Wests Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis says club could have handled Benji Marshall exit better

Wests Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis says the club could have handled Benji Marshall’s exit better but hopes his memories of the club are not tainted.

Dane Gagai offloads the ball to Benji Marshall for a try against Brisbane at Stadium Australia. Picture: Getty Images

Wests Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis has extended an olive branch to Benji Marshall in the lead-up to their game on Saturday afternoon by admitting his regret at the way his departure was handled and insisting he remains a respected and admired club legend.

“I would hope Benji would only have good memories and high regard for the club because we hold him in high esteem,” Hagipantelis said.

“He is a life member of this club, a legend of the club and member of the ’05 winning team. No matter what element there may be of the way he became aware of the end of our relationship, I hope it won’t taint his feeling for the club.

“It hasn’t tainted our view at all.”

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Marshall insists he harbours no grudge towards the Tigers, although he appeared to do so through gritted teeth when asked about the impending clash with his former club following South Sydney’s win over Brisbane one Thursday night.

While Marshall claimed there were no sour grapes, it is common knowledge that he was privately hurt by the way he found out about the Tigers’ decision not to offer him a new contract.

The club made the decision on a Friday and set up a meeting with Marshall’s manager for the following Monday. The news leaked in the media before then, angering Marshall to the point that his family failed to attend his farewell game.

Marshall has given the club short shrift since. Whenever he has been asked about the Tigers, he has responded by saying he has paid little attention to them this season.

There will, however, be no avoiding the Tigers this week as Souths prepare to host them at Stadium Australia on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s like imagine if you were working for Fox Sports and you changed to Nine News, are you still going to support Fox Sports?” Marshall said.

“I will always have mates. The club has been a big part of my life but at the moment, my focus is here. I don’t really watch them.

“I don’t watch any other games unless we are playing them the next week.”

Hagipantelis noted the dismissive way Marshall responded when asked about Wests Tigers recently during his weekly appearance on Fox League’s NRL 360.

“I was watching it live when it occurred,” he said.

“Perhaps it was somewhat stark. I do understand the motivation and I don’t begrudge him his views. He is entitled to them.

“But I would hope sincerely it wouldn’t taint his memories and attachment to this club. Do I regret it was dealt with at the time? Absolutely. It would be dealt with differently if we had our time over again.”

Hagipantelis says Marshall will always be part of the Tigers’ fabric. At the same time, he concedes if he and the club had their time over again, they would handle it differently.

It wouldn’t have meant a new contract, but it would have meant Marshall would have found out in the correct manner.

“I publicly stated at the time that I wasn’t happy that it was in the newspapers,” Hagipantelis said.

“I wasn’t happy that leaked out and got in the press. In terms of the decision not to extend the contract that was an operational decision of the footy department.

“In that respect I am comfortable with the decision that as made. These are difficult decision that have to be made and they were made with the best interests of the club at heart.

“There are difficult decisions that have to be made in the course of the game’s recruitment and retention. It is not the role of the board to second guess the decisions of the football committee.”