It's a snub that has upset Balmain officials but it is nothing compared to the pain that will be felt by the foundation club if they can't find between $3.6m and $5m in the next 18 months.

The NRL is picking up the slack to support Wests Tigers while Balmain cannot, and they expect their money back. A deadline of March 31, 2016, has been set for Balmain's debt to be settled with League Central. If they are unable to find the money, they will be forced to sell their shareholding in the NRL club within six months, or it will be bought by Wests.

Glenn, the Balmain chairman, was scathing of the NRL ultimatum and their absence on the new board, even claiming Balmain figures were pressed under duress into agreeing to an arrangement that looks certain to end their 106-year involvement in elite rugby league.

"We were threatened with losses of our houses and assets during the negotiations," Glenn said. "We are very upset about it. We believe it was unjust and unreasonable. We went into the negotiations in good faith and we feel we were let down, to say the very least.

"We had been able to meet our financial obligations right up until recently when things became much tighter for us, but that was the moment when we were most vulnerable ... Unfortunately the NRL, which has been extremely successful financially and able to help out the Titans, Newcastle and St George Illawarra, seemingly can't help us out because we have the misfortune to be aligned with a very cashed-up outfit in Wests. "If we can't pay back that form of loan, that's it for us. We're a very significant foundation club with a great history and it would be a tragedy if that were allowed to occur. We really didn't expect to be run over with a steamroller. We made two mistakes: we were poor, and we were naive and trusting of the assurances we received."