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<\/p>\nDP: \u201cWe were supporting Shane from the outset. He\u2019s come back and expressed that he\u2019s got some things to think about, and Shane needs to make a decision now.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Do you believe that he\u2019ll be at the helm of Wests Tigers for the start of next year?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cWe\u2019ll respect his decision. That\u2019s up to Shane, and he\u2019ll come back to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: It feels like everything is in limbo until we know whether he\u2019s going to be the CEO of the Wests Tigers long term. Have you had discussions with him about a time frame as to when he will decide?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cI\u2019ve been in discussions with Shane \u2026 asking when he would come back with an answer. He responded that he\u2019s still thinking about it but will come back with an answer on Monday \u2026 it really needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: You talked about a lack of communication \u2013 and obviously the four independent directors are no longer there \u2013 what responsibility does Shane Richardson bear for that?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cI think some of the decisions that were made, that should have come to the Holman Barnes Group for approval, certainly didn\u2019t happen. And that\u2019s coming from the CEO and the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Is there anything in the [ownership] agreement whereby certain actions taken by the football club have to come back to you either for ratification or to inform you of what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s correct. In the agreement, there is a threshold limit that if transactions \u2013 let\u2019s say transactions above a certain limit \u2013 need to come back to Holman Barnes Group for approval.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Such as player signings above a certain [financial] limit?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s correct.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson.Credit: Oscar Colman<\/p>\n
AP: And that hasn\u2019t been happening.<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cNot that I\u2019m aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: The narrative is that there has been some discontent about the jersey, that it contains too much Tiger and not enough Magpie. Is that the case?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThe colours of the jersey have not come up at all as part of this process. I think that\u2019s a rehash of some old narrative \u2026 this has been floating around for years. This is trivial, and to think this is a reason for Holman Barnes Group taking this decisive action is laughable.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: The other thing that\u2019s been discussed recently is this idea that there\u2019s a push for Western Suburbs Magpies to take over, to push Balmain out of the joint venture. Is that the case?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s not the case at all. The Holman Barnes Group is fully supportive of Wests Tigers. There\u2019s been no talk about bringing back the Magpies. Once again, I think that\u2019s a narrative that\u2019s been rehashed from a couple of years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: There\u2019s no doubt the Holman Barnes Group has a good track record of managing clubs \u2013 but less so when it comes to football clubs. It\u2019s been 14 years since the Tigers\u2019 last finals appearance. Why should fans have any faith in the regime?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cWell, that\u2019s correct. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re hoping to rectify under Benji Marshall\u2019s leadership. If the football operation can keep progressing as they have, they\u2019re on the improve. We\u2019d like to see us get back to playing finals football.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: What do these changes mean for Benji Marshall?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cBenji has got our full support. He\u2019s an absolute club legend and we think he\u2019s a great coach. We absolutely want him here for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has the full support of the Holman Barnes Group.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
AP: ARL Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys said he is concerned about what had transpired at board level and that he wanted the NRL to investigate. Are you concerned that head office is concerned?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cI think because it\u2019s a purely governance issue between the boards \u2013 and there is a current agreement in place with Holman Barnes Group and Wests Tigers \u2013 I don\u2019t believe that NRL should be concerned over this.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Should they be concerned about the performance of Wests Tigers because obviously the two are tied together?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cLike I said, we\u2019re progressing in the right direction. So I think if the NRL looks at on-field performance as well as financial performance, then we should be heading towards the finals.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Is there still tension between Balmain and Western Suburbs, the two factions in the joint venture marriage?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cIn the past, there\u2019s certainly been a lot of tension between Wests and Balmain. We\u2019ve had the Balmain board meet with the Wests Ashfield board, and what\u2019s been great is that I feel like we\u2019re more unified than ever. For example, Wests Ashfield has made it clear to Balmain that we want them to be part of the joint venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey retain their 10 per cent share in West Tigers, they retain their board seat in Wests Tigers. Wests Ashfield will continue to fund the Balmain Football Club and is now funding the Balmain District Juniors. So we\u2019re very much committed to supporting Balmain and continuing on in the joint venture.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: At some clubs, it\u2019s pretty easy for the membership, if they are disgruntled, to effect change. For instance, at Canterbury, you only need to get about 110 signatures to force an extraordinary general meeting. Under the ownership structure with the Holman Barnes Group, and its relationship with Wests Tigers, there\u2019s basically no lever to pull if you\u2019re a disgruntled member or a fan. You need to be a debenture holder, and it\u2019s all very tightly controlled. Can you understand their frustration in that they are seeing this [boardroom brawl], they are seeing a lack of performance on the field, and there is nothing they can do about it?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cAbsolutely, I can see the frustration \u2026 I\u2019m a fan myself, but we are progressing in the right direction. With the right people in place at the football department, I think we will progress and continue to progress. On-field performance is everything, and that\u2019s what we need to focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c09a56793859cd26c79cd9dc2e1be5b5aa7c29c9.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The long-term future of Tigers playmaker Jarome Luai remains unresolved.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
AP: Speaking of things on the field, two of your highest profile players, Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula, have yet to commit long term. They have clauses or options in their contracts in their favour, and it was suggested they were close to committing \u2013 until the latest developments. Are you concerned that they might slip through your fingers because of what\u2019s transpired?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s a question for the football department. I haven\u2019t seen the contracts, so I\u2019m not aware of the clauses that we\u2019re talking about. However, I do believe that they\u2019re close to re-signing, and I\u2019d like to think they would.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: A protest march has been arranged. Are you concerned about disgruntled Wests Tigers fans making their presence felt and making their voices heard?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cWe understand the passion that fans have and we appreciate that this announcement has caused upset. We have no problem in fans making their voices heard, however marching to Wests Ashfield and potentially intimidating innocent staff members is something we don\u2019t condone and I would urge the organiser to rethink this action.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Should all the [feeder teams, such as NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg, etc] be playing under the Wests Tigers jersey, banner and logo, given it is supposedly one club?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s something for the new Wests Tigers board to start getting their head around and make decisions on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
AP: What\u2019s the position of the Holman Barnes Group on that?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Holman Barnes Group obviously has a number of teams under their umbrella, Wests Tigers and Wests Magpies being two of those, as well as the registered clubs. So we support all our teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: Will the Holman Barnes Group now start sticking their beak into football, interfering and meddling in football matters?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cNo, it\u2019s not for the Holman Barnes Group to get involved with football operations and player signings. But it is their responsibility to ensure that due diligence is done correctly around the selection of those players. So it\u2019s just ensuring that governance and those systematic measures are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP: You said yourself that the board structure hasn\u2019t worked in the past. Now Wests Tigers fans are seeing more [boardroom] changes, and the football club hasn\u2019t really improved significantly. Why should they believe you this time when you say you\u2019re acting in their best interests and that it\u2019s not about the individuals on the board?<\/p>\n
DP: \u201cThat\u2019s right, it has been a mess in the past. There\u2019s been a clear disconnect between boards [and the] decision making that needed to happen. What\u2019s different this time is that for the first time we\u2019re seeing the Holman Barnes Group board, the Wests Magpies board, the Wests Tigers board and even the Balmain board being more unified than they ever have before.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the decision making should be more seamless now and allow the football department to do what they need to do with on-field success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DP: \u201cWe were supporting Shane from the outset. He\u2019s come back and expressed that he\u2019s got some things…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-327559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}