Wests Tigers turmoil presents Benji Marshall with his greatest test of all

Fans who have led a review into the Wests Tigers have little clue as to how much damage they’re doing ahead of Benji Marshall’s rookie season.

Wests Tigers torn apart by dispute. Art: Boo Bailey

“If you start listening to the fans, it won’t be long until you are sitting next to them.”

It’s long been Wayne Bennett’s favourite catchphrase.

Given Bennett’s standing as one of rugby league’s greatest-ever coaches, it makes complete sense then that key members of the worst performing NRL club over the past-12 years have turned to finding a way forward by taking advice from podcasters and supporters from the hill.

If it’s even possible, the Wests Tigers as an organisation have reached an all-time low, thanks to a collection of suits that make up the club’s majority owners, the Holman Barnes Group, (formerly known as Wests Ashfield) who are hiding behind a petition signed by no less than 2,000 fans.

The petition has triggered an independent review which is currently underway and is designed to lift the bonnet on the club’s governance and operations.

It is yet to be confirmed if the findings will ever be made public, which is important, as it would then allow the rest of the game to find out how it is that a podcaster knows what an elite-level performing NRL club looks like.

Benji Marshall takes over a club at war with itself. Picture: Getty Images

It’s worth noting also, politicians, journalists, player agents and staff will also be interviewed.

The review has been brought upon to create change at the Wests Tigers, namely by removing the two constants at the club, chairman Lee Hagipantelis and CEO Justin Pascoe.

Boardroom politics often prompts the eyes of punters to glaze over and in desperate need for a Bex and a good lie down.

However, this one will have a lasting impact on the footy field. The Tigers, not the Dragons, should be wooden-spoon favourites for 2024 after this.

Those who have penned their signatures have little clue as to how much damage they’re doing ahead of Benji Marshall’s rookie season.

A fan protest calls for the sacking of CEO Justin Pascoe.

The youngest coach in the NRL next year is said to be filthy. He knows what success looks like and this surely isn’t it.

To pinch a quote from yet another super coach, this time Jack Gibson, “winning starts in the front office.”

What should be the most important pre-season of Marshall’s career, which is underpinned by solidarity and unity, is now being railroaded by a boardroom Civil War.

The damage, both for Marshall and his ability to coach without a summer of distracting headlines, in addition to the club’s hopes of recruiting new talent while retaining their own, is untold.

This morning, Tigers fans will wake to the news that Junior Blues halfback Alex Conti is off to the Bulldogs. It’s just the beginning.

It’s any wonder Marshall’s manager Matt Desira was one of the first to call Hagipantelis out of concern last Thursday.

Next on the phone from the US was Mario Tartak.

(L-R) West Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe and chairman Lee Hagipantelis. Picture: Getty Images

He is the agent of Tigers 2024 starting halfback, former Dragons playmaker Jayden Sullivan, and the club’s most prized recruits, Latu and Samuela Fainu.

The trio had taken deals with the Tigers in the belief that under Marshall and a heavily-invested Hagipantelis, the club had moved past troubled times.

Prop Stefano Utoikamanu has a clause in his 2024 contract that allows him to leave if the Wests Tigers miss the finals next season.

What’s the point? Let him go now.

The determinations of the review are unlikely to be detailed before December, right when Marshall is in the middle of his important pre-season.

In the meantime, Hagipantelis is standing firm after it was voted unanimously that he continue as a director and chair for a further three years by both the Balmain and Wests Magpies directors of the joint-venture club last month.

The twist came when he was recently asked to stand down by Holman Barnes Group representative Tony Andreacchio.

Andreacchio and the HBG feel betrayed that news of Hagipantelis’ extension as chair went public while the review was still ongoing. Did they seriously think it would remain quiet for three months?

Pascoe will be interviewed for the sake of the review next week.

It will be the CEO’s word against a podcaster.

Only in Tiger Town.