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This might sound a little hysterical but it’s true: the next fortnight is the most important in the Wests Tigers’ 24-year history. Time to draw a line in the quicksand and get it right.
On Tuesday, the findings from an independent review into the corporate governance of the joint venture will be presented to the Holman Barnes Group, the controlling faction on the Tigers board.
Chairman Lee Hagipantelis, one of three independent directors, felt from the start this review was a clandestine play to push him out. What a surprise: he made it about himself.
What might surprise Holman Barnes directors, who commissioned the review in the first place, is the recommendations will ask them to step back.
According to those who have seen the report, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is yet to be released, the review is less about Hagipantelis and more about the club’s entire board and structure.
The right thing for the board, including Hagipantelis, to do is accept the recommendations and take action at its final meeting on December 12.
Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe and chairman Lee Hagipantelis.Credit: Getty
It’s the only way forward for the Tigers. It’s the only way Benji Marshall won’t become cannon fodder like the coaches before him. It’s the only way he can operate without the never-ending din of commentary from board members.
International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates has publicly declared he has no interest in being chair because he doesn’t have the time, but the Tigers should do everything in their power to change his mind.
If Coates can navigate the politics of the Olympics for more than 40 years – as well as survive various coups against him as Australian Olympic Committee president – he can oversee a Tigers revolution in his lunch break.
Fans nod off when football clubs start talking about proper corporate governance, but it’s critical to the performance of their team.
From left: Justin Pascoe, Benji Marshall and Lee Hagipantelis.Credit: Photos: Getty. Graphic: Marija Ercegovac.
Look at Parramatta, who had to go through a salary cap scandal to bring about the constitutional reforms that ended years of the factional infighting that hurt the club every time an election was held.
Eels fans might bemoan not winning a premiership since 1986, but the club is no longer strangled by politics and power grabs.
The man who put Parramatta on the right path was former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford, who has conducted the Tigers review alongside businessman Gary Barnier.
As it stands, the Holman Barnes Group has the balance of power on the Tigers board, providing four of seven directors. Those directors are drawn from a shallow pool of just 143 of their own members.
It’s been a rough couple of seasons for the Wests Tigers.
It would take a sizeable leap of faith for Holman Barnes to stand aside, especially given the long-time financial backing of its licensed club, Wests Ashfield, to the Tigers.
Surely, though, it realises it’s time for structural change.
Consider the Tigers’ record since the two foundation clubs formed a joint venture in 1999. They’ve won one premiership; claimed no minor premierships; had only three top-four finishes; had only four seasons with a positive for-and-against; finished in the bottom four nine times; and claimed the last two wooden spoons.
Significantly, they’ve churned through eight full-time coaches (we haven’t counted caretakers) with only Tim Sheens coaching more than 80 games.
The poisoned clipboard has been handed to Marshall, a favourite son who intends to coach his way, much like he did as a player.
Long-suffering supporters have jumped through seven circles of hell in the past decade. In Marshall, they have legitimate reason to feel optimistic.
Yet he was given a portent into what life was like for the graveyard of coaches before him when he presented to the board earlier this year as he prepared to take over from Sheens in 2024.
Instead of listening to the most decorated player in the club’s history, certain directors wanted to counsel him on player recruitment and retention. Marshall wasn’t having a bar of it and left the meeting with an assurance he would have complete autonomy.
Then he started working with recruitment manager Scott Fulton, who was appointed without any discussion with Marshall or Sheens, and they immediately started butting heads.
Fulton tried to sign Josh Schuster from Manly on big money and Marshall, rightly, pushed back.
I’m assured the relationship between Marshall and Fulton has simmered. The fact Marshall has taken charge of negotiations with off-contract Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai speaks to the autonomy he’s been given – for now.
Marshall will coach less like Sheens and more like Wayne Bennett, who coached Marshall during their time together with New Zealand, the NRL All Stars and South Sydney. The pair speak regularly.
Like Bennett, Marshall’s pre-season focus has been on elevating standards and not how his team will play. For some players, the gruelling nature of the training has been a shock, but Marshall is more concerned about effort than intricate plays.
Like Bennett, Marshall also won’t cop excuses. He’s told his players club politics doesn’t influence how hard they tackle or run.
Nevertheless, boardroom shenanigans and the vainglorious behaviour of the chairman is hurting the Tigers as much as their defence.
Former coach Michael Maguire was regularly frustrated when officials thought out loud about team performance – or, worse still, player contracts – to reporters.
Hagipantelis is rugby league’s most visible club chairman. He dines with reporters and seeks their advice, like the last off-season when he lunched with News Corp reporters who suggested appointing Sheens as coach.
He appears weekly on SEN Radio on a segment sponsored by his firm, Brydens Lawyers, and waxes lyrical on other clubs and issues within the game. He’s an engaging speaker and clearly a smart man. His passion and commitment to the Tigers can’t be questioned.
But it explains everything about the convoluted governance of the Tigers that the chairman is also the principal of the major sponsor.
An overhaul of the club’s structure is the only way out of the mire.
Time to draw a line in the quicksand, and the Holman Barnes Group is the only one that can draw it.
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