Wests Tigers CEO Answers Questions

[Guest]

Courtesy of the official Wests Tigers website:

Wests Tigers CEO Answers Questions

Dan Talintyre
Wed 28th May, 06:35PM
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Wests Tigers asked fans and members to submit their questions on any topic for CEO Grant Mayer to answer. Here is the first part of his answers in this exclusive Q&A.

Part two will be published in full on Thursday.
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…on James Tedesco

Where are we putting the money that we offered for James Tedesco? — @Booners05

Any talk of dollars is inaccurate and unfair. The reality is we’ve now got a decision from James and we can review our entire salary cap position. We can do one of two things — one is hold tight and promote from within or we can look outside. Whether that’s in 2015 or beyond is a decision that still has to be made. Obviously it’s a decision that’s still very raw and recent so there’s meetings ongoing regarding how we handle that.
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Are reports on James Tedesco’s offer from Canberra accurate? — @MattBradley100

We don’t talk about money. I’ve read so many figures about money in the past few days, who knows what is the truth and what is not. It’s crazy.
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In hindsight, could we have handled the James Tedesco contract situation better? Do you think he’s a marquee player? — @sds079

A. I think we had a pretty open and transparent conversation with his manager over a number of weeks and months. Could we have done things better? Of course. Is he a marquee player? Well, Canberra obviously think he is a marquee player. We already have two marquee players and they’re both playing in State of Origin. Unfortunately, the way that the cap is structured, you can only have so many players on certain tiers of money.
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Q. Why didn’t we re-sign James Tedesco? Was it because of cap problems or that we didn’t want to pay overs? Was it because of both? — @TeddyMan398

A. We wanted to re-sign Teddy [James Tedesco]. We made a very, very, strong and competitive offer and unfortunately he didn’t stay with us. Fortunately for him, he’s obviously got an outstanding opportunity. We wish him well.
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Q. With James Tedesco leaving the Club next year, do we have now have money in the salary cap or are we still tight? — Jaleel Simpson

A. Things are always tight. People seem to think that players from one year to the next that are in your top 25 stay on the same money. All players’ contracts are upgraded. So if you look at some of the players that we’ve signed in the last 12 months, they’re not on the same money from one year to the next. The cap is really a constantly moving beast; players come and players go, so we’ve got to manage that on a year-by-year, month-by-month basis.
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…on Recruitment and Retention

Q. Are we currently looking to sign anybody for 2014? — Angelo Elias

A. Yes, of course we are. No names as yet, but we’ll let the Members know as soon as we possibly can.
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Q. Have we got any more plans for English imports? — @OriginalKurt

A. We’ve always got people looking in England, but our clear preference is to sign and build on our young talent. We’ll obviously look at good quality players.
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Q. Are we signing another fullback or is Kurtis Rowe the focus? — Dave Mead

A. There’s a number of players in our top 25 that can play fullback, and without putting any pressure on any one player, you can simply list guys like David Nofoaluma, Kurtis Rowe, Mitchell Moses – even Blake Austin. Pat Richards played there earlier in the year so there’s five players that can play fullback. And each of them are at different stages of their career. That one is not up to the CEO to pick the side, that one is very clearly a coach’s responsibility. I’m sure that the entire coaching staff will look after that in the next few weeks and months.
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Q. Do we have any other marquee players arriving to the Club other than NYC or Junior players? — @HumptyDumpty68

A. We’ve got to look at that as part of our strategy. I know there’s been a lot of constant rumbling from fans and Members regarding the lack of marquee signings at the Club. I’ve been vocal in saying that we have marquee players, but potentially the time’s right to look outside the box. Whether that’s 2015 or 2016 is a decision for us to make going forward. But there’s no imminent announcement regarding that.
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...on Home Grounds

Q. Is the reality of one home ground (such as ANZ Stadium) something which we will need to consider eventually? — @pete_dicko

A. Not in the short term, not at all. I think all the grounds we play at have a role to play. It’s a matter of deciding on the right game for the right venue strategy.
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Q. If we play more games at ANZ, would that lower membership prices? — Benjamin Latta

A. I don’t really think you can get much lower for $50 for eight games of football. I really don’t think we can go much lower than that. I think we’re the cheapest membership package in the game so I think we’ve ticked the box there.
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Q. Are there any plans to take games to the country or interstate? — @the_red_heifer

A. We’re looking at that. The beauty of playing more games at ANZ – both on a home and away basis – is that it gives us flexibility. Ultimately, that will be a decision once the draw comes out, so that’s more of an October/November answer.
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Q. Why are we playing so many games on Sunday afternoons? — Christopher James Shannon

A. Well I think the suburban grounds have a strong history of showing that Sunday afternoon games are the most popular, particularly at Leichhardt. But ultimately, we don’t decide when they’re played on when they’re played; it’s more of a Channel 9 thing. So we’ve got to make sure that we work with the broadcasters and the NRL on that one. But again, that’s not our choice; that’s their choice.
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...on Financial-related questions

Q. Are $10 tickets feasible for all matches, regardless of venue? — Garry Davis

A. No, not for all matches but stay tuned on that one. There’s a bit of an innovative idea that we’ve come up with internally because of the Campbelltown game recently. Stay tuned, but for those that have been overseas and traveled on EasyJet or Ryan Air, the whole idea of modeling ticket prices based on availability or number of seats may happen here.
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Q. Why is the price of the 2014 Main Jersey ($160) so high? Why are the main jerseys never in stock? — Aaron Thomas and Lucy Abeliuet

A. I think it’s the standard across the game. The cost price for a jersey is in excess of $100, so it’s just a margin thing. It’s the sad reality. Why are they never in stock? Some manufacturers choose not to produce jerseys until all sponsors are on there. So I think the last 4-5 years, the club has struggled. I think you’ll see that 2015, we’ll have at least five jersey designs in market before Christmas.
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Q. Are we close to announcing sleeve and kit sponsors for 2015? — @dcpchiu

A. Kit sponsor is done for next year and we’ll be making an official announcement in the coming weeks.

 

[Guest]

Wests Tigers CEO Answers Questions: Pt. II

Dan Talintyre
Thu 29th May, 05:43PM
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Wests Tigers asked fans and members to submit their questions on any topic for CEO Grant Mayer to answer. Here is the second part of his answers in this exclusive Q&A.

The first part of his answers were published on Wednesday, and can be found here.

Wests Tigers would like to publicly thank all fans and members for their support and their thoughtful questions to help sustain and grow the Club.
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…on the new board and NRL

Can you tell me when the three NRL board members will be involved and what difference will this make to the Club? — @MagpieT7

I think the whole reason for governance reform is around independence. I think their knowledge and skill base will be exceptional for the club. The timing is still unknown but it’s imminent. I’d say weeks not months.
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Should Wests Tigers get financial reimbursement for developing players? — Jack Deen

Yes, there’s a story in Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald by Adrian Proszenko regarding my thoughts on development fees or development payments.

(Read the article in question online via the Sydney Morning Herald here).
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...on the future of Wests Tigers

What is the short and long-term future on the new training facility for Wests Tigers? — @altimetr

We’re doing an independent review of our facilities, resources and structure of football right now. I won’t say who’s doing it for us but I’m sure it’ll come out in the press at some stage. The reality is that facilities are high on our list. We’ve done some work; we’ve got a number of quotes regarding project work and the NRL’s well and truly across that. So we’re very, very keen to make sure that we have a long-term training base.
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What is the future of the Concord base? — @azsportza

Concord is our preferred site going forward, but we need some assurances from Council that this will be a site exclusively used by us. Stay tuned on that one.
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...on Wests Tigers jerseys

Can the panels on the back of NYC/NSW Cup jerseys be changed? — Paul Duggan

Design flaw. We put our hand up there, it was a mistake. We need to move on, and will.
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Will the 2014 Heritage Jersey be 2015 Away jersey? — @Benny_Storer

No, just this morning I’ve signed off on the jerseys for 2015 and I think there is something there for everyone. I’ve been very vocal about this; I’m not expecting anyone to buy all 25 items in our manufacturer’s range. But there should be at least five items that appeal to everyone across the different types, so jersey, polo shirt, training kit and jacket etc. There will be something there for everyone.
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...on Membership

Is the Club looking at producing interstate membership packages? — @Jaco_1979

Yep, something we’re looking at for next year.
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Why are there so many problems with Wests Tigers' membership team? — Jason Baldwin

We’ve had a number of membership issues this year. Some are our own design and we’ve apologised for that and some are from third parties. We accept the complete blame for all that and I have no doubt that we’re working very hard with the NRL and our suppliers to ensure that we don’t have the same issues for next year. Again, we apologise for that.
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Other Questions

What is the situation with Tim Moltzen? — @HaydenRiley93

Tim has had some really tough times in regards to his knee injury. It’s still ongoing now. There’s further medical advice coming our way regarding Tim. It’s been very difficult for him and we certainly feel for him. Retirement hasn’t been talked about.
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Were merchandise numbers up on Saturday too or just crowds? — Jason Baldwin

The Campbelltown game on Saturday night was our second biggest game in terms of merchandise sales this year. Exceptional numbers. I talk about an average of $1.50 per head for merchandise at any one game; this was well above that. So from a merchandise point of view, it was outstanding.
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How do you handle Western Suburbs and Balmain fans? — Gary Anderson

It certainly has its challenges, no doubt about it. Most of the time it’s enjoyable. I’ve been very vocal about the fact that we’ve got to be focused on the Wests Tigers. The Board understands that and they agree with that. But when you’re talking about heritage and history you’ve got to be very careful about how you vocalise those thoughts.
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Why do we have all the injuries? Is it medical staff? — Daryl Horiszny

We’ve actually got a new doctor on for this year and he’s done an amazing job. A lot of the injury we have aren’t soft-tissue — i.e. hamstrings and that — there’s a lot of impact injuries and unfortunately, that’s just the way of the game now. I don’t think we got more than anyone else; I just think the number of injures at the same time is unusual and we’ve got to be careful with how we manage that.
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Do we have a good coaching and support staff? What is their future? — Brendan Walkely

Our structure this year is quite a strong structure. Mick Potter, Andrew Webster, David Kidwell and Todd Payten — four key coaches. We’ve also got some specialist kicking coaches and forwards coaches in Steve Roach and Damien Hill so we think our coaching structure is quite solid. We’ve been certainly looking at that as our focus going forward.
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Did you care about our round 11 loss, or only about the crowd figures? — Tony Martin

That’s a really interesting question of an administrator. The day that I strap on the boots and play football will be the day that I have a genuine focus on the results. I cannot influence the results on the field. All I can do is focus on the efforts off the field regarding crowds. The crowd was exceptional; I need to make sure that we have sustainable crowds going forward for this club to grow. On field, I rely on Mick Potter and his team to do the job and of course the players.
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Do you regret talking about a “last chance” for Campbelltown? — Bob Norris

I’ve publicly apologised for that. At the end of the day, I’ve had to try and create conversion points. Rugby league is all about emotion and I think, to be fair, we got the result that we were looking for, and we thank every Wests Tigers fan for coming out on Saturday night. This is not about South West and it’s not about Inner West; this is about Wests Tigers fans supporting their club no matter what venue.
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Can you rule out playing at ANZ Stadium on a full time basis? — Bob Norris

I don’t think we’ll play full-time at Homebush. I don’t think anyone at the club has that desire in the short term at all. You just don’t want to be going to games there when there are small crowds. We are blessed with suburban grounds and we should be using them as long as they are fit to be used
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Do you think we give away home crowd advantage by having three home grounds? — Wayne Taylor

It’s a really difficult one, the whole three home ground thing. I think seven or eight years ago when it first started, we were the first. Innovators. But every year, there’s the debate about which ground is played at what venue. I think you’ve just got to trust us with what grounds and what venues are the most finically viable for the club. The reality is that we need to make sure we are financially sound otherwise you can have the best-supported State Cup side in the competition. Our job is to make sure that we are a highly supported and well supported NRL team.
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What is the recruitment plan for the next two years? — Simon Abbott

Our recruitment plan is usually based upon what we currently have on our playing roster and what we have coming through in what positions. And then what you map out is what positions you are looking for. You either look in Australia at other clubs, or you look overseas. At the moment, our succession planning is quite strong. At the start of the year we re-signed players like Delouise Hoeter and Manaia Cherrington in key positions around positions at hooker and winger/fullback and we will continue to do that. Our strategy in the last four/five years has got us to this position. I think that if we continue to keep doing what we’re doing, we’ve got to be pretty confident things will continue to happen.
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Is the cap spent entirely on the current playing roster? If it isn’t, then why? Is this why the club struggling fincancially? — Simon Abbott

We are spending the entire salary cap on our current squad. I’ve only been in this role for 12 months and there’s obviously a number of players that renewed or signed before I got in the role, and they signed some long-term deals. That obviously has to be managed, and as I said, managing the cap is a full-time responsibility and it’s very difficult and very emotional and very tough to understand. It’s tough and I’d love to be open and transparent about the numbers but I can’t. Are we struggling financially? I think it’s been well documented that we’ve gone through a tough time but with the help of the NRL and our two stakeholders, we’re getting stronger.
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When will Mick Potter's future be decided? How long are David Kidwell and Todd Payten (Assistant Coaches) on contract for? — David Butler

David Kidwell’s here for two years, so he’s off in 2015\. Todd Payten is at the end of his three-year commitment and obviously for us, the most important thing is confirming the appointment of our Head Coach. Mick’s off contract and we’re having discussions with his management about that. There’s nothing to say on that now, but Mick has done everything he possibly can to get a position with the Club going forward. I’ll leave that in the hands of his management and the Board.
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Are we going to have $10 tickets for every game, every week? — Philip Wilson

It was a great promotion to celebrate 15 years. It’s not here to stay. I think we can look to build something creative around that price point.

 

[sunshine_coast_tiger]

They answered one of my questions in part 2 but not quiet they why it was asked. I asked about support staff and specialist coaches but the question I asked further expanded into why our general kicking game was so poor and why a previously good general play kicker in Braith Anasta appears to have gone backwoods in this area since he joined us. I also wondered if we had a halves development coach (eg Andrew Johns at Manly).

Full marks for him for answering questions from the fans. Hopefully he will answer my question about TPA's and lack of them at our club in the future.