Knowing the Tigers there will probably a position here before the seasons end.I wonder if Uncle Wayne still has aspirations to Coach on though?
CLAWS OUT AFTER TIGERS REVIEW
The Wests Tigers’ decision to rubberstamp a bid for Penrith star Jarome Luai may be the final act of the club’s embattled board.
The review into the governance at the Tigers has been completed and it is understood the Holman Barnes Group – including their representatives on the football club board – have been given a snapshot of the findings.
A full briefing for the Holman Barnes Group is imminent. The Tigers’ independent directors as well as the representatives of Wests and Balmain are yet to be afforded the same luxury and they may be forced to wait until next month to get a sense of what has been recommended by those responsible for the review – former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford and managing director of Cooperage Capital Pty Ltd, Gary Barnier.
There is a sense in some quarters that the board may be changed en masse as the club looks to modernise and broaden its level of expertise.
That would involve Holman Barnes directors voting for their own demise, but they would make a mockery of the review if they didn’t act on the recommendations.
Most interest centres on the future of chase Lee Hagipantelis, who is also the principal of the club’s major sponsor Bryden’s Lawyers.
Hagipantelis was interviewed as part of the review but could be removed if there are sweeping changes at board level.
Interestingly, he has no control over his own fate. Under the Tigers constitution, only the shareholders in the club are believed to hold the power over the appointment and removal of directors.
Hagipantelis was notably tight-lipped on the club’s chase of Luai when he appeared on radio station SEN on Friday morning prior to a golf day he had sponsored for The Leukaemia Foundation.
Coach Benji Marshall also played in the golf day at Twin Creeks but gave SEN a wide berth as he made his way in the clubhouse – Penrith director Greg Alexander was on-air at the time.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
that’s what I’m thinking and I want them to get it right and not rush
@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
that’s what I’m thinking and I want them to get it right and not rush
wouldn’t hurt if they did it quietly and discreetly. Not much chance I know
@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
that’s what I’m thinking and I want them to get it right and not rush
wouldn’t hurt if they did it quietly and discreetly. Not much chance I know
almost everyone on the board is the kicking and screaming type so I’m expecting a circus
@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
that’s what I’m thinking and I want them to get it right and not rush
wouldn’t hurt if they did it quietly and discreetly. Not much chance I know
almost everyone on the board is the kicking and screaming type so I’m expecting a circus
Same
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
This might sound a little hysterical but it’s true: the next fortnight is the most important in the Wests Tigers’ 24-year history. Time to draw a line in the quicksand and get it right.
On Tuesday, the findings from an independent review into the corporate governance of the joint venture will be presented to the Holman Barnes Group, the controlling faction on the Tigers board.
Chairman Lee Hagipantelis, one of three independent directors, felt from the start this review was a clandestine play to push him out. What a surprise: he made it about himself.
What might surprise Holman Barnes directors, who commissioned the review in the first place, is the recommendations will ask them to step back.
According to those who have seen the report, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is yet to be released, the review is less about Hagipantelis and more about the club’s entire board and structure.
The right thing for the board, including Hagipantelis, to do is accept the recommendations and take action at its final meeting on December 12.
It’s the only way forward for the Tigers. It’s the only way Benji Marshall won’t become cannon fodder like the coaches before him. It’s the only way he can operate without the never-ending din of commentary from board members.
International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates has publicly declared he has no interest in being chair because he doesn’t have the time, but the Tigers should do everything in their power to change his mind.
If Coates can navigate the politics of the Olympics for more than 40 years – as well as survive various coups against him as Australian Olympic Committee president – he can oversee a Tigers revolution in his lunch break.
Fans nod off when football clubs start talking about proper corporate governance, but it’s critical to the performance of their team.
Look at Parramatta, who had to go through a salary cap scandal to bring about the constitutional reforms that ended years of the factional infighting that hurt the club every time an election was held.
Eels fans might bemoan not winning a premiership since 1986, but the club is no longer strangled by politics and power grabs.
The man who put Parramatta on the right path was former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford, who has conducted the Tigers review alongside businessman Gary Barnier.
As it stands, the Holman Barnes Group has the balance of power on the Tigers board, providing four of seven directors. Those directors are drawn from a shallow pool of just 143 of their own members.
It would take a sizeable leap of faith for Holman Barnes to stand aside, especially given the long-time financial backing of its licensed club, Wests Ashfield, to the Tigers.
Surely, though, it realises it’s time for structural change.
Consider the Tigers’ record since the two foundation clubs formed a joint venture in 1999. They’ve won one premiership; claimed no minor premierships; had only three top-four finishes; had only four seasons with a positive for-and-against; finished in the bottom four nine times; and claimed the last two wooden spoons.
Significantly, they’ve churned through eight full-time coaches (we haven’t counted caretakers) with only Tim Sheens coaching more than 80 games.
The poisoned clipboard has been handed to Marshall, a favourite son who intends to coach his way, much like he did as a player.
Long-suffering supporters have jumped through seven circles of hell in the past decade. In Marshall, they have legitimate reason to feel optimistic.
Yet he was given a portent into what life was like for the graveyard of coaches before him when he presented to the board earlier this year as he prepared to take over from Sheens in 2024.
Instead of listening to the most decorated player in the club’s history, certain directors wanted to counsel him on player recruitment and retention. Marshall wasn’t having a bar of it and left the meeting with an assurance he would have complete autonomy.
Then he started working with recruitment manager Scott Fulton, who was appointed without any discussion with Marshall or Sheens, and they immediately started butting heads.
Loading
Fulton tried to sign Josh Schuster from Manly on big money and Marshall, rightly, pushed back.
I’m assured the relationship between Marshall and Fulton has simmered. The fact Marshall has taken charge of negotiations with off-contract Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai speaks to the autonomy he’s been given – for now.
Marshall will coach less like Sheens and more like Wayne Bennett, who coached Marshall during their time together with New Zealand, the NRL All Stars and South Sydney. The pair speak regularly.
Like Bennett, Marshall’s pre-season focus has been on elevating standards and not how his team will play. For some players, the gruelling nature of the training has been a shock, but Marshall is more concerned about effort than intricate plays.
Like Bennett, Marshall also won’t cop excuses. He’s told his players club politics doesn’t influence how hard they tackle or run.
Nevertheless, boardroom shenanigans and the vainglorious behaviour of the chairman is hurting the Tigers as much as their defence.
Former coach Michael Maguire was regularly frustrated when officials thought out loud about team performance – or, worse still, player contracts – to reporters.
Hagipantelis is rugby league’s most visible club chairman. He dines with reporters and seeks their advice, like the last off-season when he lunched with News Corp reporters who suggested appointing Sheens as coach.
Loading
He appears weekly on SEN Radio on a segment sponsored by his firm, Brydens Lawyers, and waxes lyrical on other clubs and issues within the game. He’s an engaging speaker and clearly a smart man. His passion and commitment to the Tigers can’t be questioned.
But it explains everything about the convoluted governance of the Tigers that the chairman is also the principal of the major sponsor.
An overhaul of the club’s structure is the only way out of the mire.
Time to draw a line in the quicksand, and the Holman Barnes Group is the only one that can draw it.
Andrew Webster/SMH
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
@helmesy all we can hope for is that they follow the recommendations regardless of ramifications for themselves
Some will go kicking and screaming@garry judging on that if any changes are made you are probably looking at early in the new year.
If they do follow through with a mass turnover of the board then it is something that will probably take a fair bit of time to implement as well.
that’s what I’m thinking and I want them to get it right and not rush
wouldn’t hurt if they did it quietly and discreetly. Not much chance I know
Guys, I feel some of you on here were in fact the agitators which led to this Review, and I'll always be grateful to you, because the Club has an opportunity to amend the flaws in it's structural governance,and possibly change the current decision makers,who seem to get it wrong so often.
I have a question, and it's not "What do you want the outcome to be" but " What do you think the outcome will be"
Cheers
Guys, I feel some of you on here were in fact the agitators which led to this Review, and I'll always be grateful to you, because the Club has an opportunity to amend the flaws in it's structural governance,and possibly change the current decision makers,who seem to get it wrong so often.
I have a question, and it's not "What do you want the outcome to be" but " What do you think the outcome will be"
Cheers
Based on no concrete evidence - I’m expecting HBG to maintain the same number of board members on the WT board, but I think they might look at a way of bringing in some other talent that will tow the line. I think there will be change among the other board members. I’m expecting there to be some turbulence.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
Guys, I feel some of you on here were in fact the agitators which led to this Review, and I'll always be grateful to you, because the Club has an opportunity to amend the flaws in it's structural governance,and possibly change the current decision makers,who seem to get it wrong so often.
I have a question, and it's not "What do you want the outcome to be" but " What do you think the outcome will be"
Cheers
My expectation is that the recommendations will call for a change in the governance structure of the club, the make up of the board etc, similar change to what was floated in the Webster article today.
I also expect that there will be a reluctance to change from the Holman Barnes Group, there may be a need for further action to see significant change implemented.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
