Cloud over Longmuir as boardroom split threatens to tear Tigers apart Glenn Jackson | April 7, 2009
FEARS have been raised that Wests Tigers are headed down a path well-trodden by Manly in recent months, as ructions in the front office, at the centre of which is their chief executive Scott Longmuir, threaten to hurt the club off the field.
Relations between Longmuir and coach Tim Sheens, as well as star halfback Benji Marshall and other members of the club's football department, are believed to be strained, with the CEO fighting to save his job even though he has the support of the club chairman.
The Herald understands an extraordinary board meeting is likely be held within days, at which Longmuir could be sacked from the post he secured last year. Longmuir is believed to be barely on speaking terms with Sheens after the pair fell out over the club boss's plans for the football department.
The infighting was last night described by Balmain legend and former Wests Tigers director Ben Elias as like "rust in a car".
Longmuir last year took over from long-time chief executive Steve Noyce, who had a falling-out with board member Kevin Hammond, the current chairman, who is from the Western Suburbs side of the merger. Chairmanship of the merged club switches from Balmain to Wests representatives yearly.
Longmuir is believed to have aligned himself with Hammond, and there is now believed to be a clear split on the board, which still has Balmain and Wests alliances, over the chief executive's future.
The fact that the relationship between Longmuir and the coach and some players has become strained will make it difficult for the boss to keep his job, although Hammond last night maintained Longmuir's position was secure, saying "his track record speaks for itself".
"In any organisation or business where you have substantial change, and we have a new CEO in Scott
he'll have a different way of dealing with things," Hammond said. "That sort of thing can create issues and they need to be worked through, but there's no great catastrophe.
"He did a fantastic job as marketing manager and that's why he was given the job as CEO. Everything's going fine. Membership is up, we've got one of the most sound and stable sponsorship bases in the NRL. We've won two out of four, and the players and coaches are working hard to make sure things are going as well as they can be. The club is heading in the right direction."
Asked about the relationship between Longmuir and Sheens, Hammond said: "There's been some discussions between Tim and Scott about the direction of the business, and suggestions about how Scott wants to take the business forward."
Hammond did not deny the club planned an extraordinary general meeting, however he said if it eventuated it would be used to discuss "a couple of issues".
"It's nothing out of the ordinary," he said.
Longmuir did not wish to comment last night. The boardroom drama at the club has some striking similarities to Manly's recent problems, at the centre of which was bickering between the co-owners Max Delmege and Scott Penn. There, chief executive Grant Mayer, who initially tendered his resignation but whose job now appears secure, had a close working relationship with Penn, who did not have the boardroom numbers.
Longmuir is also believed to have asked Sheens to provide him with a report following each game detailing key performance indicators. Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler was similarly asked to provide KPIs to management, even though his side won the premiership last season.
The Tigers have won two matches from four so far this season, but their 42-22 loss to Penrith last Saturday night resulted in Sheens locking members of his coaching staff and Longmuir out of the team dressing room for 15 minutes.
Elias said he feared the problems would affect the team's performances on the field.
"I would be very very surprised if it doesn't quickly get sorted," Elias said. "It's like rust in a car. You want to cut the rust out before it spreads."
