100,000 fans will hit streets in protest if Tigers kicked out of merger, says Balmain legend [Video]

Balmain legend Ben Elias says 100,000 fans will hit the streets in protest, as South Sydney supporters did at the turn of the century, if the club’s majority owner attempts to replace the Wests Tigers joint venture with Wests Magpies.

This masthead on Friday reported on the latest drama playing out behind the scenes at the Holman Barnes Group, the majority owner of Wests Tigers, and how at least one director held grave fears for the future of the Tigers-Magpies merger.

Former HBG chairman-turned-director Tony Andreacchio, one of three members currently suspended, wrote to several members via text message: “Their [HBG] misguided ambition is to see the Western Suburbs Magpies replace the Wests Tigers in the NRL competition.”

Elias was stunned talk of a divorce continued to surface after nearly 25 years of marriage between Balmain and …