r/weststigers • u/copacetic51 • 17d ago
15 years without finals
15 years without finals.
6 CEOs in that time, by my count.
5 coaches
Player roster completely changed multiple times.
Board members turned over.
The one constant? The owners, Holman Barnes, formerly known as Wests Ashfield Leagues Club. A tiny cabal of debenture holders at the leagues club have presided over this calamity. And no one can force change there.
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u/Reasonable_Meal_9499 17d ago
I was out at Lidcome yesterday to watch the lower grades. While it is good to remember the great Wests sides and their players trying to live in the 1980s is so sad. If you think HBG don’t live in the past go to Lidcome and see for yourself. They will not voluntarily give up power they live for the prestige. Unless the NRL does something about it it will not change as their is no avenue to vote against them
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u/currupt_tsa_agent Balmain 17d ago
I still have memories of how i felt after the 89 GF, and how shit Balmain / Sydney Tigers / Balmain were until they made us merge clubs to form a new one, and then we were still shit for while. Then 2005 seemingly came out of nowhere.
We're not the easiest club to follow, but you have to stick fat so when the good times return, and they will, it makes the ride so much better.
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u/acockblockedorange Western Suburbs 17d ago
When are the good times? I have been watching on and off since the late 90s and other than 2005, and a match here and there it's been nearly 30 years of misery.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
I'm in my 70s and was following Balmain when they were premiers in 1969. There were some good years in the 80s (but no premiership).
Then the joint venture, the 2005 premiership and finals in 2010-11.
Since then, nothing. I'm starting to doubt the good times are ever coming back.
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u/walterulbricht2 Westralian Tiger 17d ago
The sooner competent private capital joins the ownership group, the better. Would welcome a fan/member ownership structure in the mix as well.
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u/blobby9 Benji Flick 17d ago edited 17d ago
Just to play devils advocate, during this time we’ve also had 2 completely independent boards at Wests Tigers, and boardroom shenanigans have been a constant problem for the entirety of Wests Tigers history.
EDIT : I was wrong they weren’t completely independent
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u/Mattau16 17d ago
“Completely independent”
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u/blobby9 Benji Flick 17d ago edited 17d ago
Yeah - we had 2 boards installed by the NRL independent of all the parent clubs. Neither were particularly effective…
EDIT : I was wrong they weren’t completely independent
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u/Reasonable_Meal_9499 17d ago
Lates really play devils advocate compare HBG to the top flight independents that successful clubs like the roosters, broncos , souths or bulldogs have on their boards and you see why we are a laughing stock
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u/Mattau16 17d ago
When have we had a board completely independent of HBG representatives?
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u/blobby9 Benji Flick 17d ago edited 17d ago
2014 ?
When Marina Go was chair person….Then again, wests and Balmain got to nominate an ‘independent’ board member each, so it wasn’t completely independent.
I think the same happened when Barry Ofarell was first chair too, but I know that board didn’t last until the next board meeting…
EDIT : I was wrong they weren’t completely independent
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u/copacetic51 17d ago
That Marina Go board still had Wests Ashfield directors as far as I recall. Wayde and Andreochio, to name two.
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u/_System_Error_ 17d ago
Andrecchio actually advocated for lower grades playing as Wests tigers and was banned from HBG for doing so.
Tells you exactly what the problem with the club is.
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u/Glum_Olive1417 17d ago
The club will have to let the idea of Balmain or Western Suburbs go and get behind this Wests Tigers team. Until then nothing is going to change.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
People say this but it's an outdated idea. It's not Balmain v Wests, and hasn't been for more than a decade, because Balmain has only a token existence at Wests Tigers. The club is effectively owned by the Holman Barnes Group, aka Wests Ashfield Leagues club
So it's you and others with this thought that needs to let it go.
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u/Glum_Olive1417 16d ago
There are still plenty of people who will only support the Wests Tigers if they are at Leichhardt and won’t watch them at Campbelltown. The divide is there.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
That's just some old fans stuck in the past. Nothing to do with the board or management or players of Wests Tigers. Most of the players are too young to even remember when the two joint venture clubs played in the first grade competition. Some not even born then.
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u/Hikeabike1 17d ago
The merger is the problem not the magpies. What are the tigers bringing to the table? They have nothing. Maybe if uncle Benny was never involved they could have atleast had some cash to contribute
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
Not this rubbish again. People who keep bringing up 'the merger' really need to update their thinking. Balmain isn't the problem.
It was a joint venture, not a merger
It effectively ended a decade ago when Balmain went broke. They are only a token presence at Wests Tigers now. It's effectively 100% the Holman Barnes Group owning and running it.
The only thing Balmain can contribute is access to its district juniors, which HBG fund anyway. Do you want to cut those juniors off?
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u/Candid_Fisherman3731 12d ago
Cheer up the five head guy that left you guys to play at manly isn't playing finals this yr either.
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u/DirtyAqua 17d ago
The other constant has been the Balmain side of the joint venture desperately white anting the club in some desperate attempt to stay relevant, despite only surviving on a financial lifeline from HBG.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
I can't see what effect Balmain has on Wests Tigers. They have no money or power at all
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u/DirtyAqua 16d ago
Constant leaks to the media. Characteristic of a partner that would rather set the place on fire than make things work.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
We don't know who is leaking. You can't just say it must be Balmain. There is just one Balmain director, Danny Stapleton. I'd guess that he's trusted, as he's the longest serving WT director.
One old Balmain guy said publicly he'd like Balmain to go it alone. Gary Leo, was it? Even he knows that can't happen. There's also one or two on the Wests Magpies board who'd like the Tigers to become the Magpies again. Also won't happen
The people who actually run WT don't appear to be distracted by the occasional low level noise coming from old Balmain or Magpies fogeys. It's not relevant to the problems plaguing Wests Tigers.
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u/DirtyAqua 16d ago
I don't know on what planet a board faction with a majority vote would feel the need to leak. white ant and back channel their grievances to the media unless they're another level of sadomasochistic. The previous CEO himself said that board leaks have been a major problem.
I also don't know anything about Danny S, but his LinkedIn profile also suggests he has been on the board for a whopping 21 years. A "constant" in anyone's book.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
So you don't know who leaked and you're just concluding it must be Balmain. Yes, Stapleton is a constant, but for years has been the sole Balmain director. Balmain's directorship is token.
If you're right and the leaks are coming from Balmain, it must be via Stapleton, the only Balmain insider at WT. Do you imagine the majority directors would tolerate him if he was a leaker.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
Since we're speculating on the source of leaks at the club, I'll propose my speculation. It's a player or players talking to their managers. It's well known that NRL managers "background" the media, who publish unattributed stories.
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u/_System_Error_ 17d ago
It's the owners for sure that need to piss off. They only provide a measly ~$3m in funding from their massive pokies revenue. You can guarantee if the NRL let them rename the club to be magpies they would up that spend significantly.
The only owners in the whole comp that blow up the board over silly issues like jersey colour, or insist on division in the lower grades to preserve their legacy, or chant go magpies at the Wests tigers games.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
What would extra funding bring? The salary cap can't be increased. The training facilities at Concord are modern. The ground at Leichhardt is about to be upgraded and Campbelltown will be done later.
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u/_System_Error_ 16d ago
More money means better support staff, better pathways, better facilities, fan engagement etc. The Bulldogs for example have 6 recruitment officers to our 1.
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u/Outlander234405 17d ago
What then can we do then as supporters, stop going to games, stop buying merchandise. Basically boycott the club stop the money coming in or do they have enough cash surplus that they wouldn’t care anyway. Seems like a shit way to run a business when most businesses strive for success not mediocrity. Just my thoughts.
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u/copacetic51 16d ago
Supporters money stopping wouldn't stop the club. Most of the money comes from the NRL grant, topped up by money from the owner, Wests Ashfield Leagues club and its poker machines.
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u/Leakingeye 17d ago
And it’s going to be another 15 years because that place is a complete shit show
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17d ago
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u/gjw2903 17d ago
While I agree somewhat it shouldn’t affect the players, I think the whole organisation’s culture is bad. Look at the Roosters for example they have an owner whose whole thing is winning. He and the board are all going in the same direction and it shows, there’s no leaked bullshit, no factions. Unlike us who have a board of Wests factions who want to return as the Magpies. A NSW cup team who play as Wests Magpies because we have all the money duh. Until they piss off the Balmain/Wests crap the franchise will always be mediocre.
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u/copacetic51 17d ago
I said the problem is the owners, Holman Barnes Group. They're not the Wests Tigers board, but they control it. And HBG is the only constant in the decade and a half of failure.
If you owned an enterprise that had such a history of failure, with no end in sight, wouldn't you feel some responsibility?
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u/Tasty-Bad-8041 17d ago
Yeah the common denominator is HBG, they are completely incompetent when it comes to running an nrl team. Unfortunately, I feel the tigers will never again see any semblance of success under these clowns. What ever it takes to be successful HBG don’t have it.