The Daily Telegraph
Monday Buzz: Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe hits back after embarrassing gaffes
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe is refusing to stand down despite calls for his sacking over two embarrassing blunders that were caught on camera.
Phil Rothfield - April 2, 2023 - 5:59PM
Under-siege Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe is refusing to stand down despite calls for his sacking from disgruntled fans.
Social media went into meltdown when a picture emerged of the embattled Tigers’ boss with a football in his hands and dressed in joggers and a tightly fitted polo shirt on the field at Suncorp Stadium before another thumping loss to the Brisbane Broncos.
Then NRL great James Graham roasted Pascoe after he was also spotted “flicking through his phone’’ in the dressing sheds at halftime.
“In terms of the CEO, you don’t need it, you’ve got to have the self-awareness… you should be there observing and observing what people are doing,” Graham told Triple M.
“Get off your phone and observe, and listen to what Tim Sheens is saying, you might actually learn something.”
It was their fifth straight loss under the new coaching team of veteran Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall, Robbie Farah and David Furner on the back of last year’s wooden spoon in a season that doesn’t get easier with upcoming matches against the Eels, Sea Eagles, Panthers.
They are now $2.15 favourites for the wooden spoon.
Tigers fans have turned on Pascoe, who has been at the helm of the club with the longest finals drought in the competition and a period in which they have had four coaches – Sheens, Michael Maguire, Ivan Cleary and Jason Taylor.
Pascoe has now become the club’s whipping boy, even more so than $1 million halfback Luke Brooks, other under-performing players and the coaching staff.
So we fired some questions at him on Sunday.
Buzz: Please explain that photo. Not many CEOs wear joggers and a polo shirt to the footy?
Pascoe: This is ridiculous. I was in the team polo we wear to travel. The photo was taken two hours before the game. It’s very different to a home game when we’re entertaining our corporate clients.
I always chip in and help when we travel. I unload bags from the bus. If people want help putting out the cones, I’ll help. I was just walking around, talking to Benji and Alex Clarke from high performance. I actually watched from the sideline behind the bench. It’s no big deal.
Buzz: The pressure. Everyone is blaming you and Lee Hagipantelis.
Pascoe: Who wants to be zero and five? Personally, of course it affects you. I hate losing. Everyone at the club feels the pressure! I stay awake at night always going though in my mind ways of doing things differently in order to get different results.
We are five games into a season and five games into a committed five-year coaching plan – we are not here to panic, we will continue to work our arses off to get this right. At this point it’s tough but it doesn’t mean we give up.
Some big decisions were made last year when we moved on a head coach, assistant coaches, a high-performance team plus 12 of the 30 players. We’ve just got to be patient.
Buzz: What about letting Jackson Hastings go?
Pascoe: There are always going to be decisions that people are upset with or disagree with but those decisions are made in conjunction with the football department.
As an executive and board we’re always there to challenge and prosecute decisions that are made but in the end we’re always going to support the coach and the football department.
Buzz: Do you accept responsibility?
Pascoe: Absolutely I do. As a CEO I accept total responsibility.
Buzz: But you won’t stand down? There is enormous frustration and anger out there.
Pascoe: No I won’t stand down. There is frustration inside the organisation as well. These aren’t acceptable results.
Buzz: Do you still have confidence in Tim Sheens?
Pascoe: Absolutely, we’re committed to a path forward which is Tim into Benji over the next five years. We still believe that is the right path.
Buzz: Is Benji learning anything?
Pascoe: Benji is learning every day. He’s learning about what it takes to be an NRL head coach. It’s not an easy job. They were back at the hotel at 10pm after the game cutting video to get ready for the review.
We’re five games into a new season, although unbelievably disappointed in the results so far.
We are completely supportive of the path we’ve taken.
Buzz: Are the coaches getting on OK? There’s been talk around that.
Pascoe: They are getting on fine. I’ve been around the team in the last two weeks in Melbourne and Brisbane. There are no problems at all.
THE COMMERCIAL SIDE
In fairness, Pascoe, who has been there for eight years, has done a good job on the business side.
They are in a strong position as a commercial operation despite a decade of failure.
Pascoe was instrumental in securing $80 million funding for their magnificent Concord centre of excellence, not that it’s helping them win football games.
Sponsorship is at its highest level ever.
“It would be even higher if we were winning,” he said.
They have made profits for four of the last five years.
And finally…
At least Sheens was in a jovial mood after the loss to the Broncos.
“I hope we’ll win the bye anyway in a couple of weeks,” he said.
Not that their long-suffering fans could see anything funny about it.
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