Tigers boss shows claws
WESTS Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe says the club will be imposing a deadline on its ‘‘big four’’ stars to re-sign with the club, declaring ‘‘we won’t be held to ransom by anyone’’.
The Tigers have sacked coach Jason Taylor just three weeks into the season, the latest drama following the Tim Simona scandal and the controversial departure of fan favourite Robbie Farah last year.
Taylor’s sacking will have implications on the futures of the club’s four best players, the offcontract quartet of Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco, Luke Brooks and Aaron Woods. Those players are likely to wait for the appointment of a new head coach before deciding whether to remain at Concord or continue their careers elsewhere.
In a wide-ranging interview, Pascoe revealed the formulation of a ‘‘plan B’’ should the quartet depart, the reasons for punting Taylor so early in the season and why the club wouldn’t have changed its decision to release Farah from his contract a year early.
The Tigers tabled contract extensions for Brooks, Tedesco, Moses and Woods before the start of the season. But uncertainty over Taylor’s tenure has been one of the reasons they remain unsigned.
Taylor has now been sacked and his replacement could be in place within a fortnight, giving all parties clarity on the issue. Yet if the Tigers’ young stars continue to deliberate, the club will play hard ball and withdraw the offers while there are alternative options still on the open market.
‘‘It’s always club first,’’ Pascoe said. ‘‘We’re mindful of the time frame, as any club would be. We have to make sure we come to an agreement with their management at some stage sooner rather than later that we’re either all here or not. We haven’t discussed a time frame or timeline with their management at this stage. But it’s recognised that we will have to put some time frames around it.
‘‘It’s our responsibility to have a plan B, it’s as simple as that. And we’ve got plan Bs in place.’’
Pascoe stressed the preference was to ensure the big four remained Tigers for life.
‘‘Internally, we don’t reference them as the ‘big four’ – they are four players of a top 25,’’ he said.
‘‘I couldn’t be more complimen- tary of each of those four players. They are terrific young men, they are highly talented and we value them and would obviously love them to stay at this club. We’re doing everything in our power to make sure that happens.’’
Pascoe said the new coach would have input on the future of the quartet, should they not re-sign before his arrival.
‘‘The coach needs to have an involvement in the retention and recruitment of players,’’ he said. ‘‘It won’t change in this instance either.’’
There have been concerns that player manager Isaac Moses wields too much influence at Wests Tigers. Moses manages the four young stars, interim coach Andrew Webster and a prospective head coach in Cowboys assistant Todd Payten. Moses is also close friends with Joe Wehbe, a mentor to the quartet who was sounded out about a permanent position on the Tigers staff.
Pascoe said no individual would be allowed to have undue influence over the club.
‘‘I and the board won’t allow this club to be held to ransom by anyone,’’ Pascoe said.
‘‘We are a strong club and our job is to build a winning culture for our supporters and players and to create that environment.
‘‘We won’t be held to ransom by anyone. From our perspective, we are having positive discussions with their management.
‘‘The appointment of the coach is a decision we made as a club. If the players and management want to wait until a coach is appointed, that’s their decision.’’
The Tigers have made the finals just three times in 16 years, have churned through their third coach in five years and are still reeling from the Farah and Simona scandals. However, Pascoe is bullish about the club’s aim of becoming the No.1 sporting franchise in Australian sport.
‘‘Our intention is to play finals football this year, that’s why we GETTY IMAGES continue to make the hard decisions,’’ he said. ‘‘Our intention is to play finals football every single year. This is a really unified board and we have a clear vision around making sure this becomes the best sporting organisation in Australia.
‘‘We’re not going to deviate from that vision. We’ve improved commercially over the past two years, we have record membership levels and our apparel value is the highest it’s ever been.’’
The Tigers board, chair Marina Go and Pascoe himself have come under fire for Taylor’s sacking and their handling of player contract negotiations.
‘‘People who aren’t within the organisation will have opinions on the decisions we’re making,’’ Pascoe said. ‘‘You need a level of resilience in this job and we are very comfortable that what we’re doing internally is the right thing.’’
‘ We won’t be held to ransom by anyone. From our perspective, we are having positive discussions with their management. ’ TIGERS CEO