Pascoe was set to celebrate historic $5 million overhaul when walked by NRL
On the morning Justin Pascoe was marched off Wests Tigers premises indefinitely by the NRL, the club was preparing to celebrate a 20-year first for the joint-venture club.
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Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe was set to be celebrated as the first club boss in 20 years to turn a profit for the joint-venture club — the result of a staggering $5 million overhaul in his three seasons in charge.
On the morning Pascoe was marched off Tigers premises indefinitely by the NRL, auditors were going through the final checks on what is foreshadowed to be a $300,000 profit for 2018.
Given the club was showing a deficit of almost $5 million when Pascoe arrived in late 2015, the result represents a staggering turnaround in his three years overseeing what has traditionally been a battling NRL outfit.
The Daily Telegraph understands front office staff were actually planning to celebrate Pascoe as the first CEO to turn such a profit since the club’s establishment when he was sensationally walked by NRL CEO Todd Greenberg on Wednesday.
The figure, which also represents a $2.7 million improvement on the 2017 season, is part of the reason why Tigers chair Marino Go and her board are now fighting so hard to clear the beleaguered chief executive’s name.
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Apart from reviving the Wests Tigers brand — which at one point seemed destined for relocation — club officials will argue Pascoe was simply naive to cap stipulations when he failed to declare a $639,000 ambassadorial role for Robbie Farah in 2016.
At a Wednesday press conference, Greenberg said the CEO had breached salary cap rules because: “When a player leaves your club, you have to declare and disclose the entire remuneration.
“On this occasion, a significant portion was not disclosed to the salary cap auditor.”
On social media however, Tigers fans have also rallied around the suspended chief executive who not only brought favourite sons Farah and Benji Marshall home to finish their careers, but also secured 2014 NRL premiership coach Michael Maguire when Ivan Cleary walked.
In his three years since shifting from the Penrith Panthers, Pascoe has also doubled membership and overhauled what is now an award-winning community imprint boasting 65 programs.
Since the start of 2016, Wests Tigers have increased memberships from 9000 to 20,000.
In 2017, the NRL also awarded the club a gong for Community Program of the Year.
Yet at 8am Wednesday morning, Pascoe was told of his impending deregistration, after he and Go attended NRL HQ.
It was there Greenberg dropped a range of sanctions against the club, which also included a $750,000 fine and a further $639,000 — or the entire Farah offer — added to their 2019 cap.
Pascoe has since been ordered by the NRL to stay away from the club’s Concord base, while Tigers staff are barred from calling their boss.
It is understood Pascoe is now meeting off site with the club’s legal team as part of planning his defence.
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Originally published as Pascoe was set to celebrate historic $5 million overhaul when walked by NRL
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