Dismissed Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis has blasted the club, citing a leak of information over the board's sudden dismissal earlier this week.
An independent review that was launched into the Tigers at the end of 2023 saw a reccomendation that the entire Tigers board be dismissed with the club heading in a new direction from management level.
That followed the earlier axing of Tim Sheens as head coach at the end of the season, one where the joint-venture finished with their second wooden spoon in a row despite a number of off-season recruits heading to Concord.
Speaking to News Corp though, Hagipantelis revealed the board was supposed to have the findings presented to them with an opportunity to respond before a call was made, but that never happened.
โWe were told the review would be presented to the Wests Tigers board and we would have an opportunity to respond to it,โ Hagipantelis told The Daily Telegraph.
โWell, that never happened. As you pointed out, there were panic stations today because the report had leaked, which is no surprise given the parties involved.
โHence there were panic calls today to get approval to adopt the review and then to dismiss the board and lean on Justin (Pascoe).
โIt is just the manner in which the people conduct themselves. Not necessarily the outcomes. If this outcome is in the best interests of the club, well so be it.โ
He revealed to The Sydney Morning Herald that it was "gross disrespect" how the situation had been handled.
โI feel there has been gross disrespect shown to the Wests Tigers and to myself personally by my fellow directors,โ he said.
โWe were never paid the respect of being involved or consulted as to the review. Even to this day, we have never been engaged or informed as to the results of the review or the recommendations. Now it appears unlikely that we will ever see the report.
โI think the process was disgraceful. The entire thing was a knee-jerk reaction to a petition signed by 2000 disgruntled fans after the Wests Tigers lost 72-0 to the Cowboys. It's perfectly understandable that our fans would vent their displeasure, but for some reason the Holman Barnes Group embarked upon a review feeling compelled to do so.
โI believe it was some ill-conceived publicity drive which boxed them into a position which left them with no alternative but to accept the recommendations that were made, which as I understand, included the dismissal of the entire board.โ
Justin Pascoe, who also lost his job on the reccomendations of the internal review, is yet to make any public comment.
Hagipantelis also runs the club's primary sponsor Bryden's Lawyers, but has committed to seeing out the deal until the end of 2024. It's unclear whether any extension is likely, with one report suggesting the club are already on the front foot looking for a new primary sponsor.
The former chairman told SEN Radio that as recently as Saturday evening he had been receiving numerous assurances over his position withing the management of the club.
โI was at the Balmain Christmas party dinner on Saturday night and received numerous assurances of support,โ he added.
โWell, that lasted 48 hours. Apparently, there was a shareholders' meeting on Monday night and the shareholders adopted the recommendations of the review."
While Hagpinatelis has slammed the club, former great Benny Elias didn't share that view, telling Fox Sports that is was "great news" and the "greatest step forward" at the Tigers for a decade.
โIt's fantastic, great news for the club. They've had the courage to make a massive decision which is the club's greatest step forward in the past decade,โ Elias told foxsports.com.au.
โIt was definitely time for a massive change, an upheaval. They've had the courage to do it and congratulations to them.
โThis has got to be the turning point and now they've got to replace (the board) with credible people. They need to do a thorough recruitment process of the people that are going to take it on from here because it's a big job.โ
The independent review into the Tigers was launched after a fan-generated petition called for action following dismal on-field results.
Former New South Wales State premier Barry O'Farrell has taken over as interim club chairman, while long-time rugby league director Shane Richardson has moved into the interim CEO role.
It's believed the Tigers will review their positions again in six months.
