The Wests Tigers are once again in damage control with reports surfacing that incoming coach Benji Marshall and head of recruitment Scott Fulton were invited to a meeting to settle their differences.
Fulton was appointed in the role by the Tigers board without the knowledge of coaches Tim Sheens or Marshall back in May. Since that appointment, the trio have clashed over creative differences surrounding the club’s roster.
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio compared the internal unrest at the Tigers to a cheesy soap opera and said it's frustrating that the club continues to struggle.
“It’s like Days Of Our Lives,” Riccio said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“There is a crisis meeting (on Monday) between Benji Marshall and Scott Fulton (which) is a by-product of head management recruiting Fulton without involving Marshall or Sheens originally.
“You need to understand how closely the head of recruitment works with the head coach. They have to speak to each other at least 25 times a day.
“To appoint someone so influential to your club without consulting your coach is incredible.
“There is also the potential arrival of (former Gold Coast Titans coach) Justin Holbrook to the Tigers which again, is without real knowledge from Benji Marshall.
“Not everyone is on the same page at the Tigers which is a massive, massive problem.”
After succumbing to their sixth straight loss in Round 20, the Tigers once again find themselves on the bottom of the ladder.
After claiming their first wooden spoon in 2022 and failing to make finals since 2011, Riccio said the time for change in the front office must start now and that included CEO Justin Pascoe and Chairman Lee Hagipantelis.
“They are a leaky club and always have been,” Riccio continued.
“I’m at my wits end trying to explain this scenario again at the Wests Tigers.
"If they hadn't learnt during the Michael Maguire period about how important it was that the club needed to be on the same page, which I thought was headed in the right direction under Tim Sheens.
“The unity just isn’t there and it’s a massive problem and it doesn’t change until there’s changes from one of those four guys (Hagipantelis, Pascoe, Sheens and Marshall).
“A shake-up has to happen because it proves they can’t get off (the bottom of the ladder).”
The Tigers travel to Wollongong on Thursday night against the 16th placed St George Illawarra Dragons.