When Hagipantelis returned to Bryden’s Lawyers head office in Liverpool after the Tigers corporate luncheon,he received a phone call from Balmain director Danny Stapleton and Wests Ashfield director Tony Andreacchio.

It was relayed to him that at a meeting the night before,the club’s shareholders had agreed to the recommendations put forward in an independent review into the club’s governance carried out by former NRL chief financial officer Tony Crawford and businessman Gary Barnier. The board was dismissed. Hagipantelis,whose firm sponsors the Tigers to the tune of $1 million a season,was gone.

The news of the upheaval at the club has startled rookie coach Marshall,who has deals worth over $1.1 million a season on the table to Jarome Luai and Addin Fonua-Blake,two of the NRL’s highest-profile free agents.

Those close to Marshall,who requested anonymity in order to speak freely,have told theHerald that he has raised concerns about the predicament of the club,with Hagipantelis also confirming that he had spoken to Marshall following his removal from the board.

“They have in my view created great harm to that club,and in particular that football department,and even more particular,Benji,” Hagipantelis said.

“They have removed from Benji his support system which primarily involved Justin. They have worked together extraordinarily hard for months to put together a football department,coaching structure and roster that will turn things around for the club.

“I know they’ve been working together really hard on some recruitment deals involving some very high-profile players. There’s no doubt this would jeopardise that.

“It would be completely ignorant for anyone to suggest that the major disruption to the organisational structure of the club will not impact on recruitment and retention. I have already been inundated by calls from player managers expressing grave concern with what has occurred.”

By the time Hagipantelis got off the phone to Stapleton and Andreacchio,an email had been sent to shareholders informing the club’s key figures that Pascoe had resigned.

The CEO,unbeknown to many of his staff members working at the $70m centre of excellence that will be the legacy of his much-maligned tenure,quietly made his way out the exit doors for the last time.

Pascoe’s successor,former South Sydney CEO Shane Richardson,was already lined up to take over his position and was preparing to front the media on Wednesday.

Crawford,who developed a close relationship with Richardson from their time working together at the NRL,recommended Richardson as the interim chief executive for the next six months.

A recommendation was also made to appoint former Wests Tigers chairman Barry O’Farrell as Hagipantelis’ replacement on a new four-man board for the next six months.

The same figures at Balmain who had privately expressed their dismay with the club’s major shareholder,the Holman Barnes Group,over their conduct in embarking on the review had now backed the recommendations that were being presented to them.

The HBG members on the Wests Tigers board were willing to remove themselves and needed the support of the Balmain and Western Suburbs sides of the joint venture to follow through on the recommendations.

That support was given on Monday night with Stapleton retaining his position on a new-look board as the elected Balmain-appointed director.

All of the above is mere detail to many of the Tigers fans now rejoicing in the departure of the board that has overseen one of the most tumultuous periods in NRL history.

For months,even years,the fans have pleaded with banners,protests and petitions begging for the club’s key figures to stop what they branded the “Pascoe Fiasco”. On Tuesday,they got their wish,and then some.