Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Telltails]

I’m measuring our squad against others.
Right now I do think we have a very nice balanced squad.

Alot of teams gets knocked down by injuries and make the finals. That’s mainly due to coaching structures.

If we miss the finals that’s more to do with coaching than our squad.

Coaching is always a factor as is the quality of your squad, but even the best coaches can't produce players out of nowhere when hit with injuries to key players let alone multiple injuries - classic example Souths last year.
Strong clubs have good depth because players are prepared to stay at them to get an opportunity and therefore manage an injury crisis better than clubs like ours - good cap management, pathways, stability in coaching and leadership, and investment in football operations.
Every thing will have to align in our favour to make the finals next year and that rarely happens for a club like ours - the evidence is there.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Coaching is always a factor as is the quality of your squad, but even the best coaches can't produce players out of nowhere when hit with injuries to key players let alone multiple injuries - classic example Souths last year.
Strong clubs have good depth because players are prepared to stay at them to get an opportunity and therefore manage an injury crisis better than clubs like ours - good cap management, pathways, stability in coaching and leadership, and investment in football operations.
Every thing will have to align in our favour to make the finals next year and that rarely happens for a club like ours - the evidence is there.

Based on how our squad is structured do you think the squad should make the top 8?

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Based on how our squad is structured do you think the squad should make the top 8?

The squad isn’t the problem. The coaching is.

 

[Telltails]

Based on how our squad is structured do you think the squad should make the top 8?

Im not convinced about our pack at all - compared to most teams in the competition. There will have to be significant improvement in their physicality to sustain the demands of the competition and compete against the best with or without injury. I think the backs have enough ability to play of the back of a dominant pack.

 

[wstigers11]

The squad isn’t the problem. The coaching is.

What was madge & Ivan’s excuse then.

 

[jadtiger]

I think just flexing their muscles, I can't think of any other reason. And I haven't seen it heard from that Paton dude every again, it's like he flew in and flew out again.

He was just the talking head HBG trundled out to try and give themselves some form of credibility and after he said his nonsense he was put back in the closet.HBG are an aggressive disease much to the detriment of their host they live off(WT).

 

[jadtiger]

What was madge & Ivan’s excuse then.

In both cases it was the overpaid duds on longterm contracts that Ivan bought to the club with Packer and M'Bye being the 2 most obvious examples.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

What was madge & Ivan’s excuse then.

Ivan was getting results. Our defence never looked better under him. Before or since.

 

[mtd#2]

The squad isn’t the problem. The coaching is.

We were on track for a top 8 finish until the Galvin drama. It took us a good 8 weeks to recover.

Compare it to what happened with the warriors when Metcalf got injured.

Don't let context get in the way of your narrative though

 

[twentyforty]

What was madge & Ivan’s excuse then.

The board

 

[innsaneink]

Theres plenty of room for improvements from the coaching staff
I think our discipline improved significantly from 23/24 to last year... that helped keep us in many games even though we couldnt ice them...this is where we need to improve with coaching...nailing those crucial moments and not letting oppositions get back into the grind

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

Seyfarth counts, it just depends where.

2025 he started ok, then collapsed half way through the year when he was a starting 2rf.
Wrong position, wrong move.

A bench spot or depth, he fits. I doubt we are going to sign better when you are talking #13-17.

IMHO, that is our problem, we acquired for different reasons, too many players that could not play for any other NRL team. I count Seyfarth as one of them.😢

 

[batboy]

We were on track for a top 8 finish until the Galvin drama. It took us a good 8 weeks to recover.

Compare it to what happened with the warriors when Metcalf got injured.

Don't let context get in the way of your narrative though

Long bow to draw for making a comparison man -
Metcalf was the best player in the comp when he got injured.

Galvin wasn’t in the top 20

 

[twentyforty]

Theres plenty of room for improvements from the coaching staff
I think our discipline improved significantly from 23/24 to last year... that helped keep us in many games even though we couldnt ice them...this is where we need to improve with coaching...nailing those crucial moments and not letting oppositions get back into the grind

The most obvious area of improvement I noticed was the increase in discretionary effort, the 3rd man in a tackle, the support of a ball carrier, the eagerness to defend a teammates mistake etc. those effort areas that transform the 17 into a team.
Benji may be a novice coach but he has achieved what would’ve been his first goal.

 

[twentyforty]

The board

Luke Brooks , not many players can leave Tigers and get a pay rise, had this to say before walking away with his bbq. “There’s always something happening here”

In 2025, the
Holman Barnes Group (HBG), majority owners of the Wests Tigers NRL club, faced severe criticism and regulatory scrutiny following several governance failures and internal conflicts.
The following list summarizes the notable board governance issues over the last 10 years, with a concentration of major failures occurring in 2025:

• Mass Purge of Directors (2025): In late 2025, the HBG board unilaterally removed four independent directors from the Wests Tigers board, including Chairman and former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. This action occurred less than a year after an independent review had recommended the establishment of an independent board to ensure stability.
• Forced Reinstatement by the NRL: Just 10 days after sacking the independent directors, HBG was forced by the NRL to reinstate them following an intervention. Critics labeled the initial removal a "brain fart" and a sign of poor governance.
• Suspension and Banning of Its Own Members: Throughout 2024 and 2025, the HBG board oversaw the removal and long-term suspension of several of its own directors and chairpersons:
  • Former Chair Julie Romero was suspended from membership for eight years.
  • Directors Tony Andreacchio, Rick Wayde, and David Gilbert—who were architects of the original Wests Tigers governance review—received combined bans of nearly 15 years for alleged misdemeanors.
• High Legal Costs and Internal Instability: Reports indicated that HBG expended millions of dollars in members' funds on legal costs related to internal board disputes and disciplinary actions. In one instance, a banned director (Rick Wayde) settled with HBG for an undisclosed amount before reaching trial.
• Regulatory Investigations: In late 2025, Liquor and Gaming NSW opened a formal investigation into HBG following the extraordinary removal of board members and allegations of a "fractured" board level.
• Resignation of Chairman Amid Scandal (2025): HBG Chairman Dennis Burgessresigned in December 2025 following media reports that his personal Instagram account followed hundreds of sexually explicit pages, though he claimed the account was a "relic" from his past career.
• Allegations of Undemocratic Structure: Local government officials, including Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne, have criticized HBG as having one of the "least democratic governance structures" of any registered club in NSW.
• Leadership Churn: Within a single 12-month period in 2025, the group oversaw the removal or departure of eight directors, two chairpersons, and its long-term CEO.

 

[jadtiger]

Luke Brooks , not many players can leave Tigers and get a pay rise, had this to say before walking away with his bbq. “There’s always something happening here”

In 2025, the
Holman Barnes Group (HBG), majority owners of the Wests Tigers NRL club, faced severe criticism and regulatory scrutiny following several governance failures and internal conflicts.
The following list summarizes the notable board governance issues over the last 10 years, with a concentration of major failures occurring in 2025:

• Mass Purge of Directors (2025): In late 2025, the HBG board unilaterally removed four independent directors from the Wests Tigers board, including Chairman and former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. This action occurred less than a year after an independent review had recommended the establishment of an independent board to ensure stability.
• Forced Reinstatement by the NRL: Just 10 days after sacking the independent directors, HBG was forced by the NRL to reinstate them following an intervention. Critics labeled the initial removal a "brain fart" and a sign of poor governance.
• Suspension and Banning of Its Own Members:Throughout 2024 and 2025, the HBG board oversaw the removal and long-term suspension of several of its own directors and chairpersons:
  • Former Chair Julie Romero was suspended from membership for eight years.
  • Directors Tony Andreacchio, Rick Wayde, and David Gilbert—who were architects of the original Wests Tigers governance review—received combined bans of nearly 15 years for alleged misdemeanors.
• High Legal Costs and Internal Instability: Reports indicated that HBG expended millions of dollars in members' funds on legal costs related to internal board disputes and disciplinary actions. In one instance, a banned director (Rick Wayde) settled with HBG for an undisclosed amount before reaching trial.
• Regulatory Investigations: In late 2025, Liquor and Gaming NSW opened a formal investigation into HBG following the extraordinary removal of board members and allegations of a "fractured" board level.
• Resignation of Chairman Amid Scandal (2025): HBG Chairman Dennis Burgessresigned in December 2025 following media reports that his personal Instagram account followed hundreds of sexually explicit pages, though he claimed the account was a "relic" from his past career.
• Allegations of Undemocratic Structure: Local government officials, including Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne, have criticized HBG as having one of the "least democratic governance structures" of any registered club in NSW.
• Leadership Churn: Within a single 12-month period in 2025, the group oversaw the removal or departure of eight directors, two chairpersons, and its long-term CEO.

That highlights what the biggest problem is at our club and probably has been since we have been since we became a JV.Everything else pales into insignificance compared to the governing body.

 

[balmain boy]

Constant whinging won’t make it any better.

You're right, perhaps constant protests at the front door of Wests Ashfield and outside the homes of each debenture holder is the solution

 

[426Tlgerland]

Ah well , 9 am has come and gone and no Bulla re signing .
Boys back on deck for pre season part 2.
If Elliot was coming he should have been sorted and at training now getting flogged .
No club training photos or videos , this needs to be done badly , how easy is it to take photos of players and do say 3 or 4 , 1 minute videos of the new guys or just players in action hitting the pads , tackling , club is poor on this front , I would expect at least 2 lots of this before the trails and even a small doco like last season boot camp 20 minutes of showing what they have , Bulla sticks in my mind from last one ,
Ahhh it’s Monday and just my rant

 

[balmain boy]

RHS the majority of players don’t even know or care who the board members are.
Yes the CEO plays an important role, but I’m confident in saying players find our new CEO to be a better bloke, far more approachable and easier to deal with than our previous CEO.

How on earth can you be that oblivious, naive??

At most clubs sure, must players wouldn't know more than a couple of board members. They go about their business professionally in the background and perhaps offer some off field advice to players here and there.

At WT the board makes everything about them, their constant childishness, fighting and making the front page of the news means that every player, their agent and their families would be very familiar with the morons that are destabilising the organisation that they work for.

Once Wests Ashfield are removed from the board then yes the staff can stop worrying about the future of the organisation they work for.

Oh and players don't have to like the CEO, they just need to respect them. Richo was respected as a successful CEO who was putting the framework of a successful club in place and fighting against those who wanted to tear the club down. Shaun is a people person and will be easier to talk to, yes, but they doesn't mean he's a better CEO for the club. I liked what he did at the Mariners though, that was super impressive.

 

[balmain boy]

And yet, they were all attempted to be retained but weren't. Additionally, why do so many players underperform here, but excel elsewhere?
And I disagree with they weren't missed. We were very short in some of their positions and it showed on the field. I'm my opinion they were mostly very much missed.
Could we realistically pay them all what they were reportedly offered/chasing? No. But keeping them/convincing them they've got a bright a future here on fair wages is his job in retention.

Bateman was not missed. He was a toxic influence. Papalii wasn't missed in that he had no impact on the field whatsoever, offered nothing in attack and defence was just average. Fainu a far superior player. Stefano also underperformed here and May was far superior. TDS never proved much on the field in his few years in first grade, he does offer more than Hope but it's on 5 times the salary. Api deserves 60mins a a week, so letting tds go to where he thought he could get more gametime makes sense. Blore as well is just a solid squaddie. You don't complain if he's in your 17 but he's not going to win you any matches either. Would he have been better than Seyfarth or Sukkar in the back row, sure. But the difference isn't that huge.

Given how destabilising many of these players were, the poor example they were setting for younger players, his did we miss them all so much?