Wests Tigers boss walks out of NRL function over Alan Jones comment

Suffice the say it's been a difficult season for the Wests Tigers. Marooned on the bottom of the NRL ladder and with star five-eighth Luke Brooks set to leave the club next season, club higher-ups could perhaps be forgiven for hoping the season is over soon.

Wests Tigers boss Lee Hagipantelis could well be among those looking forward to a fresh start in 2024, after reportedly leaving a charity function attended by more than 650 NRL figures early after some pointed comments from Alan Jones. The former Balmain coach was interviewed on stage by Fox Sports host Yvonne Sampson when some pointed comments about the Tigers left Hagipantelis fuming.

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Various players, coaches and club CEOs had gathered at the Randwick Racecourse in Sydney as part of a fundraiser for former New Zealand Warriors and Parramatta Eels coach Daniel Anderson, who was left paraplegic after a surfing accident earlier in 2023. Jones, coach of Balmain from 1991 to 1993, was part of the night's entertainment but his response to Sampson's question about the future of the Tigers.

In his typically blunt fashion, Jones reportedly called on Hagipantelis to step down as chairman, saying the 'fish rots from the head'. The remarks reportedly prompted him to leave the function.

The interviews as part of the function were all off the record, however when News Corp contacted Jones in the aftermath, he said Hagipantelis could simply have spoken to him afterwards. “If Mr Hagipantelis had a problem with what I said he could have come and talked to me,” Jones said.

“You can’t win every game, I concede that, but he’s in charge of what is a mess. If it was a company like BHP they’d be gone.”

Hagipantelis was also contacted for comment, but simply said Jones' comments were 'not worth' a response from him, and spoke for themselves. The Tigers boss was reportedly seated at the table with Tigers coach Tim Sheens.

Wests Tigers picking up the pieces after Luke Brooks departure

Off-contract at the end of 2023, the 28-year-old Brooks rejected the Tigers' offer of a new deal earlier this month after years of speculation that a fresh start could benefit the much-maligned playmaker. Despite links to Newcastle, Canterbury and North Queensland, Manly confirmed Brooks' signing in late June.

Brooks is earning more than $1 million this season on a back-ended Tigers contract. He will partner Queensland State of Origin representative Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves, freeing the recruit up to play the kind of eyes-up, running football that suits him, and which has frequently been lost in his role as the Tigers' game-manager.

"Luke is a quality halfback,'' Manly coach Anthony Seibold said. "He has got a fantastic left-foot kicking game and is a really good runner of the football.

"We feel as though he will add to the spine players we have already got at our club."

The move looks likely to spell the end of Josh Schuster's time as Manly's five-eighth. Off-contract at the end of next year, the highly rated back-rower missed last year's World Cup to trim down and learn the ways of the five-eighth.

But he has struggled for form in his new position, not least due to a run of injuries.

Brooks made his NRL debut as a 19-year-old, earning comparisons to Newcastle great Andrew Johns before he had played a first-grade match. But he has been unable to inspire the Tigers to the finals in his 202-game stint at the club, leaving him on the receiving end of repeated and often intense public and media criticism.

With AAP

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