Tigers chairman walks out of fundraiser after Alan Jones attack

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Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis walked out of Friday’s fundraising luncheon for Daniel Anderson after Alan Jones called for the removal of the club’s board.

Jones, the Balmain coach between 1991 and 1993, was interviewed on stage by Fox League host Yvonne O’Keefe and asked about his views on the club’s current predicament.

The former radio broadcaster called for the removal of the Wests Tigers board in front of a crowd of 400, which included representatives from all 17 clubs who had bought a table to support Anderson after he became a quadriplegic following a body-surfing injury last year.

Sources at the Unite for Daniel Long Lunch function in the Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand Ballroom of Royal Randwick Racecourse said Hagipanetelis left an hour early.

Hagipantelis was sitting with coach Tim Sheens and fellow Wests Tigers directors when Jones criticised the club’s powerbrokers. The club is bottom of the NRL ladder after a 74-0 loss to the Cowboys last weekend. It was compounded by a defeat to Cronulla on Thursday.

Hagipantelis confirmed Jones criticised the club but would not comment about the comments about him and his directors.

Alan Jones and Lee Hagipantelis.Credit: Getty

The Tigers are understood to have spent close to $10,000 to support Anderson and attend the luncheon.

This masthead has approached Jones for comment. He was spotted at several rugby league games this year, sitting alongside Canberra coach Ricky Stuart and former Tigers coach Michael Maguire.

Stuart brought Jones into Canberra’s inner sanctum, at the request of his old coach, for the win that opened Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium in May.

Stuart’s relationship with Jones goes back 38 years, when Stuart attended an under-21s rugby union camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra following his stint with the Australian Schoolboys team.

Josh Papalii, Alan Jones and Jamal Fogarty.

Stuart says he owes his life to Jones. In 1998, Stuart had collapsed on three occasions, including once at training. At the time, the doctors didn’t think it was serious.

Then Stuart’s friend Don Furner, who is now Raiders chief executive, visited him and called Fordham for help. His next phone call was to Jones.

“Turns out I had encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain,” Stuart said.

“If it wasn’t for Alan. Honestly. He organised for Kerry Packer to supply his private jet and get it to Canberra immediately to fly me to St Vincent’s Hospital. I was gone. I was very ill. If I didn’t get to St Vincent’s, I don’t know what the outcome would have been.

“Donny saw the situation and how ill I was. I went to Canberra hospital three times and got sent home three times. My body was failing.”

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