goldcoast_tiger
New member
@Abraham said:I think a lot of people are ignoring the reasons why Balmain is in its current predicament.
It was not (originally) due to mismanagement or negligence from the Board at the time. They did something which was adventurous, but had the potential to be hugely profitable, in undertaking the development of the Leagues Club.
As they say timing is everything, and the GFC hit at the absolute worst moment whereby the Group who was going to undertake the redevelopment suddenly went bust. This is coupled with the Labor Govt back flipping on the light rail after making the club buy basically every property on the block, and then the local council doing a 180 on what they originally determined would be a reasonable redevelopment of the site.
Basically everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, leaving the Leagues Club up sh*t creek without a paddle.
This is not absolving the Board of their responsibilities, as they have had 8 years to come up with decent contingency plans. They have failed spectacularly at their duties in making sure the Club remains financial, and the result is the current situation whereby they will be lucky to survive the coming year.
However no-one has mentioned this in all of the above posts, as people seem content to gloss over the reasons for the current predicament and instead lay the boot in and pretend it was the Board's fault all along.
Had the timing been different, and had the State Govt acted appropriately, the development would have probably been completed by now, and the Club would be rolling in cash.
I don't think it's a case of glossing over anything in the past, but more a case of looking at a true picture of where we stand now.
How it happened is history. What matters now , is how it affects WT's from now into the future.
The continued speculation about money and who's going to be a part of the club is not going to help get the right people here.
We should be looking to get the best people, but why would they be involved, with all the rubbish that is/ has been going on here.
Do we just just settle for whoever can't get a job anywhere else, or do we look to be able to be able to afford some of the best.
With the temporary NRL involvement,and a restructured Board , the chance is here to get this place sorted out once and for all ( hopefully) and to
Attract some real money to WT's
Despite having a different opinion earlierthis year , I agree with some that if Balmain can't provide their share themselves , then they shouldn't be a part of any JV . The money owed now is the tip of the iceberg and it would have been better,if there is going to be a change , to have that change now rather than later.
Wests Tigers will remain no matter what happens , but will have the chance to maybe attract a partner to invest, or be run by Wests .And the Balmain supporters will still have the same team
to follow. Maybe it's not ideal, but at the moment we are in desperate need of a shake up financially , and this board has the chance to hopefully, do something about that.
