HBG, Independent Directors Sacked


Former Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis declares push for Magpies to replace Wests Tigers in NRL

Former Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis has revealed a Magpies faction wants Western Suburbs back in the NRL and oust Balmain as the club battles fresh internal turmoil.

Michael Carayannis
December 2, 2025 - 10:02AM

Former Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis has declared there is a known push for Western Suburbs to return to the NRL, as his former club is gripped by infighting once again.

Hagipantelis was dismissed as chairman in December 2023 and replaced by Barry O’Farrell in a similar situation to what happened to O’Farrell and the rest of the independent bodies on the board on Monday afternoon.

Hagipentalis said there was an element of the Magpies faction who wanted Western Suburbs to return in place of the Wests Tigers.

“It was admitted to me directly by a fella who is now a director of the West Magpies that the ultimate aim was to return the Wests Magpies to the NRL,” Hagipantelis said on SEN Breakfast on Tuesday.

“I know there were some quiet discussions not too long ago about extracting Balmain from the Wests Tigers and returning to the State Cup.

“I can recall an instance where I was there where (former chief executive Justin) Pascoe tried to introduce a bit of orange into the State Cup team.

“When the Wests boys saw the orange in the jumper they had a conniption and the jumpers had to be withdrawn. They are very sensitive about this type of thing.”

Hagipantelis also took aim at the Holman Barnes Group.

“They should have no engagement in the running of a football club,” Hagipantelis said. “They should confine themselves to the fishing club, sewing or tennis club. They run leagues clubs very well and food and beverage very well.

“The tensions of 1999 and the forced merger remain to this day. I happened to speak to a director of the Holman Barnes group in the last two months who expressed a lot of discontent with what they perceived to be a disenfranchisement of the Wests Tigers that they weren’t being kept informed. The word he used was ‘being kept in the dark’.”
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
I would say any termination of Richo's contract would require a massive payout. I'm trying to think of the logical scenarios here ...

1 HBG instill their own appointed 'independent' directors on the WT board and run a PR campaign about how the board remains independent with certain decision rights to HBG. Business as usual with HBG happy with the people in the seats on the board.

2 NRL step in & revoke the license of HBG. A consortium takes over so the club remains as Wests Tigers in the South West. Possibly News Corp driven, possibly Richo driven???

3 Liquor & Gaming NSW step in & take over administration of the HBG.
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I would suggest 1 or 2 are viable but most likely 1.

They key will be what the deem as independent.

The CEO of HBG gets a seat & the remaining seats just get in line behind him. They won't be debenture current individuals.

Hence it is a HBG majority board.

They have plenty of cash so it isn't about money or long term success as mentioned in Patton's statement, it is about vested interest.

If it's a major sticking point, rebrand next for 2027.

Again it's very frustrating but could be a storm in a teacup if Richo can quell it.

Bula & Luai updates will also provide us what is actually happening.

Let's all hold our breathe 😵‍💫
 
JB9918 said:
I would suggest 1 or 2 are viable but most likely 1.

They key will be what the deem as independent.

The CEO of HBG gets a seat & the remaining seats just get in line behind him. They won't be debenture current individuals.

Hence it is a HBG majority board.

They have plenty of cash so it isn't about money or long term success as mentioned in Patton's statement, it is about vested interest.

If it's a major sticking point, rebrand next for 2027.

Again it's very frustrating but could be a storm in a teacup if Richo can quell it.

Bula & Luai updates will also provide us what is actually happening.

Let's all hold our breathe 😵‍💫
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Yep we all wait for assurances from Richo. He is the only voice that can put us at ease.
 
JB9918 said:
I would suggest 1 or 2 are viable but most likely 1.

They key will be what the deem as independent.

The CEO of HBG gets a seat & the remaining seats just get in line behind him. They won't be debenture current individuals.

Hence it is a HBG majority board.

They have plenty of cash so it isn't about money or long term success as mentioned in Patton's statement, it is about vested interest.

If it's a major sticking point, rebrand next for 2027.

Again it's very frustrating but could be a storm in a teacup if Richo can quell it.

Bula & Luai updates will also provide us what is actually happening.

Let's all hold our breathe 😵‍💫
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they can't just rebrand if they wanted to rebrand and the nrl said no then the nrl just take the licence
 

Wests Tigers sacking chaos as O'Farrell hits out​

By SEN
Image

Off-field chaos at the West Tigers - where four directors were sacked overnight - has spilled into SEN 1170’s Breakfast show which was interrupted by a statement from Barry O’Farrell.
The former NSW premier was one of the four names to be dumped from the club’s board by majority owners the Holman Barnes Group on Monday evening amid a series of disagreements which includes the colour of the club’s jersey for 2026.

The sacked quartet - which includes O’Farrell, Annabelle Williams, Charlie Viola and Michelle McDowell - were said to be blindsided by the move having only been elected to the board in January of this year.
Michael Carayannis, who broke the story on Monday night, was co-hosting SEN Breakfast on 1170 when O’Farrell issued a statement direct to him.
“Since January 2025, the board has been unified and effective in improving the Wests Tigers’ governance, strategy and financial performance,” it read.
“We have at all times complied with our fiduciary duties in our roles as directors.
“We reject any suggestion of a lack of communication with Holman Barnes Group.
“Holman Barnes Group is represented on the board of the Wests Tigers and its representative has been present at all Wests Tigers board meetings and provided with all board information.
“No concerns have been raised by the representative of Holman Barnes Group at any Wests Tigers board meeting in relation to governance, communication or consultation.
“We are yet to be informed of the details or particulars of Holman Barnes Group’s concerns.”

Amid the board chaos, attention and concern now turns to the role of chief executive Shane Richardson and how safe he is.
“I'd be shocked if Shane Richardson was CEO at the start of next season,” Carayannis said on Tuesday morning.
"I thought the Tigers were tracking positively and the board members were doing a good job for the past 11 months. That's more that can be said for the Holman Barnes Group.”
The Tigers finished 13th in 2025 with a 9-15 win-loss record.
 
Tom Shines said:
I’m a bit more interested in what Richo has to say more so than Lee … but this is clearly not ending with just the independent board being rissoled,,,
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he'll shout from the rooftops when he feels the time is right. whether he's still at the club or not at said time remains to be seen.
 
NRL has poured 26 years and 10s of millions of dollars into marketing Tigers, no way they would toss all that out to bring back a less marketable bird.
Nobody outside Australia knows what a magpie is. Tiger is the worlds 3rd most used sports logo across many sports.
NRL will laugh this off with a big NO.
 
GNR4LIFE said:
When did Wests take majority ownership, around 2015? So 10 years ago. Every time there is a a flare up with the board, people think the sky is falling and that they are trying to bring back the Magpies. Like gun nuts in the US crying “They’re trying to take our guns”. No they’re not. Nor are the Magpies coming back. The race to victimhood is a fascinating human trait.
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It's not that people really think Wests Ashfield are going to cut out Balmain and return the Magpies to the NRL.

It's that these WA owner keep undermining forward progress with their own internal nonsense, some of which includes objections to jerseys or public comments about the return of the Magpies.

Dennis Burgess said in public that he hoped the Magpies would return, it has been widely reported. So even if that's not really going to happen, you should not have the Chairman of HBG (and representative on the Wests Tigers Board) saying such things. It just continues to open up opportunities to drive a wedge in.

Apart from all that, I am personally sick of the HBG dysfunction. The WT Independent Board members have gone about their business professionally and quietly. No ructions, no public spats, no leaked information... and generally speaking people could see the forward progress - the new stadium strategy, the profits and increase in corporate/sponsorship etc.

Compared to HBG - Simon Cook steps down, HBG have a civil war and 3 of the OG Wests Ashfield people are hooked and banned for a decade, HBG resist then finally follow the independent review, Julie Romero gets knifed, and then the independent board gets sacked.

THIS ALL HAPPENED INSIDE 12 MONTHS.

Sick of the HBG bullshit. Sick of the club failures being tied to the lack of stability or capability of the owners. They run a successful Leagues Club based on pokie revenues - that is not translating into on-field success. Since Wests Ashfield took over Tigers have never made the finals and claimed 3 wooden spoons. The club was not a great success story prior to that, but the worst years have undoubtedly been the Wests Ashfield ownership years.

I don't want to be associated with Wests Ashfield any more; I love my Wests Magpies brothers and sisters and they are in the same pickle as we all are - our club is owned by morons who can't help but get in the way, barge into the kitchen, poke the baking cake, taste-test the stock and just touch everything because 30 years ago they put up money for a chook raffle. FO HBG, nobody cares about you or your egos or your feelings or your photo on the website. FO back to your pokie den and leave the football club to people who care more about Wests Tigers than themselves.
 
jirskyr said:
It's not that people really think Wests Ashfield are going to cut out Balmain and return the Magpies to the NRL.

It's that these WA owner keep undermining forward progress with their own internal nonsense, some of which includes objections to jerseys or public comments about the return of the Magpies.

Dennis Burgess said in public that he hoped the Magpies would return, it has been widely reported. So even if that's not really going to happen, you should not have the Chairman of HBG (and representative on the Wests Tigers Board) saying such things. It just continues to open up opportunities to drive a wedge in.

Apart from all that, I am personally sick of the HBG dysfunction. The WT Independent Board members have gone about their business professionally and quietly. No ructions, no public spats, no leaked information... and generally speaking people could see the forward progress - the new stadium strategy, the profits and increase in corporate/sponsorship etc.

Compared to HBG - Simon Cook steps down, HBG have a civil war and 3 of the OG Wests Ashfield people are hooked and banned for a decade, HBG resist then finally follow the independent review, Julie Romero gets knifed, and then the independent board gets sacked.

THIS ALL HAPPENED INSIDE 12 MONTHS.

Sick of the HBG bullshit. Sick of the club failures being tied to the lack of stability or capability of the owners. They run a successful Leagues Club based on pokie revenues - that is not translating into on-field success. Since Wests Ashfield took over Tigers have never made the finals and claimed 3 wooden spoons. The club was not a great success story prior to that, but the worst years have undoubtedly been the Wests Ashfield ownership years.

I don't want to be associated with Wests Ashfield any more; I love my Wests Magpies brothers and sisters and they are in the same pickle as we all are - our club is owned by morons who can't help but get in the way, barge into the kitchen, poke the baking cake, taste-test the stock and just touch everything because 30 years ago they put up money for a chook raffle. FO HBG, nobody cares about you or your egos or your feelings or your photo on the website. FO back to your pokie den and leave the football club to people who care more about Wests Tigers than themselves.
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nailed it mate
 
jirskyr said:
It's not that people really think Wests Ashfield are going to cut out Balmain and return the Magpies to the NRL.

It's that these WA owner keep undermining forward progress with their own internal nonsense, some of which includes objections to jerseys or public comments about the return of the Magpies.

Dennis Burgess said in public that he hoped the Magpies would return, it has been widely reported. So even if that's not really going to happen, you should not have the
Click to expand...

There is really no logic to all this …so makes it unpredictable what might happen next
 
Telltails said:
I think we have to accept HBG has assumed full control and it's only the fact that WTs has developed a fan base over the last 25 years that realistically it would be disastrous for the club to revert back to the Magpies - not only alienating old Balmain people but also the legit WTs supporters and may even impact the licence from the NRL. (Perfect opportunity to relegate a Sydney club and put resources elsewhere)
We can also assume there will be no more external reviews.
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I don't think the NRL would allow them, but I also agree, the club would haemorrhage supporters if they attempted to take over the licence as Wests Magpies.

Put it another way - how many Bears fans stayed with after Manly took over the licence? Manly were already a moderately powerful club at that point; Wests Magpies haven't been a powerful club since before I was born.
 
jirskyr said:
I don't think the NRL would allow them, but I also agree, the club would haemorrhage supporters if they attempted to take over the licence as Wests Magpies.

Put it another way - how many Bears fans stayed with after Manly took over the licence? Manly were already a moderately powerful club at that point; Wests Magpies haven't been a powerful club since before I was born.
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Manly just retained their own fan base. It had only been two years.
 
Lestronge said:
Does anyone not like the New Jerseys ? I think they’re both mad . I also think we should have a full black jersey , like the broncos got . With mild white lines . That would be awesome as well. Completely away from both the traditional Balmain and wests
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I overheard a conversation recently where a suggestion was made that could possibly, please both sides of the JV.
Instead of playing in the traditional tiger colours, we could adopt the Siberian Tiger colours of white and black and black and white as our home and away jerseys
The club is still called the Tigers, and we still have the Tiger claw stripes.
How does everyone feel about that as a compromise.
 
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