Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Brisbane / HK
    Posts
    39,139

    Default Knights battling to save backer

    Knights battling to save backer

    THE explosive boardroom coup which ousted Newcastle chairman Mike Tyler and saw director Paul Harragon storm out has thrown doubt over the club's financial partnership with The Wests Group.

    Tyler lost a no-confidence vote on Wednesday night and immediately resigned as chairman with the decision to get rid of him the climax of more than 12 months of tension and bickering among board members.

    Ironically, it was during that period the Knights, bordering on financial ruin, were thrown a lifeline with the powerful Wests League Club aligning itself with the club.

    But that partnership was on shaky ground yesterday with Wests chief executive officer Phil Gardner claiming the move could cause more corporate damage to the Knights than the fallout from the behaviour of players at a Bathurst University dormitory two years ago.

    Gardner indicated the Wests board may decide to review its partnership with the Knights following the Tyler coup but new acting chairman Peter Corcoran hit back at that suggestion.

    "Phil seems to be extremely upset by the personalities in all this,"he said.

    "The agreement that the Knights have with Wests is between Wests and the Knights - not the individual personalities involved."

    Tensions between Tyler and a number of board members have been simmering for almost 12 months after the plug was pulled on a bid to oust him as chairman at the last minute prior to the club's annual general meeting last April.

    They intensified three months ago after Tyler and club chief executive Ken Conway had a major falling out.

    The pair had been close allies since Tyler's election as chairman in April 2005, but they have not spoken to one another since last November.

    The relationship is understood to have begun to sour after Conway was given a dressing down by Tyler following the chief executive's alleged criticism of Knights star Andrew Johns in Townsville last season.

    The falling out saw Tyler align himself with a faction on the board which, with the rumoured backing of Wests League Club, wanted Conway's head. After failing to entice the CEO to resign, the issue went to a vote of the nine-member board just prior to Christmas with Conway narrowly surviving five votes to four.

    A bloc vote of the four Newcastle rugby league-aligned directors on the Knights board - Vince Murphy, Kevin Smith, Trevor Crow and

    Kevin Parker - along with the support of deputy chairman Peter Corcoran, saved Conway. It was those same directors who voted on Wednesday night to get rid of Tyler.

    The explosive meeting lasted around 45 minutes and followed a sometimes heated debate between Tyler and board member Vince Murphy regarding the chairman's expense account.

    During the row and well before the vote of no-confidence was brought up, a fired-up Harragon, frustrated at the ongoing bickering within the board ranks, stormed out of the meeting along with another director Mark Fitzgibbon.

    Fitzgibbon, general manager of NIB Health Funds, a leading Knights sponsor, is understood to have made a beeline for Conway's office, and within hearing distance of a number of other administrative staff, allegedly angrily accused the CEO of involvement in the latest spat.

    With Harragon and Fitzgibbon absent, the no-confidence vote was carried five votes to two.

    The club is expected to call a board meeting early next week to appoint a replacement director and officially install Corcoran as chairman.

    Source: FOXSPORTS
    PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!

    Moejoe: "REMEMBER!!!! SLIP - SLOP - SLAP in the sun. Skin Cancer is a growing problem. It could happen to anyone!!"
    TITANS, DIEHARDS, WARRINGTON WOLVES, MAROONS, KANGAROOS, HONG KONG THUNDER

  2. #2
    Coach Capital_Shark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    4,301

    Default

    If the Knights hit rock bottom after Joey retires .. How stable is the future of this club? They've been struggling with cash for a long time.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coaster
    People need to be more like CS imo

  3. #3
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Brisbane / HK
    Posts
    39,139

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Capital_Shark
    If the Knights hit rock bottom after Joey retires .. How stable is the future of this club? They've been struggling with cash for a long time.
    It makes no sense for them to be so unstable though, they have everything going for them. Brilliant junior catchment area, loyal fans, huge crowds, rugby league heart land, no competing teams...

    In the case of when Joey retires, if it comes to the worst, maybe Wests Newcastle.will just take them over...
    PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!

    Moejoe: "REMEMBER!!!! SLIP - SLOP - SLAP in the sun. Skin Cancer is a growing problem. It could happen to anyone!!"
    TITANS, DIEHARDS, WARRINGTON WOLVES, MAROONS, KANGAROOS, HONG KONG THUNDER

  4. #4
    Coach Capital_Shark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    4,301

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DIEHARD
    It makes no sense for them to be so unstable though, they have everything going for them. Brilliant junior catchment area, loyal fans, huge crowds, rugby league heart land, no competing teams...
    I agree. They're in one of the strongest league environments, if not the strongest, for all the reasons you stated. Where the hell does their cash go?

    Man I thought the Cronulla board was shocking (which they still are) but atleast they keep their head above water, and thats with 3 coaches on the pay roll ffs.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coaster
    People need to be more like CS imo

  5. #5
    Titan CEO Titanium_BD1103's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    The Cove- Cheering on SydneyFC!
    Posts
    6,833

    Default

    Well this is a case of unlucky for the 2nd time.

    Unlike every other club in the NRL it must be realised... Newcastle never had a leagues club since around the mid - late 90's to the time Wests became partners... and have don't have revenue from pokies to help boost the club.

    Wests enabled them to have more money, but at the cost of losing control of a seat on the board, which now has many older Newcastle Board members scared... hence they voted no confidence on Mike Tyler, who was backed by the Wests faction and who tried to oust CEO Ken Conway in November.

    Ken Conway is someone I am not a huge fan of... he won't give any details to fans who want to know about their club and has spent the past 2 days saying there is no problem, when clearly there is.

    I hope the 2 factions sort it out, as a great club like Newcastle can't go under, but without Wests Newcastle support through club funds.... they will, as there is no where for them to get the money other NRL clubs get.






  6. #6
    Titan CEO jenny's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Posts
    7,842

    Default

    Why we dumped supremo

    By Barry Toohey

    February 03, 2007 12:00
    Article from: The Daily Telegraph



    TWO of the five Newcastle Knights board of directors who voted to oust chairman Mike Tyler on Wednesday night broke their silence yesterday declaring he had been on thin ice for more than 12 months.

    And they hit out at fellow directors Paul Harragon and Mark Fitzgibbon for storming out of Wednesday night's meeting, claiming both have been continually critical of Tyler in the past.

    As tensions continue to boil over within the club following the outcome of the explosive meeting, board members Peter Corcoran and Vince Murphy said Tyler had been warned at last year's annual general meeting and on a number of occasions since to ``lift his game'' or face the consequences.

    "It is only 12 months since Paul Harragon led the charge to get rid of Mike," Corcoran said.

    "There has been continual criticism of Mike by Paul and Mark (Fitzgibbon).

    "He (Tyler) was told that we expected him to change his attitude in certain things and lift his game.

    "He said he would but basically didn't."

    Murphy revealed he had asked Tyler during an executive meeting prior to the full board meeting to offer his resignation and go with "dignity" after he was unable to explain a number of alleged expense-related discrepancies.

    Among the alleged discrepancies was a phone bill for "around $300" on a Knights-owned mobile which had not been authorised by the board.

    He also allegedly paid accommodation for a family member which the Knights had picked up the tab for.

    Corcoran, who is currently the acting chairman following Tyler's resignation, said the expense claims were only a small part of the final reason why a majority of the board believed Tyler should go.

    Harragon did not deny yesterday he has been vocal in his criticism of Tyler but said his departure as chairman was not the issue any more.

    "Chairmen come and go all the time," he said.

    "The issue is not Mike going. The issue is we have four Newcastle Rugby League guys on the board who aren't elected by the Knights members who have the potential to make big decisions and block things affecting the club when they are not accountable to anyone.

    "That is the issue here and that is what has to change."

    Murphy, one of the four Newcastle league directors, claimed there was no such thing as a bloc vote in their case and each board member votes the way he sees fit.

    I LOVE "BULL" BAILEY
    "WHAT A MAN, WHAT A MAN, WHAT A MIGHTY GOOD MAN"


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

ABOUT US

    Established in 2005 as the Gold Coast Titans official Chat Forum, we are now known as the League of Titans Independent Website. A place for fans of the Gold Coast Titans to come and touch base with other diehard fans.

QUICK LINKS

FOLLOW US ON

League of Titans designed and cutomised by Matt Glew