Hundreds of rugby league fans revolt against the owners of Sydney club West Tigers

Hundreds of fans have rallied against the owners of Sydney rugby league club West Tigers demanding the state government and NRL intervene after years of mismanagement.

Inner West West Mayor Darcy Byrne led the protest at Pratten Park on Saturday after 15 years of failure.

The protest was sparked after two weeks of mayhem at the club that fired all its independent directors from the board, saw chief executive Shane Richardson resign, the NRL reinstate sacked directors and a new five year deal for the coach.

In a statement posted to social media, Mr Byrne said it would make zero difference to the governance of West Tigers if the board was stacked with a majority of appointees from the club’s owner Holman Barnes Group.

“Or to put it another way, Holman Barnes Group seem to be trying to put lipstick on a pig,” he said.

“This is an acknowledgment of how appalling the treatment of sacked independent directors was, reappointing them to a board which they no longer have any control over is meaningless.

“These independent directors would simply be toothless and this would leave West Tigers in the same … dysfunctional state.”

Mr Byrne called on Gaming and Liquor NSW and NRL to appoint administrators to run Holman Barnes and independent directors to manage West Tigers.

Addressing about 1000 protesters at the rally, Mr Byrne announced a new grassroots organisation called West Tigers Unite would be formed to give fans a say in the club.

“We will draw from successful examples around the world of fan associations in different sports that have been set up with this sort of situation occurs, when fans get cut out of decision making, when their voices aren’t listened to,” he said.

“We’re all here because we haven’t been listened to, in fact, when we’ve complained about the fact they’re not listening to the fans they say, ‘No it’s not their club, it’s our club.’

“We simply won’t be in the NRL in a couple of years time if these people are allowed to continue the way they have been.”