‘You’re in the wrong box’: Director reveals ‘frivolous’ claims behind split at Wests Tigers owner

The civil war at the owners of Wests Tigers has taken a new twist, with one of the directors under investigation at the Holman Barnes Group detailing the “trivial” allegations made against him and two other board members, among them not sitting with other directors at functions, calling an official’s wife “darl” and telling another she was in the wrong corporate box at a game.

Holman Barnes Group, which owns Wests Ashfield and two other venues and is the Tigers majority shareholder, has suspended the membership of directors Rick Wayde, Tony Andreacchio and David Gilbert, barring them from entering their premises while an external third-party investigates.

Wests Tigers fans support their team at Leichhardt Oval.Credit: Getty Images

The allegations against the trio, who have all served as directors of National Rugby League team Wests Tigers, have been shrouded in secrecy.

But a defiant Wayde, a long-time Western Suburbs rugby league and cricket official, on Friday divulged the claims made against them, dismissing them as a “lightweight smear” designed to try and force the three out.

“The so-called allegations are as trivial as Tony [calling] one of director’s wife ‘darl’. I’ve known Tony for 40 years and never heard him use that expression,” Wayde said.

“David Gilbert and I are also accused of asking [director] Vince Tropiano if he was going to vote for the incumbent chair, Tony [at the Western Suburbs Leagues Club annual general meeting]. It seems to be an innocent question. They’ve said that we supposedly took him into a back room and pressured him. This is all supposed to have happened at the season launch of the Wests Tigers at the Walsh Bay Wharves.”

Wayde branded it as a completely false allegation. “It’s an open-plan room and cocktail bar, where everyone can see each other. It was pretty basic. We just asked what his position was and it was pretty clear he was on the other side.”

Wayde, who like Andreacchio and former Test cricketer Gilbert, has taken legal advice, said he’d also been presented with a list of seven events where he didn’t sit with other directors, another supposed transgression.

He said at two of the events he had an official role and another he wasn’t even able to attend because he had to mind his grandchildren at the last minute. At the Tigers’ end-season-function at Darling Harbour he said he had chosen to sit up with one of the directors of Wests Campbelltown and his wife because they hadn’t been on the seating chart and when a place was found for them at the back of the room he didn’t want them to be on their own.

“Also [at a Tigers game] at Campbelltown in one of the boxes, I’m supposed to have told [director] Dennis Burgess’s wife that ’you’re in the wrong box”. And I did say that. [Dennis and her had] seen me in there, but I’d just gone in to say hello to [Wests Tigers director and Balmain chairman] Danny Stapleton. I was only visiting,” he said.

“They had come in and I was just trying to save them the embarrassment of eating the food in the wrong place.”

Wayde believes there has been an attempt to keep the details of the allegations behind closed doors because they are so minor.

“They tried to put a very oppressive confidentiality ban on the whole thing so we weren’t even supposed to talk to each other let alone the other directors. They’d have to be embarrassed about how frivolous they are,” he said.

“I’m very proud of my record as a director of the Holman Barnes Group and I’d stack up my track record against anybody else’s anywhere really, anytime. I’ve got nothing to hide, nothing that I’ve done wrong, a clear conscience.”

Holman Barnes Group chair Julie Romero declined to comment on Friday, instead referring this masthead to a statement published on its website last week.

It said the investigation was instigated after “the chair was made aware of alleged conduct, which, if established, may give rise to breaches by the directors of their obligations as members or directors of the group.

”All members, including directors, are expected to adhere to the standards, policies and obligations set forth in the Group’s constitution and by-laws,” the statement said.

“Under the constitution, the directors involved have an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them before any final decision is made. While this process is ongoing, the directors in question have been suspended from all privileges of membership.

“The group will not comment further on this process prior to its conclusion out of respect for those involved. The group’s priority is to ensure confidentiality and respect for its community, members, and observing due process. The investigation is a Holman Barnes Group board matter and does not impact the football department at Wests Tigers.”