WESTERN FORCE Super 14 board member Russel Perry has been personally caught up in the Tim Johnston Firepower mess, investing $25,000 in the besieged company.

Perry said he declared his interest to the board in Firepower, which at the time was a major sponsor to the Force and several of their high-profile players. Firepower has since walked away from its sponsorship, owing the Force and their players Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Ryan Cross and Cameron Shepherd nearly $1 million. The businessman who joined Johnston early last year, mining executive Ross Graham, appears to have been paying many of the Firepower bills, including some player obligations. But on Thursday Graham declared he was seeking to recover debts outstanding to Firepower Group. He said he had lent or invested more than $20 million to Firepower in the past 18 months.

Perry said his interest in Firepower was declared to the Force board as soon as he took it up as part of a self-managed personal superannuation fund.

"The board's procedures are very clear in declaring such interests as part of the agenda of every meeting and have been adhered to," Perry said. " The procedures are designed to guarantee no conflict of interest occurs."

Perry said he was unaware of any other board members being shareholders of Firepower. He was also unaware of any other board members or officials having been promised shares in the company. Perry has strong business links in the West, being a former media adviser to the Burke government, a manager of corporate services of Alan Bond's company Bond Media, a former member of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and a personal assistant to the late Robert Holmes a Court. Holmes a Court's son, Peter, was also linked to Firepower through the company's major sponsorship of the South Sydney Rabbitohs - owned by Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe - for a year.

Perry said his Firepower investment had been a disappointment.

"In the relatively small share portfolio in our super fund, some investments are doing better than others, and some are not - sometimes you have to take a long view and hope," he said.

The Firepower company that was paying the Force players, Firepower Operations, is being wound up in the Federal Court following a petition by former Firepower lawyers Johnson Winter & Slattery, who are owed nearly $70,000.

Force coach John Mitchell was also paid by Firepower, but he terminated the $100,000 sponsorship last August. Perry said it was a focus of the board to replace the third-party player deals.