The predominantly orange jersey is a big thing to these old Magpies guys. I've seen fans at Lidcombe there to support reserve grade wearing predominantly orange WESTS Tigers jerseys get abused by a small but very vocal set of older male magpies fans. It's really embarrassing. Is it any wonder the Lidcombe crowd remains as small as it is, dominated by this group of old fans? Otherwise, I'd say it's the families of the players themselves who are there to boost the crowd to 200 people. Compare that to the crowds Newtown and North Sydney attract to second tier rugby league as stand alone brands, it's night and day.
I don't buy into the shit "well tigers are orange and tigers sports teams around the world are orange" necessarily flies. Richmond Tigers are yellow and black for a start (it's in their song), with black the predominant colour in their main jersey. No orange at all.
But there are no other orange teams in the NRL, so I can see why an independent board and CEO, who are successful and progressive thinkers, who have the runs on the board at growing businesses and brands, would opt for orange as the main colour for the club. It's a unique colour in the League, and it's a great differentiator for the club.
On one hand, part of me says that Richo and the majority of the board had to be wise as to the realities of control of the club. Yes, they are an independent board, but the the owners could sack them whenever they wanted if they didn't like the direction the club was heading, which they did.
On the other, an independent board should have the ability to make decisions for the betterment of WESTS Tigers without fear of offending owners who would prefer that their heritage is reflected in a very visual part of the identity of the club, and the securing of home ground funding. That is what they did, and that was the correct path to take, even if it meant they were dissolved.
What we have now, is back to the past decade where decisions are not made and committed to the WESTS Tigers brand. It's hodge podge of half this, a bit of this, and little bit of that which will hold back the club from thriving on and off the field.