WESTS Tigers assistant coaches Royce Simmons and Steve Georgallis were shocked at the way the club announced their departure yesterday.
The pair were upset at the implication they had been dumped or sacked via a club statement saying their contracts would not be extended to next season.
Both maintained they had spoken with the club eight weeks ago about moving on, when they realised the club was not "overly keen" to see out their contracts.
Both men had joined the Tigers coaching staff last year to work alongside Tim Sheens.
It was Simmons's second stint with Sheens; his first stint included winning the 2005 grand final.
"Then Tim was put off last year," Simmons said yesterday. "I'd agreed to a two-year contract. I kept after them: 'Are you going to honour the contract?' I started to look for a new job anyway."
Simmons has found one - believed to be back at Penrith where he was a coach and player - while Georgallis has several options.
Both men, along with rehab program trainer Andrew Leeds, were not named in the Wests Tigers statement yesterday. It said the board and management were committed to "the most competitive team on and off the field . . . With this in mind, the club has decided not to extend the contract of three existing members of our support staff for 2014. For avoidance of doubt, these decisions are not performance-based and these individuals have been informed."
The statement went on to say that a coaching review was under way and would be presented to the board at the end of the month.
Simmons said he had spoken with the club's administrators, head coach Mick Potter and the players two months ago to tell them that he was leaving.
"Today a statement comes out saying we've been sacked," Simmons said. "What that all means, I don't know. I feel the statement is wrong and I'm disappointed. I've been there for a long time and was part of the 2005 grand final. I've worked hard for the club. The players are great.
"It was an amicable split and I'm happy for Mick to get his own staff.
"I want to make it clear, though, that I had a two-year deal and the club didn't seem overly keen to keep to that because I was from the Tim era.
"I can understand that so I went and found another job. It's just weird how it came out today."
Georgallis maintained it had been common knowledge at all levels of the club that he and Simmons had chosen to move on.
"That's why I was quite taken aback today that they said they'd done a coaching review. I mean, what review? How would we be part of it if we were already moving on," Georgallis said.
Georgallis did not want to comment on whether Potter should see out his final year in 2014.
Simmons felt he should be given that option.
"I'm a man that's always believed in contracts -- you serve your time out. If you do good enough at the end of your term, then you get another one," he said.
