Former recruitment guru Scott Fulton,who clashed with Marshall over several recruitment targets,waslet go by Richardson.

“Barry and I have started talks,” Richardson said. “I’m keen to stay on. Hopefully,we can work something out in the next little period,but we’ve only just started talking. If they’re keen,I’m keen,so we’ll see what happens.”

Richardson said hedisclosed pre-existing conflicts of interest to the Tigers board before he started the chief executive role after the club signed Queensland Cup star Solomona Faataape,who is managed by Rich Digital,the consultancy firm in which he is a co-founder and shareholder.

The push for Richardson to become the club’s long-term chief comes as the Tigers prepare to unveil a strategic plan for the south-west Sydney corridor,stretching through to the Macarthur region,as they placerenewed focus on junior development.

He’s also put the club on notice about membership numbers,claiming they had only 7000 paying members for 2024 despite trumpeting more than 20,000 last year. Almost half of that figure was from junior rugby league players with no financial contribution to the Tigers.

The club has collected the wooden spoon in consecutive years and is many bookmakers’ favourite to finish this season with the most losses after aheavy trial defeat to the Dragons.

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