Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2021

[theshed]

Hmmm, would you consider taking an outlier year (which involved a shit load of circumstances out of the control of Paul White - such as, pandemic, bubble, the injuries, the rule changes, the suspensions) and using that year to judge an 11 year reign as being fair?

I think most reasonable people would struggle with that approach, don't you?

Well I didn’t make that claim, but compare where he started and how far it all fell, someone could perhaps begin to make that argument, yes.

If Donaghy inherits the club in the current mess it’s in, and has 3 years of finishing at 15th before move on would you consider that a bigger failure than the guy who over saw a perennial finals team end up at record depths upon the back of several massively public poor management. Whether this is an outlier year is yet to be determined. If we win the spoon again is that a reflection of White or Donaghy?

Were no other CEOs subjected to the pandemic, bubble, rule changes or injuries? Or did perhaps White hire a guy who it turns out was completely inept at adjusting to challenging circumstances? The guy he pushed out of the club had all those same challenges at the Rabbitohs and seemed to take it in his stride fairly well.

 

[tommy]

And is that the fault of the CEO?

Nope, but the people he oversaw hiring. So yeah I changed my mind he takes some blame.

 

[broncos4life]

And is that the fault of the CEO?

Of course, the buck stops with the CEO. He is responsible for making sure all aspects are running as they should and that the people under him are accountable. That is basically his role.

 

[lynx000]

Sure he exaggerated and I take your point but White's tenure was not successful, not worst in history but pretty fucking poor given the history and resources we have. Not only did his final season end with a wooden spoon but the decisions in terms of recruitment he oversaw have crippled us to a point that it most likely will take years to get to a point that we are competing for the 8, let alone premierships.

I think there is a very good reason that White slinked out the back door on Friday with no fanfare and we will be paying for his mistakes as a fan base for a long time.

Don't get me wrong, I accept what you are saying is reasonably accurate, I do not have inside knowledge of the operations of the Broncos to know the extent to which he is responsible either individually or collectively for some of those decisions. I still think that if a balanced assessment is made there is a fair degree of monday morning quarter backing going on here.

 

[broncos4life]

Don't get me wrong, I accept what you are saying is reasonably accurate, I do not have inside knowledge of the operations of the Broncos to know the extent to which he is responsible either individually or collectively for some of those decisions. I still think that if a balanced assessment is made there is a fair degree of monday morning quarter backing going on here.

If you can name me an organisation or industry where the CEO does not have ultimate responsibility and accountability for every facet of the business I will take back what I said.

If Paul White just wanted to make profits while the rest of the organisation rotted he should have been the financial controller so someone competent could have sat over him as CEO and stopped him from doing stupid shit.

 

[Kimlo]

If you can name me an organisation or industry where the CEO does not have ultimate responsibility and accountability for every facet of the business I will take back what I said.

If Paul White just wanted to make profits while the rest of the organisation rotted he should have been the financial controller so someone competent could have sat over him as CEO and stopped him from doing stupid shit.

Exactly this. Every thing starts and stops with the CEO.

If Paul White only cared about finances he should have been the CFO.

CEO is the most important position along with the coach. Everything else feeds off that.

Ultimately dumb shit White decided to utterly disrespect a legendary coach who we were doing well with (even if not incredible) and we've went from genuine competition threats to an absolute laughing stock and it hurts.

Even the Griffin/Henjak eras weren't this bad, we were just average, now we are genuinely the worst team by a fair margin too.

The trial doesn't fill me with much hope, but I'm optimistic Walters can at least make us compete again.

And Walters is absolutely not White's choice, it was forced through public pressure by virtue of how absolute shit we became.

Paul White is a fucking shit CEO, good riddance and I hope he's never welcome back in the club doors ever again.

 

[broncos4life]

Exactly this. Every thing starts and stops with the CEO.

If Paul White only cared about finances he should have been the CFO.

CEO is the most important position along with the coach. Everything else feeds off that.

Ultimately dumb shit White decided to utterly disrespect a legendary coach who we were doing well with (even if not incredible) and we've went from genuine competition threats to an absolute laughing stock and it hurts.

Even the Griffin/Seibold eras weren't this bad, we were just average, now we are genuinely the worst team by a fair margin too.

The trial doesn't fill me with much hope, but I'm optimistic Walters can at least make us compete again.

And Walters is absolutely not White's choice, it was forced through public pressure by virtue of how absolute shit we became.

Paul White is a fucking shit CEO, good riddance and I hope he's never welcome back in the club doors ever again.

Yep 100%, I think even the Broncos realise this now or at the very least know that everyone else realises it.

I mean how many successful CEO's after an 11 year reign scurry off into the night at the end of their tenure?

 

[Broncapz]

Paul White is a fucking shit CEO, good riddance and I hope he's never welcome back in the club doors ever again.

How is anyone even arguing this point. The handling of Bennett is the only evidence you need. We'll throw in a spoon and some of the worst and most mocked contracts in the history of the NRL.

 

[Kooly87]

Really??? Really??? You want to have a bit of a re-think on that and revisit that conclusion. Just to provide you with something to consider - Multiple Gold Coast regimes - all failed. Paramatta Eels, cheating the salary cap and keeping minutes of it and still fielding an unsuccessful team. Newton and North Sydney, not being able to survive to stay in the comp. South Sydney kicked out of the comp. St George and Illawarra Steelers forced ot merge, Balmain and Wests ditto. Canterbury, multiple scandals, board unrest, lengthy periods of a lack of success.

During his time here we missed the eight twice and we have been financially successful, even last year in a shit storm of a year. But sure, his regime is one of the worst in the history of rugby league. FMD, get a grip.

Sure, but none of those clubs operated with anything close to the level of resources and advantages that Paul White and the Broncos have at their disposal. White may well have enjoyed some good years, but the Titanic was also setting a record pace right up until the second it was launched bow first into an iceberg and then redirected to the bottom of the North Atlantic. Was Captain Smith's tenure still a success because on balance he had four good sailing days and only one very, very bad night?

I'd agree that calling it one of the worst reigns in the history of the game is probably going a little far, but it was by just about any measure an abject failure and the fact he delivered it in spite of the absolute wealth of advantages he had to start with only exacerbates just how pitiful his tenure at the Broncos finished up.

 

[Kooly87]

Don't get me wrong, I accept what you are saying is reasonably accurate, I do not have inside knowledge of the operations of the Broncos to know the extent to which he is responsible either individually or collectively for some of those decisions. I still think that if a balanced assessment is made there is a fair degree of monday morning quarter backing going on here.

To state that the results of the business and all it's operations are the responsibility of the CEO is not only a matter of personal opinion, it's a fundamental and indeed legally mandated pillar of operating a publicly listed business in Australia.

If Qantas hires a pilot and he was manifestly incompetent at his job and was allowed to bring down a plane full of people, you can be damned sure Alan Joyce would be removed from his post, if he didn't in fact do the correct thing and resign first. That's how being a CEO and wearing the big boy pants works in Australia.

If you hire absolute duds, who mismanage their roles and run your company into the ground, you tend to lose your job as a CEO. This isn't exactly a controversial or left field set of circumstances. It happens regularly, and in just about any other ASX listed business White would have had his ass handed to him by the shareholders, likely along with many of the Company Directors too.

 

[lynx000]

Sure, but none of those clubs operated with anything close to the level of resources and advantages that Paul White and the Broncos have at their disposal. White may well have enjoyed some good years, but the Titanic was also setting a record pace right up until the second it was launched bow first into an iceberg and then redirected to the bottom of the North Atlantic. Was Captain Smith's tenure still a success because on balance he had four good sailing days and only one very, very bad night?

I'd agree that calling it one of the worst reigns in the history of the game is probably going a little far, but it was by just about any measure an abject failure and the fact he delivered it in spite of the absolute wealth of advantages he had to start with only exacerbates just how pitiful his tenure at the Broncos finished up.

No I completely agree with you that the last year would be judged by any reasonable person as an abject failure.

 

[lynx000]

To state that the results of the business and all it's operations are the responsibility of the CEO is not only a matter of personal opinion, it's a fundamental and indeed legally mandated pillar of operating a publicly listed business in Australia.

If Qantas hires a pilot and he was manifestly incompetent at his job and was allowed to bring down a plane full of people, you can be damned sure Alan Joyce would be removed from his post, if he didn't in fact do the correct thing and resign first. That's how being a CEO and wearing the big boy pants works in Australia.

If you hire absolute duds, who mismanage their roles and run your company into the ground, you tend to lose your job as a CEO. This isn't exactly a controversial or left field set of circumstances. It happens regularly, and in just about any other ASX listed business White would have had his ass handed to him by the shareholders, likely along with many of the Company Directors too.

Interesting, I thought that this would apply across the Board as well, given that, well, the CEO reports to them.

 

[Kooly87]

Interesting, I thought that this would apply across the Board as well, given that, well, the CEO reports to them.

Well it would do, except the board answers to the shareholders alone, and the only shareholder who matters in this instance is just not interested, despite the balance of the shareholders, who are greater in number but not in shareholdings, were extremely vocal about wanting to see change on the board and in the club management. It was a pretty infamous AGM last year if you recall that far back.

 

[lynx000]

Well it would do, except the board answers to the shareholders alone, and the only shareholder who matters in this instance is just not interested, despite the balance of the shareholders, who are greater in number but not in shareholdings, were extremely vocal about wanting to see change on the board and in the club management. It was a pretty infamous AGM last year if you recall that far back.

Out of interest, what do you consider he did well or were good decisions by him over his eleven year tenure?

 

[Kooly87]

Out of interest, what do you consider he did well or were good decisions by him over his eleven year tenure?

Look, we achieved some significant commercial results during his tenure. How much of that rests on White is probably debatable. Our grants from the NRL have gone up consistently during his tenure which has been a big part of improving revenue for all clubs including ours, but outside of this he was able to secure some pretty impressive sponsorship and partnership arrangements and which lifted our bottom line to new heights. Brisbane as a city has seen some impressive growth in the last decade too though so you'd say that the increased corporate money around the place has made his job a great deal easier.

A big part of being the CEO isn't just about earning money though, it's about spending it too, and the most heart breaking part of his legacy for me is that much like Australia in the mining boom, we earned all this extra income, but now it's over and you do have to question what we have to show for it all? Is it any better for you, as a fan, to be following the richest club in the game by an absolute mile? Do you have a better membership experience than other clubs? A better match day experience? Is it any better to be a player at this club than any club? Are we better at recruitment? Retention? Player development and pathways?

We can't even answer yes to SOME of these things, let alone all of them. You'd say the answer is a resounding NO in most cases. So my point is, if he's been so good at driving revenue, why is the club not in a markedly better place than when he inherited it in any meaningful way?

 

[tommy]

Out of interest, what do you consider he did well or were good decisions by him over his eleven year tenure?

Fought cancer.

 

[lynx000]

Fought cancer.

Good to see a balanced response.

 

[Financeguy]

Out of interest, what do you consider he did well or were good decisions by him over his eleven year tenure?

I know not directed at me but bring back Bennett to replace Griffin, the community programs like Beyond the Broncos and the success of the women's team (whether he was instrumental in that or not, same rules apply in buck stopping with the CEO)

Other than that he was a monumental failure. Broncos are setup to make a profit through the NRL grant, a huge supporter base with the best league stadium in the world and a wealth of sponsorship opportunities due to our historical position as the best known and media covered brand in the NRL. Any executive worth their salt could turn a profit at the Broncos in the pre COVID years. He diminished many of the financial benefits that we had for so many years with last years on field results.

Can bet the KIA commercial team feel they have overpaid for their sponsorship and will be a much tougher negotiation on renewal thanks to Mr White.