weststigers
Well-known member
Bloody hell. Some good stories and insight there mate. I never realised it was so good...and so bad at different times for Wests.
Maybe there is a correlation between money and competitiveness.
Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion
- Thread starter MacDougall
- Start date
Maybe there is a correlation between money and competitiveness.
Still shite!
Maybe, he is only SG Ball age this year though
The other 3 halves from this years u/19’s SOO being Ben Black at the Broncos, Toby Rodwell at the Roosters and Michell Woods at the Bulldogs are all top 30 contracted from 2026 onwards, so I very much doubt Javon Andrew’s would have signed with us unless we have him top 30 contracted from 2026 onwards.
balmain boy
Well-known member
You seem to have some vendetta against me. I don't even know who you are, or if I've ever commented on yours posts before.
What I do know is that you're an ignorant, arrogant diehard Wests fan. Stuck in the past, and removed from reality. If my user name was Wests boy you'd probably love every post of mine. Nothing I've said it's pro Balmain, i'm simply pro Wests Tigers.
Apparently you're also completely unaware of our financial struggles. Richo himself has made a point of saying the club needs to improve a lot on the business side of things because we just don't have enough money to compete with other clubs. He can't control HBG, he can impact sponsorship and memberships.
Your blind support for Wests and apathy towards Wests Tigers is telling.
The fact is, we are a loser club. Mens and womens footy we're a joke. An embarrassment. We need to be realistic and acknowledge this fact, which Richo has done. We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results.
We don't have enough scouts, we don't have enough staff, we don't generate enough money, we don't play finals footy in any grade, we don't have a culture of success, excellence and development, we repeatedly make terrible decisions. We need change.
Enough now, take any further replies to the Magpies thread where you belong.
balmain boy
Well-known member
Their focus is poker machines, not footy.
balmain boy
Well-known member
He's got 700000 reasons to stay for another couple of years. Not a bad deal, hang in eastern suburbs, get paid well to do nothing. Souths will chip in at least 400k to move him on
balmain boy
Well-known member
I really like bringing Andrews back to the club, but we also need to be realistic. He's not on an NRL deal, and he's still young.
I just watched the u19s origin and honestly he was the least involved of the 4 halves on the field. Touched the ball maybe 4-5 times in the first half. Yes he will solid in the last 10 mins but in reality he put in two good grubbers and kicked a goal from the sideline. How he got mom is beyond me.
As a 5/8 I'm not sure where he would fit at wt long term. While I'm not one for moving players I do think he could be a very good centre, or maybe even lock in the future. He's got the size and strong defence, not sure how much pace he has. We already have two running 5/8s at the club long term
I doubt he's even on a development contract for next year. I'd say train and trial, then maybe development in 2027. If he were top 30 or development straight away the club would have mentioned so, like with Murray, Godinet etc.
He's a great prospect to have at the club, he's versatile and skilled. We need more players like that in all grades, and it's great to see us sign a junior from outside our pathways regions. This is what all good clubs do..!
weststigers
Well-known member
Agree with this. I watched him and he certainly didn't dominate or look particularly outstanding.
I've seen some Q Cup highlights and he has a bit of Benji about him at times so maybe something to work with there, but a lot of NSW/QLD u19's never go on to make anything of themselves.
Time will reveal all, but you're right, we have no impediment other than our own resources to find the best kids in the country and flood our lower grades with them. Some will succeed and some will fail, but we need to keep feeding the topmof the funnel with talent.
426Tlgerland
Well-known member
I’m ok with bringing in some skilled kids as we can then keep developing some quality but we are struggling in the nrl and are not even a top 10 team we also struggle in reserve grade although been good recent we need players of nrl quality now , Andrew’s and Madden are not those guys , Richo give us a couple more nrl guys ,this tree rubbish is that rubbish Stewart and Mooney would be in our team this week , there’s a start
Yep i went to one of those concerts at Lidcombe oval , was a great day but they were always going to push Wests out to Campbelltown
supercoach
Well-known member
Our model of building a junior pathways system to supply the majority of our playing needs is doomed to fail without having the financial investment other clubs are pumping into their pathways systems.
Kids are getting scouted younger and younger, with clubs like the Dogs snapping up every kid they can get their hands on, many of which will be discarded a few years on and the cream kept. It would appear there is no limitation to the money a club can invest in recruiting junior talent.
It is funny how we have a salary cap and one of it’s objectives is get all clubs closer in ability, yet it’s open slather with juniors. Anyway we probably have to treble the money we are putting into our football operations to ever be competitive for any length of time.
Kids are getting scouted younger and younger, with clubs like the Dogs snapping up every kid they can get their hands on, many of which will be discarded a few years on and the cream kept. It would appear there is no limitation to the money a club can invest in recruiting junior talent.
It is funny how we have a salary cap and one of it’s objectives is get all clubs closer in ability, yet it’s open slather with juniors. Anyway we probably have to treble the money we are putting into our football operations to ever be competitive for any length of time.
BalmainBoy67
Well-known member
Javon Andrews joins Wests Tigers on long-term deal
Javon Andrews, the 2025 State of Origin U19s Player of the Match, will join Wests Tigers on a three-year deal from the 2026 season.
www.weststigers.com.au
Interesting.Javon Andrews joins Wests Tigers on long-term deal
Javon Andrews, the 2025 State of Origin U19s Player of the Match, will join Wests Tigers on a three-year deal from the 2026 season.
Obviously Tigers have had their eye on him for a while, including him in some pathways camps a few years ago.
Seems a bit like Benjis timeline where he was at Keebra but the Tigers had their hooks in early.
I gotta feeling he's one to watch.
weststigers
Well-known member
Stewart is a fullback isn't he? Would you flick Bula? Mooney would definitely make the team. Agree with that.
Also not sure if Andrews is even on a top 30 contract. The club usually mentions that and they didn't.
On Madden, someone needs to have played a few NRL games and be willing to be the backup each week in state cup. Who would you sign that is prepared to play that role?
Ilias would also be available, but he's already upset he's not in firsts...you think he'd come here and sit in reserves?
I think you oversimplify the challenge of buying depth at times.
Putting my sceptical hat on, I wonder how it happens.
How do we sign one of the better Halves coming through in QLD?
Broncs have a couple about to fall off the perch, Titans are short, Cows need another as do the Dolphins..
Why does he come down here?
Interesting...
weststigers
Well-known member
I see your point, but without teams investing in juniors, the game dies and so does the end product that they sell for billions.
Junior investment is a good thing and some clubs don't or can't invest as much as they should. We are one of them and we control an enviable junior base.
Smarter people than me can work out how to lift the junior investment of all clubs to an acceptable level, but with more teams coming in, we need more quality kids to come in even out the comp.
Bus 2 Terrigal
Well-known member
I did say “almost” Coach of the Year.
Sticky will of course win the gong for his amazing job with Canberra.
I didn’t see anyone suggesting Parramatta were top eight material at the start of the year - who you talking about - Sterlo, Ray Price, Hindmarsh ? Who tipped them to make finals? 🤣
You're whole post is excellent and reflects our position accurately (IMO).
The correlation between investment/funding and success is clearly evident (the bold bits), thats not to say it guarantees being premiers or anything like that, but surely people can understand if you have 5 or 6 times the the amount of money being pumped into football operations it allows you to hire the best people, more people to recruit, and more chance of getting the best young talent coming through.
It's just this never ending cycle, limited funding = limited success. If HBG ( I did NOT say Wests Magpies) invested heavily for 4 or 5 years and the club experienced more success, than Wests Tigers would be more chance of being self sustaining with adequate funding as more sponsors and corporates would come on board and pay more to do it. Everyone loves a winner and wants to associated with success. You have to spend money to make it. To be honest it feels like our club is half in only and thats where the frustration comes from. Get fully committed or sell the licence to someone who is.
It doesn’t matter how good your local talent is, you still need to scout far and wide.
The Panthers success over the past 5 or so years is testament to that with the likes of Yeo, Edwards and Martin all scouted and recruited from country areas at a young age.
When I hear that we don’t have the same scouting and player recruitment resources that other clubs do due to our lack of finances, sure it’s a slight hindrance, but that just means we need to and should have connections that are looking out for us and giving recommendations far and wide rather than having our own people on the ground.
Anyway that’s the past, we have recently made some changes in that space, so let’s hope they are changes for the better.
The Panthers success over the past 5 or so years is testament to that with the likes of Yeo, Edwards and Martin all scouted and recruited from country areas at a young age.
When I hear that we don’t have the same scouting and player recruitment resources that other clubs do due to our lack of finances, sure it’s a slight hindrance, but that just means we need to and should have connections that are looking out for us and giving recommendations far and wide rather than having our own people on the ground.
Anyway that’s the past, we have recently made some changes in that space, so let’s hope they are changes for the better.
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