Wests Tigers' decision to sign Scott Fulton as the club's head of recruitment without consulting Tim Sheens or Benji Marhsall, has been defended by chairman Lee Hagipantelis.As the club basks in the glory of their first NRL win since round 20 last season, the club's acquisition of Bob Fulton's son, a long-time talent scout at Manly, has raised eyebrows internally according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.The new addition means, Warren McDonnell, the club's recruitment manager will now move onto a junior pathways role leaving NRL recruitment to Fulton.The decision came as a surprise to Sheens, who called for McDonell's appointment as a prerequisite for him accepting the job as the Tigers' director of rugby league in 2021.The report suggests the pursuit of Fulton came after the club missed out on signing Parramatta's Mitchell Moses after a widely publicised pursuit of the halfback.McDonnell had asked to negotiate on his own with Moses' agent Isaac Moses given his relationship with the player-manager and his preference to keep discussions confidential.The Tigers board granted McDonnell his request but were disappointed with the outcome of the negotiations and felt Moses had used the Tigers as leverage to increase his asking price with the Eels."The decision was made in the best interest of the Wests Tigers," Hagipantelis said. "An opportunity presented itself to the board. The board dealt with it quickly, undertaking all necessary due diligence. There was of course a great deal of commercial sensitivity given the gentleman involved was employed by another club, and we were very respectful of that."The decision was taken to deal with the matter at board level with our CEO. We acted promptly and in the best interest of the club. This is another resource which we've added to our football department and we're very excited to welcome Scott to the Wests Tigers."The report claims Sheens was displeased by Fulton's appointment, but Hagipanetlis said he did not foresee problems with the move."I do not anticipate there will be any concerns or issues with what is a wonderful addition to our football department despite the efforts of some to suggest that there may be," Hagipantelis said.
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