Western Suburbs Magpies have been plotting to return to the NRL at the expense of Wests Tigers, the joint venture it shares with Balmain, former Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis has claimed in the wake of a bloody board coup.
Wests Tigers are again facing off-field chaos, with four directors including former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell sacked over a series of disputes including the colour of next season’s jersey.
The joint venture club removed chairman O’Farrell and fellow independent directors Annabelle Williams, Charlie Viola and Michelle McDowell, leaving majority owner Holman Barnes Group – which runs the Wests Ashfield League Club – in full control.
They joined the board in January, as part of major changes following the axings of ex-chair Hagipantelis and chief executive Justin Pascoe, and their exits throw doubt on the future of current chief Shane Richardson given he was a close ally of O’Farrell.
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The board was intended to be independent but the majority owners still control most key areas of the club.
“It was admitted to me directly by a fella who is now a director of the West Magpies that the ultimate aim was to return the Wests Magpies to the NRL,” Hagipantelis told SEN radio on Tuesday.
“I know there were some quiet discussions not too long ago about extracting Balmain from the Wests Tigers and returning to the State Cup.
“I can recall an instance where I was there where Pascoe tried to introduce a bit of orange into the State Cup team.
“When the Wests boys saw the orange in the jumper they had a conniption and the jumpers had to be withdrawn. They are very sensitive about this type of thing.”
Hagipantelis slammed the dramatic intervention of Holman Barnes Group.
“They should have no engagement in the running of a football club. They should confine themselves to the fishing club, sewing or tennis club. They run leagues clubs very well and food and beverage very well,” he said.
“The tensions of 1999 and the forced merger remain to this day. I happened to speak to a director of the Holman Barnes group in the last two months who expressed a lot of discontent with what they perceived to be a disenfranchisement of the Wests Tigers that they weren’t being kept informed. The word he used was ‘being kept in the dark’.”
There’s more chaos at Wests Tigers with Barry O’Farrell among those axed, with the colour of the 2026 jersey cited as a problem.Source: FOX SPORTS
After the board upheaval, Code Sports reported a series of recent decisions including the colour of the 2026 jersey — which is “too gold”, as the traditional colour of Balmain — and the club’s stadiums policy which they were not given the opportunity to veto are to blame for the schism.
“The Holman Barnes board has been left in the dark on some commercially sensitive announcements,” Holman Barnes chief executive Daniel Paton told Code Sports.
“The Holman Barnes board does not believe communication between the boards has been satisfactory.
“We don’t want to micromanage the football operations. We do have to be consulted on decisions. Balmain isn’t going anywhere. We are proud and committed supporters of Balmain.
“Balmain are very much a part of the joint venture. (We want a Leagues) club back in Rozelle.
“The changes are at the governance level.”
Paton told the Nine papers they continued to support both Richardson and coach Benji Marshall, who has led the Tigers to 15 wins and 33 losses in two seasons at the helm.
“We have full faith in Shane Richardson as CEO and Benji Marshall as coach,” Paton said.
“We do, however, need to be consulted on decisions that will impact the club’s financial future.
“Yes, the club recently turned a profit, but we’re looking at the next 15 years, not just year to year.”