Tigers CEO under fire for halftime act as club’s ‘vicious cycle’ called out

Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe has been slammed after he was spotted in the club’s changeroom on his phone as Tim Sheens’ side were down 28-0 at halftime to the Broncos.

Tigers Justin Pascoe in change rooms

Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe has been slammed after he was spotted in the club’s changeroom on his phone as Tim Sheens’ side were down 28-0 at halftime to the Broncos.

Pascoe has consistently come under fire and the Tigers have languished at the bottom of the ladder for several seasons, winning their first wooden spoon in 2022.

After bringing in a new coaching trio of Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah, the club are without a win in 2023 and sit dead last.

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Rugby league legend James Graham called for Pascoe to have some “self awareness” and “observe” the dressing room or not be present at all.

“You just don’t need it, you’ve got to have the self-awareness, if you are in a position like the CEO it is how you dress that is important,” Graham said on Triple M.

“And also you’re the person that’s in charge... you should be there observing and if you are in the changing room at half time, observe and listen, get off your phone.

“Listen to what Tim Sheens is saying and you might actually learn something, because if you have to go back to your owners and make a decision on Tim Sheens, how is he in the dressing room? I don’t know, I was looking at my socials’.

“Should he even be there in the first place? No, but if he is there, sometimes you see the figureheads of the organisation post-game, observe, don’t flick through your phone.

“Is Tim Sheens saying the right things? Are the right people in the room? I don’t get why he is there.”

Tigers Justin Pascoe in change rooms

Meanwhile, Fox League’s James Hooper didn’t mince his words and explained the Tigers have only got worse since he was hired eight years ago.

“I’ve been saying for the past 18 months, this bloke is a complete paddle-pop lion and a complete pretender,” Hooper said.

“If you go back to when he began in that position eight years ago, the Tigers have got progressively worse over that period.

“He’ll argue that he helped build the Centre of Excellence... they have got a barber shop in the Centre of Excellence, so that’s really helping them out in terms of results.

“You can’t blame him for last night’s results, but that’s not the image you should have from a boss.”

Hooper also referenced his decision to hire Ivan Cleary ahead of the 2017 season as one of his many “bad shots”.

Just when you think the Tigers are rock bottom... Picture: NRL Photos

The Tigers have also missed out on a long list of marquee players during his tenure, including Cameron Munster, Latrell Mitchell and most recently Mitchell Moses.

“If you want to go back over his list of bad shots, he went and hired Ivan Cleary who didn’t have a job at the time and gave him a long-term contract,” Hooper said.

“Ivan told players to either get on the bus or get off the bus, and he got off himself but we’ve been over that, everyone understands the opportunity has been vindicated.

“The Tigers have just been in a vicious cycle, a road to nowhere ever since.

“It just feels like it is a little bit of a protected species society at the top level of the club, there’s no way the fans or members can get any sort of voice with them.

“Spare me with that ‘Ask the Boss’ podcast jibberish, I don’t know any other CEO who does that.”

Originally published as Tigers CEO under fire for halftime act as club’s ‘vicious cycle’ called out