Wests Tigers chairman delivers brutal truth to wantaway star

An NRL star’s bombshell contract demand to his club has been emphatically shot down in brutal fashion by a fed up chairman.

Josh Aloiai wants out, but not so fast.

Wests Tigers have cancelled a scheduled meeting with prop Josh Aloiai after he demanded an immediate release from his contract, then posted a meme on Instagram on Tuesday.

The bombshell call caught the Tigers off guard with Aloiai having one year remaining on his current contract with the club.

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Aloiai, on a reported $350,000 salary, wants out in the hopes of joining Manly on a richer deal, but despite his brutal demands, Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis has refused to budge and bit back at the star.

After Aloiai said he would “never wear the jersey again”, Hagipantelis was adamant the club will refuse to grant him a release from the final year of his contract.

“My initial thoughts are that I’m not impressed,” Hagipantelis said on SEN’s Jimmy Smith Show.

“There’s a contract between the Wests Tigers and the player in question and as far as we’re concerned, the contract will be fulfilled.

“I’m thinking Josh Aloiai will fulfil his contractual obligations, and unless we agree otherwise that’s very unlikely.”

Asked if he felt the Tigers were used “a doormat” by managers aiming to leverage higher salaries at other clubs, Hagipantelis said: “There is that perception, if there is, then those days are over.

“Those who think they can use the Wests Tigers as a stepping stone to advance their own careers should think again. We are not there for that purpose.

“Those who engage with us, especially those bound by contract are there to fulfil their obligations and we won’t expect anything less.”

Not so fast, Aloiai.

Hagipantelis took things a step further when he said if Aloiai didn’t want to put the jersey back on, they’d find things for him to do in the final year.

“He is either a Wests Tiger or he is mowing the lawns at Leichhardt or Campbelltown or painting the change rooms at Concord — as long as he fulfils his contract,” Hagipantelis told Fox Sports.

Shortly after the report was published, Aloiai delivered a shot back at the comments with a since deleted post on his personal Instagram page which showed him pushing a lawn mower with the caption “I’ll make sure it’s a super fast track boys”.

On Wednesday morning, the Tigers cancelled a meeting with Aloiai.

“What would be the utility of the meeting?” Hagipantelis said, per The Daily Telegraph.

“Josh has made his position very, very clear to the club and publicly as has the club. Unless there is a proposal for some resolution what would be the purpose of the meeting?”

Aloiai hits back at club chairman

The news of Aloiai wanting out comes just days after Josh Addo-Carr backflipped on a blockbuster switch to leave the Melbourne Storm and join the Tigers.

“His manager Mario Tartak sat before [Tigers CEO] Justin Pascoe and myself and told us that in no uncertain terms that Josh was committed to fulfilling the heads of agreement he signed,” Hagipantelis said.

“He signed that heads of agreement knowing full well that Michael Maguire was the coach, and the only reason he wasn’t coming to the Wests Tigers was because Melbourne Storm wouldn’t release him.

“The narrative that Josh Addo-Carr didn’t come to the Wests Tigers because of Michael Maguire flies in the face of all objective fact.”