Some very well thought answers to my questions, thank you Tiger family.
For me, I've only ever known Wests Tigers as the one club. I'm not from Sydney so I have no care for the location of the club, I barrack for them because I am a lover of Tigers (Same for my support for Richmond in the AFL).
Most people my age are probably in the same boat, and have only known the Tigers NRL as Wests Tigers without thinking too much about the history of Balmain and WS Magpies.
I guess all of you support the Magpies purely because they are the feeder for Wests Tigers, and I think I'll therefore make that my reason too.
I think we're unique as a club to cheer on a different mascot in the 2nd grade. I barrack for the Tiger-themed teams in the NRL, NFL, CFL, and Super League, so having the Magpies as a team can be quite refreshing.
It would be interesting to hear from old school Magpie fans who are diehard, how many of them are left? Is it worth buying membership/seeing a game?