Wests Tigers cop crushing new Leichhardt Oval blow after $300 million swipe at Panthers

The Wests Tigers could be playing their final season at Leichhardt Oval after the NSW government refused their request to fund an upgrade. On Monday, Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson called on the state government to redirect a 10 per cent slice of funding allocated to Penrith Stadium's $309 million redevelopment to save the Tigers' spiritual home.

But Chris Minns on Tuesday said there was no money in the budget to give Leichhardt Oval a face-lift. "I appreciate that (the Tigers) have got to make a decision about their club and where they play their home games," Minns said.

"But we, as everybody knows, have got $180 billion worth of debt in NSW... I don't have spare dollars at the moment to pump into Leichhardt Oval, particularly as the Tigers' games are split between those two home grounds (Campbelltown and Leichhardt).

"My real fear is that we put money into Leichhardt and the week afterwards they say now we need the money for Campbelltown. These things have got to be finely balanced and I'd love to have the spare revenue to pump into a suburban stadium at the moment, but I don't have it."

Minns' comments come after Richardson along with West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne went on the offensive earlier this week, in an attempt to secure funding the ground so desperately needs. Richardson said if Leichhardt Oval isn't upgraded in the next three months, the team will not play at the venue next year.

Wests Tigers instigate stadium war with Penrith Panthers

In a desperate bid to secure money for the necessary upgrades, Richardson began a stadium war with Penrith, calling for the "decayed" ground to receive some of the $300 million plus reserved for the upgrade to the Panthers stadium. Penrith are set to start renovations on their home ground at the end of the 2024 season, with the club unable to play any games there in 2025.

And Byrne told reporters on Monday that the Panthers shouldn't be getting all the upgrades, while Leichhardt is neglected and left to be torn down. "Leichhardt Oval hasn’t received any funding from the state government since Benji Marshall was in nappies," Byrne said.

"We are the only suburban ground, alongside Campbelltown, that is yet to receive any funding at all … and there’s no good reason. There’s no good reason Penrith’s stadium should have gold-plated urinals, while famous Leichhardt Oval is forced to close through neglect."

The West Council Mayor said the "Eighth Wonder of the World" - which has hosted A-League, NRL and acted as a training venue at last year's Women's World Cup - is in desperate need of renovating. As it stands the ground is unable to host men's and women's double-headers in the NRL because there are insufficient change rooms.

There are also often long queues for refreshments, while corporate and media facilities are lagging behind other venues across Sydney. The Tigers currently split their games equally between Campbelltown and Leichhardt, where they opened their home season on Saturday and racked up an incredible 32-6 win over Cronulla in front of a rowdy 15,990 spectators.

But Richardson says unfortunately if Leichhardt Oval isn't upgraded in the next 90 days he will be left with little choice but to vacate the venue altogether. While admitting that he loves the charm of a "warm beer and a cold pie" at the iconic venue, he says as it stands it just simply isn't up to scratch. "We'll be making that decision over the next 60 to 90 days," he said. "I've told our different stakeholders, but we'll make a decision that is best for the club. It's a great rugby league ground, but it's decayed."

Shane Richardson doesn't know why Panthers Stadium needs that much money

Despite acknowledging that his calls for a slice of Penrith's funding would not go down well at the foot of the mountain, Richardson questioned why the Panthers stadium needed more than $300 million in renovations. "They had a Liberal Party member (Stuart Ayres) who managed to get it all for them," Richardson said on Monday.

"Good luck to them. I was CEO at Penrith and it's great for them, but it's not a bad stadium as it is … $300 million? I'm looking forward to the gold taps on the thing."

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The Tigers boss has a track record of changing stadiums if he feels the club isn't getting a good deal. When Richardson was in charge of Souths he moved the club away from the Sydney Football Stadium to Homebush, for what he described at the time as a 'better deal'.

And while he said he won't be making any decision about where the Tigers play from next year prematurely, he did say at the end of the day they will play where it makes the most sense. "I don't make decisions lightly," Richardson said.

"We'll sum it all up and get to the bottom line. It's not a threat, it's a reality of our business plan of the club we want to be, and that's a top-four club."

with AAP