How have the Tigers and Sharks responded?

The Tigers’ response has been one of “shock”, with the club stating they will be “vigorously defending this”.The Tigers said they were “extremely disappointed in the process”, with the club slamming the NRL over the “wrongful attack on the integrity of the club’s CEO”.“The reason the ambassadorship was offered in November 2015 is that then new CEO Justin Pascoe felt that the club had disrespected Robbie and this was a way to show him the respect that Justin felt he deserved as a life member and club legend due to the overwhelming support Robbie had at the time from members and fans,” the club said in a statement.“Most importantly Wests Tigers derive absolutely no advantage from this arrangement. It is not tied in any way to Robbie’s playing contract.” As for Cronulla, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said the Sharks’ chairman Dino Mezzatesta and CEO Barry Russell
visited League Central on Wednesday where they were handed the formal breach notices.“They’re disappointed and clearly they’ve got to prepare for a season in 2019,” Greenberg said.“We had a Commission meeting yesterday which is why we’re making these decisions today. We’re trying to make them in a time frame to allow clubs to prepare for 2019.“We understand impact this has on fans, clubs and people’s livelihoods and careers.” The Sharks said they would appeal the fine, but have left Shane Flanagan’s appeal up to the coach himself.“The Sharks have offered immediate wellbeing support to Shane and his family and will continue to do so,” the club said.Greenberg said he offered Flanagan the chance to come in and meet face-to-face, but he declined.Greenberg also said he spoke to Flanagan on the phone which was “a short conversation”.Whether Flanagan would be able to coach in the NRL again, Greenberg said the governing body would “make that decision with all the information in front of us” after the coach’s response.