weststigers
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Ah yes...not out of the question š
WT Ownership, The Board & Senior Management - MEGA Thread
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twentyforty
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Sheens had 2 jobs
hammertime
Well-known member
If this happens in full, I will top my hat to the board and take back my criticisms. It's what I've been suggesting needs to happen. It will mean that the directors have put the community & club over their own interests.
Hopefully, this creates a full board of independent directors who are interviewed & selected by the current club-based directors (HBG and others), replacing their current seats on the board. There should be a function for HBG to gain that back if the circumstances present it, so they do not "sell off the farm" and maintain a veto on major decisions, such as relocation.
This would be a great step forward for our club.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
I would not be surprised if a recommendation from the Crawford/Barnier report is for an 8-person board comprising:OPINION
Wests Tigers financial shortfall covered for now ā¦ but that may not always be the case
Roy Masters
Sports Columnist
October 26, 2023 ā 5.00am
It is almost impossible for an NRL club to go broke today, given the ARL Commission effectively pays the playersā salaries and provides $5 million to each club for administration expenses, but Wests Tigers have finished the 2023 season $1.4 million in debt.
It wonāt push the wooden spooners into bankruptcy, especially not while they are backed by the rich Wests Ashfield licensed club, which can fund any deficit.
But if the ARLC was to suddenly reduce the annual grants to NRL clubs or the Wests Ashfield directors were to lose control of the board and the money dried up, the football club would retreat to where it was nearly 50 years ago.
Back then, when the Magpies played at Lidcombe Oval and club president Bill āThe Kingā Carson was at war with the Wests Ashfield board, the annual grant from the licensed club would have funded the salary of just one top player.
The discord was such that when the Magpies secured a major sponsor from lawnmower company Victa in the late 1970s, the Wests Ashfield board cut the annual grant by the amount of the sponsorship.
The arguments over funding continued when Wests merged with Balmain to form Wests Tigers in 1999, with the two foundation clubs having equal numbers on the then 10-director board of the NRLās new joint venture. Any call for cash to meet a shortfall required Balmain and Wests to contribute equally.
Wests Tigersā payout to former coach Tim Sheens (right) was the biggest contributor tot eh club making a $1.4 million loss last season.
However, Balmain resisted this because they were broke. They were able to stall the inevitable because they dominated the Wests Tigers board via the representative of Wests League Club at Campbelltown, who traditionally voted with the Tigers.
So, Wests Tigers operated with fewer funds than other NRL clubs because Balmain couldnāt contribute.
The Tigers were coached by Tim Sheens from 2005-11 and though he may have worked for less back then, he received a reasonable payout when he left this year after a second stint as head coach.
His $1 million settlement is the major contributor to the Wests Tigersā $1.4 million deficit, along with termination payments to his partner, who worked in administration, and the clubās former recruitment manager, Warren McDonnell.
Those payments are unusual and Wests Tigers, like all NRL clubs, are expected to post a surplus next season. That, however, assumes club grants remain the same and projects such as the Las Vegas extravaganza remain cost-revenue neutral.
This brings us to Tuesday nightās Wests Ashfield board meeting, which followed fan dissatisfaction that culminated in an online petition calling for an independent review of Wests Tigers.
The Wests Ashfield-commissioned report, prepared by former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford and businessman Gary Barnier, is near completion, with Crawford saying: āWe took the board of Wests Ashfield through the process, explaining our thinking, and will then move to other key stakeholders, such as Balmain and Wests Magpies. The final report should be completed inside a month.ā
It is likely the report will recommend the addition of independent directors to the present seven-person board, which Wests Ashfield currently dominates via an entity known as the Holman-Barnes
Group.
However, there will need to be safeguards to ensure Wests Ashfield doesnāt cede control and, therefore, refuse to fund future deficits in the event of the ARLC cutting back on grants.
One director, speaking anonymously because discussions had been confidential, said Wests Ashfield would never āsell off the farmā but could choose to carve out essential reserve powers, take a back seat and allow directors with specialist skills to make football decisions.
To be fair, Wests Tigers would have broken even this year if they reduced their ramped-up spending in the south-west of Sydney, but this region is their long-term source of players and fans. It is, therefore, their future, especially if the mega-rich Wests club at Campbelltown rejoins the Wests Tigers board.
1 x Holman Barnes Group
1 x WSDRLFC
1 x Balmain Football Club
1 x Wests Leagues Club Campbelltown
4 x Independents
* from the above, 2 women to sit on the board
* Chair to come from the independents (predicting our next Chair will be John Dorahy)
* HBG director to have any deciding vote since they do not want to cede power according to Roy's article
* Maximum of 3 or 4 year terms on the board
Youāve been in a bad mood since your massive sook after the referendum. WA is hardly a joke of a business or are you looking with one black eye and one gold eye.
Mistymuzzle
Well-known member
Will not work like that. In that model, HBG, the owner of a privately owned company would not have control of the company. No privately owned company would allow that. Secondly, Wests Campbelltown also have zero to do with the club other than sponsoring juniors.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Did you read this part of Roy's story @Mistymuzzle ?
One director, speaking anonymously because discussions had been confidential, said Wests Ashfield would never āsell off the farmā but could choose to carve out essential reserve powers, take a back seat and allow directors with specialist skills to make football decisions.
To be fair, Wests Tigers would have broken even this year if they reduced their ramped-up spending in the south-west of Sydney, but this region is their long-term source of players and fans. It is, therefore, their future, especially if the mega-rich Wests club at Campbelltown rejoins the Wests Tigers board.
hammertime
Well-known member
You don't have to be on the board to be in control. You just have to have voting rights for the board members, which they should maintain.
In the framework, you would need to ensure that certain decisions must go through ownership, such as relocation or funding requests, so those important aspects that would have a material impact on HBG, are in direct control.
Otherwise, HBG maintains control by appointing directors who can execute on their vision.
I think that's mostly what they are getting at in the article.
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
He agreed to leave , with compensation for him, his girl and his sidekick.
BAGNF05
Well-known member
So the holiday king canāt do the finances anymore either? Times up champ.
Magpie_Magic
Well-known member
Yeah,
Fancy calling WA a joke of a business.
The biggest joke in Leagues club land was seeing the grass grow over Balmain Leagues.
Left nobody laughing and a big part of some peoples current focus on the boards structure.
Somehow, don't imagine there would've been much talk re the boards structure had Balmain maintained a financial interest and hence more direct involvement on the WT board.
I mean what a joke Balmain Leagues closed down.
Leagues clubs don't usually just disappear.
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Magpie_Magic
Well-known member
Can't argue with much of this.
The HBG must retain control to safeguard the identity of the WT and make sure we aren't siphoned off to Perth or something
But really this obsession with the board from people generally must be a type of cope mechanism.
Hard to see a big improvement on field from new board members.
Besides, thinking if Benji is an immediate success does that make the boards recent decision a good move?
The decision to allow Sheens to move out of football operations and into head coach were the only erroneous decisions re coaching appointments by the board along with allowing a relatively untried benji to take over.
Seems benji is popular amongst senior players and was a big reason re Api's resigning.
Could be a master stroke.
Rugby league boards don't do that much.
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Magpie_Magic
Well-known member
I like this.
But I wonder where specialist rugby league board members will come from especially if it includes two lady directors?
Bit of a sexist comment. Rugby league is now a professional sport for both genders.
Magpie_Magic
Well-known member
Disagree,
I don't understand the concept of a specialist rugby league board member of either sex.
Perhaps a former player at elite men's level with proven administrative business experience could arguably fit that pre requisite.
But no such candidate exists in the female space.
I canāt see in the Roy Masters article where it was specified that specialists rugby league board members with administration experience is suggested
twentyforty
Well-known member
There would have to be plenty of women who would do a better job. Certainly understand thereās no value in micromanaging or hiring guard dogs and doing the barking.
twentyforty
Well-known member
Katie Page would pull the dinosaur's into
Everything you say has to be taken with grain of salt mate for 2 reasons . Youāre completely against the petition because you have an issue with those who created it , and you youāre a one eyed magpies supporter , who supports the tigers out of a means to end ie. waiting until the world sees your truth and the magpies are returned .
Itās extremely hard to take you serious , when everything you say has an inherent bias at its core .
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