Steelers great Dorahy 'collateral damage' in Wests Tigers' board overhaul

Dorahy's comments to the Mercury on Tuesday afternoon came as news filtered through the entire Tigers board had been dismissed, effective immediately, with chief executive Justin Pascoe resigning from the club.

Barry O'Farrell is the interim chairman, with Shane Richardson to become interim chief executive.

The news the Tigers board had been dismissed came as a surprise to Dorahy, who joined the board in April this year after he was asked to by Simon Cook, the CEO of the Holman Barnes Group.

Interestingly it was the Holman Barnes Group, the controlling faction on the Tigers board, which ordered an independent review into the governance of the club and a restructure, which was officially endorsed by the club's shareholders in a meeting on Monday night.

Dorahy, a Tigers supporter growing up before kicking off his NRL career at the Wests Magpies, said the latest developments were 'unbelievable'.

"I was brought in to take the place of Simon Cook, the CEO of the Holman Barnes Group with a view to hopefully creating some calm amongst the group," the now Wollongong City councillor said.

"I was there for six months or so, I hardly had got my feet under the table and was still identifying different aspects of the business that were requiring change.......I'm just collateral damage, I guess."

Dorahy said he didn't know what to expect when he was approached to join the Tigers board.

"I had a phone call on a Tuesday from Simon Cook, who was on the board, to see if I'd be interested in taking a position on the board, to replace him because he thought there was a conflict of interest him being on the board and being the CEO of the major owner/sponsor," he said.

"And I said, 'let me have a think about it' because in my wildest dreams, one, I would never have made the approach, and two, I would have never thought I'd have been approached.

"But I was, and I spoke to my wife about it and we thought, how much time do I have because I've got a big job as a sales director in Australia/New Zealand for a US company. And of course on council.

"But I had been on the board of Wests Illawarra for 20 years so I knew what boards were all about, so ultimately I called Simon back and said I would do it.

"That was on a Tuesday, on the Thursday I was appointed and on the Saturday was a game against Manly at Campbelltown, which they could have and should have won, but they just didn't know how to finish a game off.

"Then on the Monday was the first board meeting I went to."

Dorahy, or 'Joe Cool" as he was known during his playing days which saw him play 239 games all up for Wests, Manly, Illawarra Steelers and North Sydney from 1974-89 as well as over 100 games in England with Hull and Halifax, conceded there were a number of issues the Tigers had to address to get back to their glory days.

'The issues at the Tigers remind me of when the Super League was on with what happened in Perth," he said.

"I cherished the opportunity to have been involved with West Tigers because I was a Tigers supporter growing up, and then of course I went to Wests Magpies to play then ultimately come back home to the Illawarra.

"Look, there were things that needed changing, absolutely. The club had to make changes and they've been doing that and I'm really hopeful that they'll have a much better year in 24."

In a statement, the Wests Magpies and the Balmain Tigers said they fully support the refresh aimed at delivering long-term success for the club.

A new interim Board has been appointed to oversee the implementation of the review recommendations.

The Board has been reduced from seven members to four members for the interim phase.

It comprises Barry O'Farrell (Chairman), and a representative of each of the three Wests Tigers shareholders - David Gilbert (Holman Barnes Group), Danny Stapleton (Balmain Tigers Chairman) and a nomination from the Wests Magpies.

The changes are subject to legal approvals.