The members of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs football club board have launched legal action against all candidates of the rival ticket.
NRL.com has been told the current board this week served the members of the reform ticket with a concerns notice, adding further spice to a heated campaign leading into the February 11 election.
The current board members, headed by chairman Ray Dib, believe they have been defamed after the rival ticket, led by Lynne Anderson, released a statement to media outlets claiming the board had hired a PR firm to compile a “dirt file” against them.
Dib denied the allegations in both Fairfax and NewsCorp newspapers.
They have returned serve by launching legal action against Anderson and the six other members on her ticket.
Former Canterbury players Steve Price, Paul Dunn and Anderson’s husband, former premiership-winning coach Chris Anderson, headline the reform ticket along with John Ballesty, Nick Dimas and John Khoury.
“I’m disappointed it’s come to this, Dib told NRL.com.
“Especially after Lynne personally assured me that they’ll be playing with a straight bat.”
Anderson told NRL.com while attending a fan forum at Campsie RSL Club on Tuesday night that she and her team would not back down.
"We have also engaged legal advice and we stand by our initial statement," she said.