An enraged Fox Sports, the NRL’s broadcast partner, has come under fire from Shane Richardson, who says the show’s coverage of the Wests Tigers is full of “lies and innuendo”.
Speaking at a members’ gathering on Saturday before the Tigers defeated Gold Coast 18–10 at Leichhardt Oval, the CEO went all out.
The Tigers manager made hints in a five-minute speech that teenage five-eighth Lachlan Galvin was being used by his manager as leverage to leave the team.
However, he reserved his sharpest criticism for the way that the Tigers were covered by Fox Sports’ flagship NRL360 show and its associated publications.
“Nobody is going to knock us off course because of nine losses or because of b******t in the paper,” Richardson stated.
“Or the b******t on 360, nothing makes a difference to the way we think in planning for this club to be great again.
“When you get 360 deciding how to run your club, or 360 deciding how you recruit or 360 or the (Daily) Telegraph deciding how your club goes … that’s why we’ve won two wooden spoons (in a row).”
Richardson savaged NRL360 for criticising Danny Stapleton, a Tigers director who chairs the club’s recruitment committee.
Tigers boss Richardson has spent the last few weeks attempting to reshape the club’s roster by offloading players to rival NRL clubs and Super League sides.
“I’ve come from the bottom with South Sydney, Cronulla, Hull FC in England and here, but I’ve never seen the (level of) vitriol delivered to us through Fox,” Richardson said.
“It’s based on absolute lies and innuendo.
“What they did last week with Danny Stapleton was nothing short of disgraceful, a terrible way of painting somebody who is defenceless.”
Richardson also reflected on the conjecture surrounding 18-year-old Galvin, who this week reaffirmed his commitment to the Tigers after his manager reportedly issued the club with multiple release requests.
The Tigers chief executive said he wanted the club’s hard-line stance over the teen to be a line in the sand.
“This club, for too long, has been driven by the press and managers – they decide who your coach and who your recruiter is – and it stopped this week,” Richardson said.
“Lachlan Galvin had no wish or want to leave this club, his parents are steeped in the culture of the Tigers.
“I can assure you once we got to the core of it all, there was no question mark about where Lachlan Galvin wants to play – and that’s here.”
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