point he was willing to tip in decent coin to player salaries but the NRL told him he had to stay at arms-length from the club. I've heard he would buy and run the club but only if he had total control, which Wests objected to. Maybe they objected to save themselves or maybe Harry T is knows nothing about running a professional sports club. I've seen his Bentley at LO many times. I've never met the man. By all reports he's frugal despite his immense wealth. Apparently his kids aren't into rugby league. He's a Russian Jew who was born in China, grew up learning Russian, English and Chinese, moved to Australia when WWII finished. Interesting story all around.
So I think we can agree Harry T has definitely tipped more money into Tigers than any of us ever have, but also only a fraction of his total worth. Why this is and to what extent he wants to support the club, perhaps only the club bosses and Harry T know. Not much point debating it. Some blokes like the coverage and the ego of pumping money into a team, some don't. Maybe there's no noise because Harry doesn't supply much cash, or maybe there's no noise because Harry doesn't care much to trumpet his involvement.
Last one:
Fair summary. I read all those stories too. I'm increasingly jaded about the source of that information and feel that looking at what's actually happened at balmain (90s struggles, problems financially, merger, slow death, death) suggests his passion is more talk than action. We still have crap facilities at wests tigers, we're still one of the struggling clubs and he's still there in the media talking up his passion and desire to help out if only people would let him. In the meantime we've seen businessmen who actually care about clubs in the Warriors, Souths, Manly, Penrith and even Lee at Wests tigers actually do something to save their teams or help them to thrive. Those people should get credit, not someone who pays to have puff pieces in the newspapers.
