A war of words has erupted between Wests Tigers Chairman Lee Hagipantelis and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Webster.
Webster published an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday titled, Why the Wests Tigers need to stop blaming coach Michael Maguire, where he focused on the supposed shortcomings of the club’s board including Hagipantelis.
The article criticised the club’s decision making from the top and gave possible reasons as to why the Tigers find themselves with a 1-6 record after seven rounds.
In response to the piece, Hagipantelis joined Andrew Voss on SEN 1170 Breakfast where he described the article as “outrageous”.
“I can direct your attention and your listeners attention to an article in the (Sydney Morning) Herald yesterday,” Hagipantelis said.
“It was outrageous the personal vitriol directed to me and to the CEO.
“As I said, if we as a club make a decision and you disagree with that decision, then by all means let us know, send us an email or post a tweet or whatever you want to do.
“But do not attack an individual or their motives, or drive any particular agendas as such.”
Following Hagipantelis’ words, Webster joined Matt White on SEN 1170 Mornings to defend his article.
“Talk about a glass-jaw, ‘Outrageous personal vitriol’, all I did to the story was turn the spotlight onto the people that run the club,” Webster explained.
“When you’re 1-6 and haven’t made the finals since 2011, Lee – what do you expect?
“Always at the Wests Tigers they blame the coach.
“I just legitimately asked questions about the Chairman and Chief Executive, who do not help by going public with so much stuff and I also questioned the club at the top end about how many leaks seem to come out.
“Particularly in the last couple of weeks about the so called ‘get-out clause’, that if they want to sack Michael Maguire they can do so for not much money.
“In reality it’s just a normal termination clause which includes a one-year payout, which is standard in most coach contracts.
“The fact that it’s been leaked as if the club’s been really smart in extending Michael Maguire, just shows you how leaky that club is.
“All I was doing … was asking some valid questions about people who run the joint, who are the ones that are responsible for signing the coach and signing off on the contracts that are signed.
“If you think you’re doing a good job, just have a look at where you are on the ladder.”
Listen to the full chat with Webster below.
You can also listen to Hagipantelis’ chat with Vossy here.