OFFICIAL Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp

What happened to the Orange jersey @ShaunMielekamp

That's a legitimate point. Out of our last 8 games, I think we've only worn the orange jersey once. At Leichhardt.

Plenty of teams have white as one of their colours, we are the only one with orange. It's just good business sense to lean into what makes us different and a unique selling point. And we're called the TIGERS after all. Consistently rates as kids top animals. Seems crazy to go away from that.

Not to stoke a conspiracy or anything but if you go on the Roar Store under mens, they don't even have the official orange home jersey!! Just the white one and the heritage one plus training shirts, etc.

😶
 
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This has been a concern of mine too, I love these blokes, but maybe they are not the best at coaching a footy team that seems to have difficulty winning games (for whatever reason) ! so yes we would like to know why (Benji) is picking these particular people to assist him.

I think Benji needs an older more experienced coach as mentor although maybe Benji doesn't think so !

You are very brave Shaun for coming onto this forum - it can get pretty negative, especially after a loss, of which there have been plenty.

I have been a member of the WT's for over 20 yrs, but have been wavering a bit for the past few years as it can be a pretty depressing club to follow and I think a lot of us could use the help of the "sport psychologist" to help us get through the difficult times !! of which we know there have been many.

Hopefully you will help the club navigate some of the issues that are holding us back from our winning ways.
It is good to have you on board Shaun -thank you for joining our forum, and good luck in your endeavours.
The last five NRL premierships belong to coaches who failed to get us into the top eight. I think for those looking for a coaching change, maybe look deeper.

Why couldn’t we hold onto a legitimate star for half his initially announced contract?
 
Good luck Shaun with the hardest job in the NRL.
Stability - on the field and off. This club is so deep rooted in failure that it's getting harder and harder to believe that anyone currently associated with the place has the best interest of the "Wests Tigers" success as a priority in their decision making, and surviving appears good enough.
Unlike some I don't buy the Campbelltown is our future line because in the here and now I see little to support that theory - yet the evidence of the connection to the inner west is obvious it's real and it has existed through thick and thin.

Sydney clubs are tribal - if Campbelltown hasn't fully got on board as a community yet they never will - they have had plenty of time. Why alienate the one thing that the club has succeeded in - maintaining a loyal inner west fan base.
No way Cronulla or Manly would expect their fans to travel 2hrs there and back to watch their team play - they are not considered growth areas either - why are Wests Tigers fans expected to accept that. And yet here we are compromising again - for what to watch our team continue to struggle and travel two hours for the privilege??

Even got our own fans guilting each other that we should travel to watch our team play - rubbish. It doesn't make it feasible - a home game in Sydney is associated with the locality of the fan base and accessibility. Two hours of travel time may work for Sunday games but not other time slots.

All clubs have access to juniors if they have good talent scouts and systems in place no matter where they come from. Our failure to succeed has been on the back of the instability of the club and the perception that players won't reach potential at this club.- given the lack of quality players we have produced/ retained it's hard to argue with that.
Our fans have compromised enough - time for you guys to start looking at what successful clubs are doing off the field and measure up.
 
@ShaunMielekamp - I really admire someone in your role who takes the time to talk with fans. It’s also a great input for fan sentiment.

As a club, we have been told by previous leadership that we are a development club. That’s a great ambition but in your opinion do we have the required funding to really achieve this long term? How do we address this if you think we are short?
 
Good luck Shaun with the hardest job in the NRL.
Stability - on the field and off. This club is so deep rooted in failure that it's getting harder and harder to believe that anyone currently associated with the place has the best interest of the "Wests Tigers" success as a priority in their decision making, and surviving appears good enough.
Unlike some I don't buy the Campbelltown is our future line because in the here and now I see little to support that theory - yet the evidence of the connection to the inner west is obvious it's real and it has existed through thick and thin.

Sydney clubs are tribal - if Campbelltown hasn't fully got on board as a community yet they never will - they have had plenty of time. Why alienate the one thing that the club has succeeded in - maintaining a loyal inner west fan base.
No way Cronulla or Manly would expect their fans to travel 2hrs there and back to watch their team play - they are not considered growth areas either - why are Wests Tigers fans expected to accept that. And yet here we are compromising again - for what to watch our team continue to struggle and travel two hours for the privilege??

Even got our own fans guilting each other that we should travel to watch our team play - rubbish. It doesn't make it feasible - a home game in Sydney is associated with the locality of the fan base and accessibility. Two hours of travel time may work for Sunday games but not other time slots.

All clubs have access to juniors if they have good talent scouts and systems in place no matter where they come from. Our failure to succeed has been on the back of the instability of the club and the perception that players won't reach potential at this club.- given the lack of quality players we have produced/ retained it's hard to argue with that.
Our fans have compromised enough - time for you guys to start looking at what successful clubs are doing off the field and measure up.
Put a winning outfit on the field and the home ground becomes irrelevant. I travel to all our home grounds and it’s worth it if we play well. I tend to think the 8/4 split is the way to go but we need better atmosphere at Campbo.
 
Put a winning outfit on the field and the home ground becomes irrelevant. I travel to all our home grounds and it’s worth it if we play well. I tend to think the 8/4 split is the way to go but we need better atmosphere at Campbo.
A home ground should never become irrelevant otherwise all teams would play out of the one stadium. Home ground should be exactly that - especially in Sydney where the city is represented by numerous fan bases whose identity/connection is linked to their locality.
 
A home ground should never become irrelevant otherwise all teams would play out of the one stadium. Home ground should be exactly that - especially in Sydney where the city is represented by numerous fan bases whose identity/connection is linked to their locality.
Campbo has been pretty well attended for a couple of years now. There’s never many empty seats. If we were winning it’d be full. The problem is all the noise escaping at each end.
 
Campbo has been pretty well attended for a couple of years now. There’s never many empty seats. If we were winning it’d be full. The problem is all the noise escaping at each end.
Sorry mate, but this is objectively not true.

I would also argue (but almost impossible to prove) the ratio of home to away fans is abysmal compared to Leichardt.

Where are you getting your stats to make such a statement?

Also are you suggesting a reason for low crowds is the noise escapes from each end? I'm just baffled by the creativity of all the excuses made for Campbelltown.

Not having a shot at you personally, but we need to observe the reality.
 
There has been a bombsrdment of questions and views on here directed back to our CEO. This is evidenced by a long time of very ordinary footy results.

I think Shaun must be allowed to perform his CEO role with our full support of his actions.
I’m only going to praise Shaun for his decision to take on his role and I believe he deserves our thanks and support. I also extend that to Benji as coach as well

I like many, don’t know how to fix what holds this club back. But I believe that Shaun has the right to work through all issues with a view to make positive changes. he should be allowed to do so, with our full backing.
Trust in our CEO should be extended without question. It should be ongoing and maintained till that trust is let down, if ever.
My belief is that trust for our CEO is deserved at this point in time and also going forward. Time itself will tell if that trust is still warranted.

Shaun has a lot to digest when you read the many varied and assorted details mentioned within the forum.

As a very long term supporter of Balmain, Wests and Wests Tigers, I have one wish going forward. Can I ask that the WT club stop wasting salary cap money. My view is we only pay players to play at this club not to go and play against us at a rival team. This reeks of madness to financially help out a rival.Others may not agree with this view, but they are entitled to their own view.

Shaun and Benji should be thanked wholeheartedly for their hard work and dedication to their roles they have taken on for this club. They only have the best results at heart on all matters, and do so on behalf of all parties concerned with WT, including us supporters. Let them get on to make a difference (which may take time)
 
Sorry mate, but this is objectively not true.

I would also argue (but almost impossible to prove) the ratio of home to away fans is abysmal compared to Leichardt.

Where are you getting your stats to make such a statement?

Also are you suggesting a reason for low crowds is the noise escapes from each end? I'm just baffled by the creativity of all the excuses made for Campbelltown.

Not having a shot at you personally, but we need to observe the reality.
I was at the Knights & Broncos games, crowds were great. Later season when we’re battling it’s obviously fallen off.

It’s a bit of a library though, the noise seems to disappear.
 
@ShaunMielekamp - I really admire someone in your role who takes the time to talk with fans. It’s also a great input for fan sentiment.

As a club, we have been told by previous leadership that we are a development club. That’s a great ambition but in your opinion do we have the required funding to really achieve this long term? How do we address this if you think we are short?
That line ( Development club ) has been used for years , we don’t develop many at all , they use this just for lip service it’s a pile of rubbish , we don’t have the funding or quality staff to develop the young players , it’s that simple , HBG need to spend more and get quality in to help , same for our first grade side ,Benji needs to clean out his mates and bring in proper talented assistance or keep what you got and bring in part time help like A Johns and C Cronk these guys know how to attack as they both were guns at it and if you listen to them when they talk about it they are very smart operating people , it’s $$$$ either of them 2 days a week would lift us by leaps , and the engine room and defence needs the same ,
 
A home ground should never become irrelevant otherwise all teams would play out of the one stadium. Home ground should be exactly that - especially in Sydney where the city is represented by numerous fan bases whose identity/connection is linked to their locality.
100%

It's ok for us to say Brisbane is harder to beat at Suncorp or Melbourne harder to beat in Melbourne, but our home ground should have no impact and we just need to put a winning team out there.

This is a Magpie takeover based on their 90% ownership logic.

You watch...there'll be a big fricken Magpie looking over Victoria Rd when the new club is built. Absolute bastards.
 
I was at the Knights & Broncos games, crowds were great. Later season when we’re battling it’s obviously fallen off.

It’s a bit of a library though, the noise seems to disappear.
Do you know how much effort the podcast guys put into getting crowds there? Anecdotal is fine, but there are facts that can be referred to.

When we were dead last, Leichhardt was packed? Why is Campbelltown attendance conditional on a bunch of factors when they turn out regardless at Leichhardt?

Campbelltown is a myth.
 
Do you know how much effort the podcast guys put into getting crowds there? Anecdotal is fine, but there are facts that can be referred to.

When we were dead last, Leichhardt was packed? Why is Campbelltown attendance conditional on a bunch of factors when they turn out regardless at Leichhardt?

Campbelltown is a myth.
I agree we have competitive advantage at LO.

But the MacArthur region junior base could also be a competitive advantage if we do it right.

Ultimately I’ve always thought winning was the tonic to fix all our issues.
 
Hi Shaun ..

You must have one of the toughest jobs in the history of Australian sport ..and I wish you the best of luck ..when the simplest fundamentals like the main color of the jersey and where you play home games can lead to major disruptions…issues that simply don’t exist for the clubs competitors ..

Can I suggest that we need better identifiers of talent in the pathways …I don’t know the specifics ( numbers , qualifications) … but we seem spectacular
That's a legitimate point. Out of our last 8 games, I think we've only worn the orange jersey once. At Leichhardt.

Plenty of teams have white as one of their colours, we are the only one with orange. It's just good business sense to lean into what makes us different and a unique selling point. And we're called the TIGERS after all. Consistently rates as kids top animals. Seems crazy to go away from that.

Not to stoke a conspiracy or anything but if you go on the Roar Store under mens, they don't even have the official orange home jersey!! Just the white one and the heritage one plus training shirts, etc.

😶


Really that's horrendous and disrespectful to the heritage of the club all should be available

Or is the Orange 1 the most popular and sells out ?
 

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