NRL intervention looms as Wests Tigers chief Shane Richardson threatens to walk amid infighting
“We are investigating the powers we have in this type of situation, including appointing an administrator,” V’landys told The Australian.
Richardson has been weighing up his future since the Tigers’ majority shareholder, Holman Barnes Group, last week sacked the four independent directors it had only appointed in January.
Those close to Richardson say he’s “done”, fed up with the political infighting that has held back the club for more than a decade and a smear campaign levelled against him and senior staff.
Reports on Friday that the NRL integrity unit was investigating claims from a disgruntled former employee that Richardson had paid money to a digital, branding, and marketing company run by his son have only furthered his belief that it is time to leave.
It is understood Richardson will argue a large amount of the money relates to the consultancy fee he was paid while interim chief executive from December 2023 until June 2024.
He started a four-year contract on July 2, 2024, with a clause stipulating he would receive a full payout if independent directors weren’t on the board. He has 2½ years remaining on his deal. HBG last week discharged the four independents, including chairman and former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell, plummeting the club into chaos.
Richardson is expected to resign on Monday afternoon after addressing his staff, many of whom he had enticed to the club, although V’landys’s intervention at the 11th hour could change his mind.
“We are going to talk to both the independent directors and Holman Barnes,” V’landys said. “We are certainly not happy with the instability this has caused.”
It wouldn’t be the first time head office has stepped in to save a club from itself. In 2015, the NRL took ownership of the Gold Coast Titans in the wake of a cocaine supply scandal. They were placed in voluntary administration after realising they could not meet their financial obligations, including paying the salaries of staff and players.
Two years earlier, the NRL ordered the Tigers install an independent board in exchange for financial support as the club teetered on the brink of insolvency. A new board, headed by media executive Marina Go, was formed the next year.
The club has lurched from crisis to crisis since, mostly because of a struggle between various factions for power and influence. HBG, which has undergone much upheaval on its own board this year, keeps sacking the people it appointed.
Richardson was brought in following an independent review commissioned by HBG in 2023.
On his watch, the Tigers have turned around their finances. They are expected soon to announce a profit of $2m – their first in a decade, although that figure includes an annual payment of $1.7m from PNG’s $60m licence fee distributed to each club.
This season, Tigers crowds were up 45 per cent while membership jumped a whopping 40 per cent. The club attracted more than $3m in corporate sponsorship.
HBG, which owns Wests Ashfield and the majority share of Western Suburbs, and has two positions on the board, claims it sacked the independents because of a lack of transparency on commercial decisions.
“Some of the decisions that were made that should have come to the Holman Barnes Group for approval certainly didn’t happen,” HBG chief executive Daniel Paton told Nine Newspapers last week. “And that’s coming from the CEO and the board.”
At the heart of the matter, though, is the perpetual struggle between the Balmain and Wests factions, although Paton has reportedly told V’landys HBG has no desire to push Balmain out of the joint venture. It is something for which V’landys would have little appetite: his closest ally on the commission is former Balmain captain Wayne Pearce.
But the constant instability and infighting is wearing thin with head office. The Tigers are important for the NRL because their supporter base includes Campbelltown in Sydney’s growing southwest.
There are genuine fears that if Richardson walks, so too will several players and possibly coach Benji Marshall.
Richardson was confident $6m marquee Jarome Luai was on the verge of removing get-out clauses in his contract until the boardroom upheaval. The representative playmaker has been heavily linked to the Perth Bears.
Fullback Jahream Bula was also close to signing a four-year deal. He’s been strongly linked to the Bulldogs.
Without question, Richardson’s bombastic nature has upset several people at the club. HBG surely knew of his old-school reputation for kicking heads when it signed him in a four-year deal.
He stood up to all-powerful player agent Isaac Moses, forcing Lachlan Galvin out the door. Whether it was a prudent move is arguable, but it demonstrated the club wasn’t going to be indebted to managers who have had a hold over the joint venture for years.
It’s been reported the Tigers have already lined up Manly chief executive Tony Mestrov as Richardson’s replacement. Mestrov resigned last month after overseeing three years of instability at the Sea Eagles that pushed out captain Daly Cherry-Evans and ended with senior players openly criticising management and coach Anthony Seibold.
Which, many believe, makes him perfect for the Wests Tigers.
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