Barry O'Farrell is set to return as Wests Tigers chair alongside multiple ousted independent directors after the joint-venture club's owners bowed to NRL demands.
In the latest bizarre twist following 10 days of Tigers turmoil, the Holman Barnes Group on Thursday agreed to invite back the board members sacked last Monday.
It came after the NRL urged the club's majority owners to reconsider their stance, after head office met with the sacked independent directors earlier this week.
The quartet of former NSW premier O'Farrell, Michelle McDowell, Annabelle Williams and Charlie Viola were on Thursday considering their options, but the majority were expected to return.
The Holman-Barnes Group hold the licence with the NRL for the Wests Tigers, while having a 90 per cent ownership of the club.
The NRL had been considering intervening in the situation for the past week, while making enquiries about the political turmoil.
Instead, head office invited the directors back on Thursday, following agreement from the Holman Barnes Group.
The Tigers board is due to meet again on Monday, when its structure going forward is set to be high on the agenda.
But Holman Barnes are expected to have the power in the new set up.
Previously the four independents had the majority with two Holman Barnes directors and a Balmain representatives alongside them.
There will now be five Holman Barnes Group representatives, joined by one person from Balmain and either three or four independent directors.
Thursday's developments are not expected to have any bearing on CEO Shane Richardson's resignation, with the veteran administrator extremely unlikely to return.
Former Central Coast Mariners boss Shaun Mielekamp is expected to be announced as Richardson's replacement, in an interim role, by the end of the week.
Mielekamp, who joined the Tigers last year and took over as head of football in October, is also the front-runner to take the role on a full-time basis.
Outgoing Manly boss Tony Mestrov and former St George Illawarra CEO Ryan Webb are also considered to be other options.
The Holman Barnes Group had only appointed four independent directors to the Tigers' board in January, following recommendations from an external review.
In the time since, the group has endured its own management changes with Daniel Paton taking over as CEO.
In a now-deleted statement on the Holman Barnes Group website last Monday, the Tigers' owners claimed they had been "left in the dark on commercially sensitive announcements".
O'Farrell responded by labelling the decision by the club's owners a "brain fart,".
The Tigers' political turmoil also shone a light on Benji Marshall as coach, and whether the star duo of Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula will remain at the club.
Marshall's future will now likely be a key factor for the Tigers' administration, with stability in the coaching role likely to stop Luai taking up an option to leave the club.
Bula also has options in his contract to leave at the end of next season, but the Tigers had been working towards a long-term extension for the fullback before the latest drama.
Mielekamp's elevation to interim CEO should help both those causes, given he has been involved in negotiations as the club's head of football.
