BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
BULLYING CLAIMS
Galvin’s legal team confirmed in an email to this masthead on Tuesday that they were seeking urgent mediation to resolve the issues between the Tigers and their brightest young star.
While they declined to elaborate on their areas of concern, it is understood they stretch beyond the social media missives from teammates Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva last week that were interpreted as criticism of the teenage playmaker.
Richardson was not happy with the Turuva post in particular, but he bristled at suggestions of bullying at the Tigers.
Asked about the allegations, Richardson said: “They’re not true. I can’t comment about legal cases for obvious reasons but of course we’ll contest it.
“If you have ever played in a team, there are emotional things in a team. This is not your mate down the road, this is a football team that’s building itself together.
“I don’t think Luai’s (post) was too bad but certainly Turuva’s shouldn’t have happened and I have spoken to Turuva about it.
“But emotions happen. To try to control emotions, it’s impossible in rugby league.”
Richardson also defended the club’s culture given the current environment.
“Outstanding,” he said.
“We’ve come up from a club that’s won three wooden spoons. We were a laughing stock everywhere.
“We’ve come back from that to be competitive on the field. We’re certainly competitive off the field. We had 27,000 people at the game on the weekend. A gate of $1 million.
“So off the field we’ve got it right. We’ve got it right with the coaching staff. We spent a lot of money on leadership and a lot of money on health and safety with Tim Grant and people under him.
“So I’m more than confident with the processes that are in place.”
DEALING WITH MOSES
The Tigers have had a tempestuous relationship with leading manager Isaac Moses over the years and the Galvin saga is just the latest spotfire between the club and one of the most powerful figures in rugby league.
Moses manages some of the game’s biggest names, be it players or coaches. He has been accused at times of wielding too much influence and Richardson concedes his relationship with Moses has been strained in recent times.
Still, it’s better than the relationship between Moses and Marshall. The pair have seemingly been engaged in a private war that now threatens to potentially cost the Tigers their most promising player.
Asked about the relationship between Moses and the club, Richardson was blunt.
“It’s not good, obviously it’s not good,” he said.
“This year we’ve had challenges and they’ve all been with Isaac Moses’ clients. So it’s no secret. I’ve got to deal with Isaac, he’s got to deal with me.
“Benji deals with the player, I deal with the manager. So I deal with Isaac because Benji and Isaac have no relationship whatsoever – in fact, it’s antagonistic.
“What I’ve done is I’ve stepped in the middle. He’s (Moses) certainly made it clear to everybody … that Benji’s not on his Christmas list and I’m sure he’s not on Benji’s Christmas list.
“At the end of the day, I have had to deal with managers all my life. I’ve had some good ones, some shockers and some in between.
“Some I don’t deal with, some I do deal with. You can’t do this for 30 years without working with player managers. Isaac is smart, he is intelligent and he’s trying to do what is best for his clients.
“I get all that, but he’s not doing the best for Wests Tigers. My job’s what is best for the Wests Tigers. And what I’ve done is handle this the way I think is right – be honest and up-front.”
Tigers fans have backed coach Benji Marshall in the wake of the Lachlan Galvin contract saga.
Richardson insisted he and Moses could continue to work together.
“Well he’s got clients with us,” he said.
“So we’ll all continue to work on it. Isaac and I go a long way back. I wasn’t happy the way he managed (Anthony) Seibold at Souths.
“And at the end of the day, my job is to make sure that the Wests Tigers are protected. And I believe what we did, I don’t believe it could be done any other way.
“It’s come out this week, we popped the pimple, we’ve moved on from it. I honestly believe that we couldn’t have done any better – we could have done without the social media, but everybody could do without social media.”
CONTINUED NEXT POST
Galvin’s legal team confirmed in an email to this masthead on Tuesday that they were seeking urgent mediation to resolve the issues between the Tigers and their brightest young star.
While they declined to elaborate on their areas of concern, it is understood they stretch beyond the social media missives from teammates Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva last week that were interpreted as criticism of the teenage playmaker.
Richardson was not happy with the Turuva post in particular, but he bristled at suggestions of bullying at the Tigers.
Asked about the allegations, Richardson said: “They’re not true. I can’t comment about legal cases for obvious reasons but of course we’ll contest it.
“If you have ever played in a team, there are emotional things in a team. This is not your mate down the road, this is a football team that’s building itself together.
“I don’t think Luai’s (post) was too bad but certainly Turuva’s shouldn’t have happened and I have spoken to Turuva about it.
“But emotions happen. To try to control emotions, it’s impossible in rugby league.”
Richardson also defended the club’s culture given the current environment.
“Outstanding,” he said.
“We’ve come up from a club that’s won three wooden spoons. We were a laughing stock everywhere.
“We’ve come back from that to be competitive on the field. We’re certainly competitive off the field. We had 27,000 people at the game on the weekend. A gate of $1 million.
“So off the field we’ve got it right. We’ve got it right with the coaching staff. We spent a lot of money on leadership and a lot of money on health and safety with Tim Grant and people under him.
“So I’m more than confident with the processes that are in place.”
DEALING WITH MOSES
The Tigers have had a tempestuous relationship with leading manager Isaac Moses over the years and the Galvin saga is just the latest spotfire between the club and one of the most powerful figures in rugby league.
Moses manages some of the game’s biggest names, be it players or coaches. He has been accused at times of wielding too much influence and Richardson concedes his relationship with Moses has been strained in recent times.
Still, it’s better than the relationship between Moses and Marshall. The pair have seemingly been engaged in a private war that now threatens to potentially cost the Tigers their most promising player.
Asked about the relationship between Moses and the club, Richardson was blunt.
“It’s not good, obviously it’s not good,” he said.
“This year we’ve had challenges and they’ve all been with Isaac Moses’ clients. So it’s no secret. I’ve got to deal with Isaac, he’s got to deal with me.
“Benji deals with the player, I deal with the manager. So I deal with Isaac because Benji and Isaac have no relationship whatsoever – in fact, it’s antagonistic.
“What I’ve done is I’ve stepped in the middle. He’s (Moses) certainly made it clear to everybody … that Benji’s not on his Christmas list and I’m sure he’s not on Benji’s Christmas list.
“At the end of the day, I have had to deal with managers all my life. I’ve had some good ones, some shockers and some in between.
“Some I don’t deal with, some I do deal with. You can’t do this for 30 years without working with player managers. Isaac is smart, he is intelligent and he’s trying to do what is best for his clients.
“I get all that, but he’s not doing the best for Wests Tigers. My job’s what is best for the Wests Tigers. And what I’ve done is handle this the way I think is right – be honest and up-front.”
Tigers fans have backed coach Benji Marshall in the wake of the Lachlan Galvin contract saga.
Richardson insisted he and Moses could continue to work together.
“Well he’s got clients with us,” he said.
“So we’ll all continue to work on it. Isaac and I go a long way back. I wasn’t happy the way he managed (Anthony) Seibold at Souths.
“And at the end of the day, my job is to make sure that the Wests Tigers are protected. And I believe what we did, I don’t believe it could be done any other way.
“It’s come out this week, we popped the pimple, we’ve moved on from it. I honestly believe that we couldn’t have done any better – we could have done without the social media, but everybody could do without social media.”
CONTINUED NEXT POST