Just when Wests Tigers fans were starting to hope that their team was about to get its act together on the field, the boardroom dramas have got even worse with three directors banned over a range of allegations relating to intimidation and unprofessional behaviour.
The Holman Barnes Group, which governs the joint venture club, has suspended Rick Wayde for eight years while fellow director Tony Andreacchio has copped a six-year ban and former Test cricketer Dave Gilbert a six-month sanction.
After being informed of the decision on New Year’s Eve, the three former directors are now considering legal action as the off-field factionalism which has been a stain on the club for years threatens to tear the uneasy partnership between Balmain and Wests apart.
There have been reports that the Magpies want to dump the Tigers to go it alone after 25 years as a joint venture in the NRL, a shotgun marriage which resulted in a premiership in 2005 but has mostly been a failure.
The Tigers have the NRL’s longest finals drought, not making the playoffs since 2011, and are coming off the back of three straight wooden spoons after sacking Michael Maguire as coach, Tim Sheens returning for one dismal season and then Benji Marshall taking over the reins.
Marshall has added high-profile recruits in Jarome Luai, Terrell May, Jack Bird, Sunia Turuva and Jeral Skelton in the off-season in a bid to turn the team’s fortunes around but the latest round of backroom brawling will be yet another disruption for the second-year coach.
“The penalties are ridiculous,” Wayde told The Daily Telegraph. “It indicates from November 6 from when they issued the notice that their preconceived view was that we were guilty. They wanted to come up with that finding. “The reason it has taken so long is there are many flaws in their procedures.”
Gilbert said they had been “stitched up” and Andreacchio described the judicial process as “a sham from the word go”.
Benji Marshall. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Among the allegations that led to the ban are that the trio made personal attacks at board meetings, approached people in a threatening manner, called a fellow director “a f–king suck” repeatedly and shouted other profanities and made abusive comments.
Hearings were held early last month with the trio told on December 20 that they had been found guilty before being informed via email at 5pm on New Year’s Eve that they had been banned.
Inner West Council mayor Darcy Byrne wants the NSW government to step in to resolve the drama at Wests Tigers.
“That’s what the fans want, and that is what’s needed for Wests Tigers to survive and thrive,” Byrne told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We’ve finally got things moving in the right direction on the football field. Tigers fans can’t afford for backroom brawling to undermine our team’s long-awaited recovery in 2025.”
Andreacchio, Wayde and Gilbert were the prime movers behind the indpendent review of the club which led to the previous board being dismantled with chair Lee Hagipantelis and CEO Justin Pascoe sacked.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/o5sZ74K boardroom bloodbath gets worse with EIGHT-YEAR ban handed out as trio given marching orders
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