Tigers Five Dock closed by administrators, with venue ‘not viable’ enough to continue

THE fallout from Balmain Leagues entering voluntary administration has hit Five Dock with the popular Tigers club on Barnstaple Rd forced into closure.

The Wests Tigers Club at Five Dock.

THE fallout from Balmain Leagues Club entering voluntary administration has hit Five Dock with the popular Tigers venue on Barnstaple Rd forced into closure.

The doors to club closed on October 29, three days after Balmain Leagues Pty Ltd – which has operated the venue since 2010 – fell into voluntary administration.

The move has stunned many club regulars, including Concord resident Glen Millar who described the venue as “always packed on the weekend” and the “best community club” in town.

The decision to close the venue was taken by administrators appointed to the Balmain Leagues Club – Parker Insolvency – which determined the venue was “not financially viable enough to continue trading.”

Mr Millar, who became a member in 2016, said he found about the closure after turning up to the club last Saturday night.

“My wife and I used to go up there on the weekend to watch the football on the big screen. We were completely shocked to see it closed,” he said.

“It had everything going for it - the staff were great, it had a bistro, barefoot bowls, it was just a good family friendly venue.

“We had no information they were going bad.”

Records show the Balmain Leagues Club opened Tigers Five Dock in 2010 after the club’s former home in Rozelle was closed to make way for the Sydney Metro project, which was never built.

The former Balmain Leagues Club in Rozelle.

Since then, the club had operated under a lease agreement with Canada Bay Council, which was not due to expire until June 2019.

Financial reports show Five Dock Tigers - along with the Tigers club in Flemington (which remains open) - turned over $6.1 million in 2017, including $1.1 million in bar sales and $4.7 million in poker machine revenue.

But the turnover was not enough to meet annual operating costs and loan repayments. The Balmain Leagues Club reported losses of $290,000 last year.

The closure of Tigers Five Dock has also dealt a blow to Family Brasserie - a separate bistro restaurant that operated within the club.

Canada Bay Council said owners had “expressed interest” in taking over the entire site, but last week rejected a draft lease offered by the council.

Also affected are members of the popular bowling club at the site who have approached the council for an agreement to continue club activities on the greens.

The council said members had also met maintenance contractors to discuss the potential costs involved with continued access.

A report to be discussed by Canada Bay councillors next week has recommended “pursuing an expression of interest for the future use of the site”, once the current lease is terminated by administrators.

As previously reported by the Courier, Inner West Council is meanwhile calling on remaining Wests Tigers’ shareholders to consider taking up ownership or managing a Tigers leagues club within the redevelopment of the club’s former Rozelle site.

Heworth, the developers who took over the site last year, have also pledged to push ahead with reopening a Tigers club in its plans for the site.