I was out at the charity day as well. When there are stories around about Wests Ashfield wanting to return to the Wests Magpies branding, then I think it would be wise to show leadership and promote unity by having the Wests Tigers Legends play in Wests Tigers jerseys.
I enjoyed the day but think it was a missed opportunity for Wests Ashfield to rise above the current narratives.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@russtutty63 From reports the Weststigers have only a part time reserve grade coach and no head of Football dept (which is critical)the club being bled of of funds by HBG now these untouchable directors want a huge pay rise for themselves …deliberately throwing another bomb into the Weststigers bunker 6 days out from our season opener . A post by Allan Fallah with a picture of a room full of geriatric board members saying.. Quote :The more they criticise us the more unified we become SO THANKS! ..so that message to the fans from HBG is FU . Time for action …time for a generational change ..Darcy Byrne the hero of Weststigers unite time to pull the finger out and honour your word !
They are a bunch of creeps and crooks.
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I don’t know, I was asking a question. I have no idea of their finances and what they allocate to assets etc, how much comes in, how much goes out. I was guessing as they have obviously come to some sort of agreement to tenant the property there must be some sort of money involved? Did they own the site? Not sure. Is the developer paying for the club to be built? No idea how it works. Can they simply say “Build us a club & we’ll rent it or buy it?”Why would it be quite substantial, they won't own the site and will only be tenants.
I know how you and some others felt. You’re very passionate about this subject & the club. But although I found it a little amusing it didn’t bother me. I went for the entertainment only. The only real unity I want to see, hope to see is the Boards working together without dramas.I was out at the charity day as well. When there are stories around about Wests Ashfield wanting to return to the Wests Magpies branding, then I think it would be wise to show leadership and promote unity by having the Wests Tigers Legends play in Wests Tigers jerseys.
I enjoyed the day but think it was a missed opportunity for Wests Ashfield to rise above the current narratives.
And the team winning of course.
I don’t want to get bogged down on this subject, I realised when I initially posted (with some trepidation) a lot of forum users and fans would not like my point of view & that’s ok. If others choose to continue with this subject it will have to be without me.
Wests Tigers’ owners are bidding to give themselves a pay rise three months after a shambolic episode in which they sacked chairman Barry O’Farrell and three other directors before backflipping at the behest of the NRL.
The Holman Barnes Group, which owns 90 per cent of the Tigers and holds the licence for the NRL team, has for the past year been embroiled in turmoil that has threatened to spill over into the football club.
Now, its board members are seeking a boost which would see them collect more than their counterparts at most other Sydney clubs with ties to NRL teams.
HBG is proposing that its chairman’s annual honorarium be lifted from $51,341 to $65,000, the deputy chair’s fee to be raised from $33,371 to $50,000, and all other directors to get $32,500 instead of $25,670. All would also receive an extra $5000 if they sit on a club committee.
The effective $70,000 payment per annum for the chairman would eclipse the amounts paid to those in charge at most of Sydney’s major NRL-affiliated leagues clubs, including those with much larger membership bases.
Parramatta Leagues Club, which owns the Eels and has 65,000 members, gives its president $30,000 a year and other directors $20,000.
The 60,000-member Canterbury League Club, which is strongly linked to the Bulldogs and backs them financially, allows for a total of $229,801 to be paid to its seven directors including the chairman – an average of $32,828, although the chair and deputy chair receive a greater share.
St George Leagues Club, which owns 50 per cent of the Dragons and has 25,000 members, hands its chair $16,000 a year and ordinary directors $12,000, plus $2000 for each committee they sit on.
HBG has 27,000 members and the proposed honoraria for its board are exceeded only by those at Penrith NRL team owners Panthers Group, where total revenue was nearly $180 million in 2025 and which has a membership base of 148,000. The Panthers’ chairman receives $80,000 a year, its two deputies get $40,000 each and the remaining directors pick up $20,000 per annum.
Like those at other clubs, the HBG board members can take advantage of other perks of the position such as food and drinks. At the club’s annual general meeting on March 21 members will also be asked to approve its chairman and deputy receiving $500 per month hospitality cards.
As Holman Barnes Group’s business has expanded, the workload and governance responsibilities placed on directors have increased substantially,” said HBG vice-chairman Frank Primerano, who also sits on the Wests Tigers board.
“The proposed adjustments simply bring board honorariums into line with the scale of the organisation and the time commitment required, particularly as directors are increasingly involved in committees and strategic projects during this period of significant growth and investment.”
A source familiar with the activities of HBG, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “How can the most chaotic board in NSW simultaneously become one of the highest paid?
“If the stipend for the board were based on performance then quite obviously these people would be getting a pay cut, not a pay day.”
HBG, which oversees venues including Wests Ashfield, returned a net profit of $11.9 million in 2025 after raking in $52 million from poker machines and recording overall revenue of $100 million, according to its annual report.
But the organisation has been plagued by dysfunction during the past 18 months, with several board members controversially removed and former NSW premier O’Farrell and three other independent directors then sensationally axed from the Tigers last December less than a year after they were installed following a governance review.
After concerns were raised by the NRL, HBG reinstated them days later and O’Farrell was Tigers chairman. But the club was forced into a costly payout to Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson, who resigned amid the boardroom chaos 18 months into a four-year contract, and settled out of court with former HBG director Rick Wayde, a key instigator of the Tigers review, after he was banned for eight years.
HBG, which owns the NRL team via its control of Wests Magpies, has since beefed up its representation on the Tigers board, giving it an effective majority.
While the Tigers are governed separately to their owners, NRL funding for the team flows through HBG.
According to its latest financial report, HBG received $20 million from the NRL in 2025 and owes $36 million to players and head coach Benji Marshall over the next five years.
HBG is unusual in that the balance of power lies with 20 so-called debenture holders, who choose the majority of its directors under a decades-old, undemocratic system.
Only two of nine board seats are directly elected by the wider membership and there will not be a ballot for those spots at this month’s AGM after one of the three nominations withdrew.
The two remaining are well known to HBG board members: Shannon Cavanagh, a director of Wests Magpies alongside HBG chairman Dennis Burgess and Primerano, and Aldo Di Mento, a director of APIA Leichardt FC – the inner-west soccer team in which HGB bought a stake last year and on whose board Primerano and HBG chief executive Daniel Paton also sit.
SMH
A ridiculous clickbait article with zero to do with Wests Tigers. I dont know why you would have posted it here Joel other than for the same click bait reasons and to try to rile people up?
What a separate board to WT does with its money has nothing to do with WT and these kind of click bait articles are only designed to stir trouble where it is not needed or worth it.
@russtutty63 From reports the Weststigers have only a part time reserve grade coach and no head of Football dept (which is critical)the club being bled of of funds by HBG now these untouchable directors want a huge pay rise for themselves …deliberately throwing another bomb into the Weststigers bunker 6 days out from our season opener . A post by Allan Fallah with a picture of a room full of geriatric board members saying.. Quote :The more they criticise us the more unified we become SO THANKS! ..so that message to the fans from HBG is FU . Time for action …time for a generational change ..Darcy Byrne the hero of Weststigers unite time to pull the finger out and honour your word !
I think Alan Fallah is a wanker and a trouble stirrer, but you do realise that the photo and article that you posted was a photo of ALL of the boards together? WT, Wests Ashfield, Balmain and I think Wests Campbelltown. Struggling to see why unity throughout these boards would be a bad thing?
Can you explain?
@russtutty63 From reports the Weststigers have only a part time reserve grade coach and no head of Football dept (which is critical)the club being bled of of funds by HBG now these untouchable directors want a huge pay rise for themselves …deliberately throwing another bomb into the Weststigers bunker 6 days out from our season opener . A post by Allan Fallah with a picture of a room full of geriatric board members saying.. Quote :The more they criticise us the more unified we become SO THANKS! ..so that message to the fans from HBG is FU . Time for action …time for a generational change ..Darcy Byrne the hero of Weststigers unite time to pull the finger out and honour your word !
They are a bunch of creeps and crooks.
Which ones are creeps and crooks Joel?
The WT board? Barry O'F is a creep or a crook? The Balmain board? The ladies on the board? Shaun M? Are these people creeps AND crooks or just one or the other?
I don’t know, I was asking a question. I have no idea of their finances and what they allocate to assets etc, how much comes in, how much goes out. I was guessing as they have obviously come to some sort of agreement to tenant the property there must be some sort of money involved? Did they own the site? Not sure. Is the developer paying for the club to be built? No idea how it works. Can they simply say “Build us a club & we’ll rent it or buy it?”Why would it be quite substantial, they won't own the site and will only be tenants.
Part of the agreement when the site was sold by Balmain Leagues Club was for them to rent a space in the new development for a club.
This transferred to Wests Ashfield when they Amalgamated with Balmain Leagues.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@russtutty63 From reports the Weststigers have only a part time reserve grade coach and no head of Football dept (which is critical)the club being bled of of funds by HBG now these untouchable directors want a huge pay rise for themselves …deliberately throwing another bomb into the Weststigers bunker 6 days out from our season opener . A post by Allan Fallah with a picture of a room full of geriatric board members saying.. Quote :The more they criticise us the more unified we become SO THANKS! ..so that message to the fans from HBG is FU . Time for action …time for a generational change ..Darcy Byrne the hero of Weststigers unite time to pull the finger out and honour your word !
I think Alan Fallah is a wanker and a trouble stirrer, but you do realise that the photo and article that you posted was a photo of ALL of the boards together? WT, Wests Ashfield, Balmain and I think Wests Campbelltown. Struggling to see why unity throughout these boards would be a bad thing?
Can you explain?
- I don't have an issue with the photo but don't Ike the accompanying caption.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@russtutty63 From reports the Weststigers have only a part time reserve grade coach and no head of Football dept (which is critical)the club being bled of of funds by HBG now these untouchable directors want a huge pay rise for themselves …deliberately throwing another bomb into the Weststigers bunker 6 days out from our season opener . A post by Allan Fallah with a picture of a room full of geriatric board members saying.. Quote :The more they criticise us the more unified we become SO THANKS! ..so that message to the fans from HBG is FU . Time for action …time for a generational change ..Darcy Byrne the hero of Weststigers unite time to pull the finger out and honour your word !
I think Alan Fallah is a wanker and a trouble stirrer, but you do realise that the photo and article that you posted was a photo of ALL of the boards together? WT, Wests Ashfield, Balmain and I think Wests Campbelltown. Struggling to see why unity throughout these boards would be a bad thing?
Can you explain?
- I don't have an issue with the photo but don't Ike the accompanying caption.
agreed but refer back to the first part of my post
More news arriving around the dysfunctional group that owns our club soon ! 5 days out from kicking off the clubs season .
I thought that Dennis Burgess resigned from HGB at the end of last year.
I thought that Dennis Burgess resigned from HGB at the end of last year.
Only stepped down from Wests Tigers.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Litigation at thirty paces …honesty how can the members of Wests Ashfield tolerate these fools the constant court proceedings and out of court settlements. They need to challenge the debenture system .
See ya later Alan
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