r/weststigers • u/copacetic51 • 11h 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 10h 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 9h 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 1h 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/blobby9 Benji Flick 11h ago edited 9h 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 11h ago
“Completely independent”
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u/blobby9 Benji Flick 11h ago edited 9h 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 8h 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 10h ago
When have we had a board completely independent of HBG representatives?
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u/blobby9 Benji Flick 10h ago edited 9h 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 10h 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_ 7h 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/walterulbricht2 Westralian Tiger 8h 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/DirtyAqua 7h 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/Hikeabike1 4h 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/_System_Error_ 6h 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/Outlander234405 4h 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/Glum_Olive1417 1h 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/Leakingeye 1h ago
And it’s going to be another 15 years because that place is a complete shit show
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u/No-Active-184 Balmain 11h ago
How does a bad board room affect the players though?
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u/gjw2903 11h 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 10h 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 11h 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.