Richardson quits Tigers top job, Mestrov frontrunner to replace him

Shane Richardson has quit as Wests Tigers chief executive, citing an inability to continue working with the club’s owners, Holman Barnes Group. The outgoing NRL boss told the 90% ownership group in writing today.

Richardson was less than 18 months into a four-year project to turn around the ever-struggling rugby league club. He had only just come on board last July, but decided his position was untenable after owners HBG pushed for the removal of four independent directors from the Tigers board last week. The issue was reportedly over jersey colours.

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From HBG’s side, there have apparently been frustrations with how Richardson and the Tigers board had been approaching the overhaul; the ownership group has suggested they’d been left out of key internal decisions.

No matter how the split happened, it’s led to Richardson departing — and he’s in line to get a pretty penny for it. The now-ex-chief’s contract was through to July 2028 and was worth around $750,000 a year. The SMH has reported his deal “contained termination clauses that protect a lucrative payout if there are board changes regarding the independent directors.”

Wests Tigers’ general manager of football, Shaun Mielekamp, will take Richardson’s place in the interim.

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Beyond Mielekamp’s interim tenure, reports have suggested Manly’s Tony Mestrov is expected to replace Shane Richardson as the club’s new chief executive. Mestrov ruled at Manly for the last three years, with many in the NRL world suggesting the Sea Eagles went backwards as a powerhouse under his regime despite boasting several high-profile stars.

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Mestrov’s first role will be to end the civil war between Wests and Balmain in the joint venture; whether that’s actually possible remains to be seen, though Mestrov has always been renowned as a ‘no-nonsense’ governor.

The Tigers have yet to make any formal statements regarding any leadership change.

(Update: The club has now made the exit official.)