Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[batboy]

The club‘s neglect of the south-west and its effect on the Wests Tigers is perfectly illustrated by Magpie Memoir Magazine (January edition).

“Just to highlight how disillusioned the south-west has become with the Wests Tigers - of the first seventy five players to debut for the club, 12 came through the Magpie juniors. Yet of the most recent seventy five players to debut for the club, none are from the south-west.”

How many players in that time have debuted for other clubs?

 

[Elderslie_Tiger]

Some positive comments from Paul Kent finally.
They’re not getting tempted into offering another $100,000,” Kent said.

“I love that the Tigers have actually found the discipline to actually start properly evaluating players and say: ‘This is what we think he’s worth and this is where we sit’. They will negotiate up to that cut-off and that’s it.”

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal]

I didn't say he was from Balmain. I think everyone knows very well that Nofo is from the Magpies system. What I said "all-Tigers junior", and that encompasses both feeder districts. Adam Doueihi is as equally an all-Wests junior, if that's the word you choose.

Also I didn't say local pride means nothing. I said that the concept of a kid aspiring to play for the "local first grade side" is mostly dead. I definitely agree to your point that parochialism can be significant, and arguably more so in country towns, i.e. local derbies.

But I believe that pride in the local district, if it exists to some degree, is almost entirely independent of specific loyalty to a first-grade club for a boy in his teenage years. They will be loyal to whomever pays them well and offers opportunity and an enjoyable workplace condition.

Just to correct you on Jacob Liddle though.
He’s not a Terrigal Sharks junior, he’s a Wyong Roo.
And his dad John played in the centre’s for the mighty Gosford Townies, back in the day. 👍

 

[jadtiger]

Some positive comments from Paul Kent finally.
They’re not getting tempted into offering another $100,000,” Kent said.

“I love that the Tigers have actually found the discipline to actually start properly evaluating players and say: ‘This is what we think he’s worth and this is where we sit’. They will negotiate up to that cut-off and that’s it.”

I find Kent to be far more balanced in his views than just about any other "journalist" in murdochs media outlets.I certainly don't always agree with him but he seems to carry far less bias than the other flogs.

 

[batboy]

You might be right, but I find that terribly sad.

with regards Jordan Miller, I get that money is the prime reason he would head to Redcliffe. And good luck to him if this story is correct, it’s a tremendous opportunity for the kid. But my overriding point was that we don’t have a brotherhood type vibe amongst our juniors like say Penrith do with their Mt Druitt lads. I mean blokes are bashing each other up out west based solely on their postcodes so a sense of place is still important To some. And the Wests Tigers have absolutely no clear allegiance to any one place. They are definitely not rooted in the Macarthur region. In fact after years of neglect, the club is attempting to use the area as a giant breeding ground, yet heads home to the sanctity of the inner west every night. In many ways it’s like what the Sydney Roosters are doing with the Central Coast. They throw some money in, run a few coaching clinics and then expect first pick of any future star to emerge.

Penrith have existed for 20 more years in that area than Wests have existed in Sydneys South West.... And this "Brotherhood" You're admiring has existed for 6 (Including Pre NRL).

Never changes with you blokes - Lets all sit on our hands and blame the rest of the world the South West of Sydney is filling up with cultural diversity that isn't necessarily aligned with Rugby League....
Wests Tigers do plenty there - Play as many games there as the area will accommodate...
It's never enough.

 

[batboy]

Simple.
Fully embrace the south-west.

There's no sponsorship money out there for NRL - And we don't make enough money on the games out there to play all of them out there.

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal]

Like I said, I don't believe "local connections" to first-grade clubs are common any more. That's an out-dated concept for a modern teenager.

It's got nothing to do with specific Tigers neglect (or not - let's not open up an argument about whether or not Tigers are actually neglecting the area).

It's very easy to prove this just by a quick survey of clubs.

Who is the Bulldog's most prominent current player? Well he's from Dubbo via Penrith. Who is the Roosters #1 player? He's a Magpies junior. Melbourne's Top 3 players, no matter how you dice it, are not from Melbourne. Titan's biggest-name signings are from Brisbane (Fifita) and Orange (Fa'asuamaleaui).

Tiger's best player is Stefano (from Parramatta) and the guy currently turning everything around (Hastings) is from Wollongong. You would have a point if you identified Doueihi as Tigers' best - an actual local junior.

Shark's star imports in 2022 are from Central Coast (Hynes) and Bega (Finucane). The Dragon's #1 paid player is from Queensland. Warrior's dynamic young fullback is also from Queensland. So is the Raiders' #1 representative prop. Jack Wighton is from Orange. Cody Walker was born in Nowra and went to school in QLD. Payne Haas is from NSW and the Broncos are experiencing a resurgence under a former Rabbitoh halfback. The Knights star fullback is a Kiwi via Townsville. The Eels halfback is a Balmain junior and their fullback is a Manly junior. The Cowboys million-dollar lock is a Tongan/Kiwi.

I can only really think about 2 current examples of truly localised players / groups. First is Manly and the Turbo brothers - legitimate family local dynasty. Though, I would argue if any other club picked up Tom and Jake as a young pair, they would be equally as wedded to that club.

Second example is Penrith. You can fairly argue that they are a very local very tribal group. However in my opinion that is somewhat separate from a specific loyalty to the Panthers and arguably unique amongst NRL clubs. My opinion is also that guys like Nathan Cleary are more loyal to their mates before the club, and Penrith have the fortune of having a boom group of juniors all presenting and playing together at the same time, not being picked apart by other clubs.

Even still - Nathan Cleary began playing rugby league in New Zealand at the age of 13 and might not still be at the club if Panthers didn't bring his Dad back. Their star backrower is a Fijian brought into the NRL via North Queensland. Their #1 prop is a Kiwi. Their representative lock is from Dubbo and the son of a former Tigers/Bears player. Api Koroisau is a Berala Bear originally signed by the Rabbits.

I’ve very much got the Penrith model in mind.

You say, they‘re loyal to their mates, but I see that as one and the same thing.

As I posted elsewhere, young blokes are banding together in postcode gangs and beating other postcodes up, so a sense of place and mateship (however misguided) is still a thing amongst teens.

Sure, I’m probably a dinosaur, but I reckon if footy clubs are built on nothing more than a cuddly kiddies toy emblem. It becomes horribly shallow. Franchise vs Franchise. Roll up roll up, the big top is in town. Come and see these amazing athletes and cheer yourselves hoarse ... but be quick, because when the music stops they‘re likely to all swap jerseys and play for a rival franchise.

I have to believe there remains just a semblance of the tribal game I grew up with. When playing for your district and it’s people actually meant something. 🤔

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal]

Never changes with you blokes - Lets all sit on our hands and blame the rest of the world the South West of Sydney is filling up with cultural diversity that isn't necessarily aligned with Rugby League....

“isn’t necessarily aligned with rugby league”

Yet the south-west region supplied a dozen players at last weekends U16 & U18 City v Country games 🤔

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I’ve very much got the Penrith model in mind.

You say, they‘re loyal to their mates, but I see that as one and the same thing.

As I posted elsewhere, young blokes are banding together in postcode gangs and beating other postcodes up, so a sense of place and mateship (however misguided) is still a thing amongst teens.

Sure, I’m probably a dinosaur, but I reckon if footy clubs are built on nothing more than a cuddly kiddies toy emblem. It becomes horribly shallow. Franchise vs Franchise. Roll up roll up, the big top is in town. Come and see these amazing athletes and cheer yourselves hoarse ... but be quick, because when the music stops they‘re likely to all swap jerseys and play for a rival franchise.

I have to believe there remains just a semblance of the tribal game I grew up with. When playing for your district and it’s people actually meant something. 🤔

No, that's just young blokes in a lower socioeconomic area once again importing bullshit US street gang culture.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

“isn’t necessarily aligned with rugby league”

Yet the south-west region supplied a dozen players at last weekends U16 & U18 City v Country games 🤔

How many of these players are linked to WTs?

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

That postcode bullshit is only a recent development too. I spent ten years growing up in Blackett. It was a shithole, we'd find needles in our garden and it was an area with a lot of poverty and poverty related crime like theft. There wasn't blokes stabbing/bashing each other to death for living on a different street/suburb/postcode.

 

[SeanT]

Still think there is better candidates.

Similar to Cronulla situation, I think overall we'd do better with woolf.

Why? Madge won a premiership over there as well.

Il stick with Madge until end of next year. With a decent squad there are no excuses.

 

[earl]

Simple.
Fully embrace the south-west.

From my perspective they've embraced the south-west completely. Do you mean play all games at Campbelltown ?

Honestly I don't understand the issue at all. I come from the Balmain Tigers side but I've long put that to bed.

I'd be happy for all games to be played at Campbelltown but I don't think that is what the supporter base actually wants.

I agee with the comment above that people like yourself will never be satisfied. My take is your viewpoint is probably less than 1% of the supporter base and isn't worth bothering with.

I support the Wests Tigers.

 

[earl]

Why? Madge won a premiership over there as well.

Madge's credentials are pretty good. I also think he has improved.

 

[PJ_]

That postcode bullshit is only a recent development too. I spent ten years growing up in Blackett. It was a shithole, we'd find needles in our garden and it was an area with a lot of poverty and poverty related crime like theft. There wasn't blokes stabbing/bashing each other to death for living on a different street/suburb/postcode.

Shit American gang culture seeping in.
That's why I'm voting for Pauline Hansen.

 

[Blake]

Unfortunately a significant amount of the bias comes from you / from us as fans. We all see and remember the bad calls against Tigers and start to forget those against other clubs, because we are not emotionally involved.

I am pretty sure there is a provable subconscious bias for home teams, i.e. home teams tend to win the penalty count and win more than 50% of matches. But I think you'd be very hard pressed to prove a bias in either (a) bias towards good vs bad sides, or (b) bias specifically against Wests Tigers.

Even if you analyse penalty counts or scores, it would be as true to say that better teams score more points and force their opponents to concede more penalties, which takes the ref argument out of the equation.

It looks biased towards the favourite team even when I watch non-Tigers games. The first few penalties for inside the 10 in defence and holding down in the ruck seems to stongly favour the favourites.

@Champ1 's other point about reviewing some tries and not others is also something that I have noticed. Turbo holding back one of our players was ignored, Deardon taking out Brooks looked questionable to me.

Observation bias is real and I know I have it, but I do see a bias towards strong teams even when I have tipped them and want them to win.

 

[batboy]

“isn’t necessarily aligned with rugby league”

Yet the south-west region supplied a dozen players at last weekends U16 & U18 City v Country games 🤔

A whole 12...
How many have made an NRL career in the last 10 years (Outside the few rattled off the other day)

There's no doubt there's kids in the SWS, There's no doubt there may be some coming through - Good Ones.
I'm really happy Gallant is involved - No one knows the lay out the land out there better than him.

But the old crap the area is ignored, And it's Wests Tigers fault there's no talent coming out of there in recent years - Is a load of absolute crap.
Wests Tigers have always done a decent job of getting out and about in the area, getting the talent out there into grades (Rua maybe a more recent one from memory)...
Could it be improved - Probably... Everything can be improved.

Players come through Juniors in Clumps, They always have....
The idea the area is neglected totally by the WT's is just garbage...

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Gotta disagree mate . He goes from 2-3 drop balls to 1-2 every game . That’s from an enormously high error rate to a high error rate .
And the guys a good footy player .
In contrast to someone like Twal who is all efficiency . How many games have we lost because of errors at the wrong times . At 26-27 years old that should be a once in a couple of games type thing . And unfortunately for him that the reason he’s off to SL.
Hopefully he can return in a few years like Murdoch Masilla , a much more complete footballer .

Can disagree all you like but you're actually wrong on this year and back of last year.

He has clearly worked on his discipline as handling errors and penalties have dropped off the face of the planet.

He has made 1 error in his last 9 games.

Panthers - 0
Bulldogs - 0
Knights - 0
Warriors - 0
Sharks - 0
Eels - 1
Souths - 0
Dragons - 0
Manly - 0

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal]

How many of these players are linked to WTs?

All but one or two I think.
Lachlan Dooner is at the Roosters.
Jordan Miller rumoured to go to Dolphins .
As far as I know, the rest are in the Wests system.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

No, that's just young blokes in a lower socioeconomic area once again importing bullshit US street gang culture.

I despise this culture. You even see it seep into the game with players throwing signs in selfies and group photos. Maybe I’m just an angry old man, but God I hate that.