News 2/2: Knights' bloody boardroom brawl

[jamesgould]

Knights' bloody boardroom brawl

By Barry Toohey
February 02, 2007

Boardroom bust-up... Knights chairman Mike Tyler was ousted, Harragon is furious. The Daily Telegraph.

THE explosive boardroom coup which ousted Newcastle Knights chairman Mike Tyler and saw high-profile director Paul Harragon storm out of a meeting in disgust has thrown doubt over the club's life-saving 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 CEO 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.

From: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21156004-5006066,00.html

Conway facing the axe as Knights ructions continue

Brad Walter
February 2, 2007

KNIGHTS chief executive Ken Conway and a number of the club's directors may be the next casualties of a bitter internal split over philosophies and personalities that has already cost chairman Mike Tyler his position.

Just weeks after Conway survived a no-confidence motion against him, veteran administrator Peter Corcoran crossed the floor on Wednesday night to vote with the four Newcastle Rugby League directors appointed to the nine-man board to oust Tyler.

However, the consequences of the move will be felt for much longer, with influential director Mark Fitzgibbon and fellow board members Paul Harragon and Allan McKeown last night confirming they were seeking an extraordinary general meeting that would decide the future direction of the only club in the NRL with no leagues club or private backing.

The three are pushing for a reduction in the number of Newcastle RL directors on the board - a move that would cause another power shift and almost certainly result in the sacking of Conway, who last year had a major falling out with Tyler. Harragon's popularity means the proposal will probably win the 75 per cent support needed from members.

None of the remaining directors was prepared to speak publicly yesterday but both sides issued statements, with the one from the Corcoran-Newcastle RL faction suggesting privatisation fears were behind the axing of Tyler. It is understood no takeover bid has ever been tabled, but the growing influence of the wealthy and powerful Wests Newcastle leagues club has convinced some directors such a move is inevitable.

After three years of six-figure losses, the Knights last year outsourced their marketing operations to Wests and are set to announce an $800,000 profit at April's AGM.

Wests Group chief executive Phil Gardner initially suggested the arrangement, which provides Newcastle with a $1 million letter of credit to cover any losses, might be reviewed but softened his stance yesterday and talked down the club's involvement in the internal affairs of the Knights.

Fitzgibbon, the CEO of long-time Newcastle sponsor NIB, Harragon and McKeown were also determined the off-field stoush should have no impact on the team's on-field performance.

"We are extremely disappointed, not only with the outcome of the meeting last night that resulted in the resignation by Mike Tyler as chairman, but also with the inappropriate behaviour by some directors," their statement said.

"These actions highlight the fact that four non-elected Newcastle Rugby League appointments have exercised power as a caucus.

"This situation effectively removes the power of the ordinary members of the Newcastle Knights Football Club, which we believe is to the detriment of the club as it attempts to restructure its operations to a more secure position. We will be seeking a remedy to this untenable position by reference to the Knights members. If the Newcastle RL directors are genuine about the Knights remaining a community club, they will no doubt support the rights of the club's member community to decide how the club should be governed.

"With the impending start of the 2007 NRL season, we will do our very best to ensure this situation is confined to the governance and management of the club and that this does not impact on football operations and the success of the team in 2007."

The statement from Corcoran and the Newcastle RL directors attempted to explain the reasons behind the move. "The board has been split over the club's future direction and a decision was made to ensure the Newcastle Knights remain a community-owned asset," the statement said.

"A majority of directors felt a leadership change was necessary to reconcile the aims and objectives of the Board and the club."

Corcoran has been appointed acting chairman.

Meanwhile, Newcastle halfback Andrew Johns yesterday denied a report that he was considering making a State of Origin comeback for NSW this season.

From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/c...ctions-continue/2007/02/01/1169919469822.html

 

[jamesgould]

These articles just sicken me further. The four Newcastle Rugby League members, who are not elected like every other member is, have just decided to get rid of Tyler because they don't like the alliance with Wests. Well newsflash to those chumps: THE ALLIANCE WITH WESTS IS THE REASON WE ARE STILL AROUND!!! Think of all the benefits we have enjoyed since that happening in 2006 - the improved training facilities and staff is one of the obvious ones.

Perhaps the Newcastle Rugby League appointed members believe we can survive on sponsorship alone ... unlikely, but even if we could, Tyler is the one who put in the hard work to get us the big Coal & Allied sponsorship that contributed (along with the Wests deal) to keeping us afloat.

From the second article:

After three years of six-figure losses, the Knights last year outsourced their marketing operations to Wests and are set to announce an $800,000 profit at April's AGM.

Madness ...

Hopefully Harragon and McKeown are successful with this extraordinary general meeting.

 

[Henno]

Some board memebers are just absolute richardheads sometimes. Reallly annoys the hell outta me too

 

[fanboy]

wests are the most hated club in the newcastle comp i wonder if this the reason the local league reps voted that way but its effen ridiculus
the nrl should step in and but cheif in charge

 

[seabass14]

Heres some more stuff from today...

Why we dumped supremo
By Barry Toohey

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.

 

[Henno]

hhmmm I'm not sure what to think now.....

 

[Ms.Nobody]

This is So Stupid, Why Couldnt we get through an Offseason with Headlines...

2005- Knights Bathurst Incident
2006- Who will Coach the Knights, Hagan Signs with Eels
2007- Knights Management Crisis

2008- Knights Ready to Defend Title without Johns

 

[jamesgould]

hhmmm I'm not sure what to think now.....

Well the fact of the matter is still that the NRL members are not elected, they consist of 4/9ths of the board, and they have some sort of beef with Wests. In this day and age we need Wests, or else it is curtains for us ...