@Cosimo_Zaretti said:
I don't think so, it would be prestigious stuff to hang on to. Could put it in the foyer of Wests Ashfield.
Balmain set to retain stake in Wests Tigers as deadline extended
- Thread starter Benjirific
- Start date
I don't think so, it would be prestigious stuff to hang on to. Could put it in the foyer of Wests Ashfield.
Cosimo_Zaretti
New member
@Cultured Bogan said:
That's the thing isn't it? You'd rather keep it all in the family rather than have a law firm breaking up the collection. It'd be poor PR and seem unnecessarily petty. Tigers used to have a great display room in their Rozelle club, it'd be nice if somewhere could get it all on show again.
Basil_Tiger
New member
@Cosimo_Zaretti said:
Mark Twain comes to mind.
Gary_Bakerloo
New member
**Why the Western Suburbs Magpies are saving the Balmain Tigers**
\
\
Roy Masters
April 6 2016
Roy Masters
Wests will hold another heritage night on Thursday, this one honouring those players who came from the bush to play for the Magpies, with many becoming internationals …Tommy Raudonikis (Wagga), Les Boyd (Cootamundra), Noel Kelly (Goodna), John "Snoozer" Elford (South West Rocks) , the ghost of John "Dallas" Donnelly (Gunnedah) and Harry Wells (Wollongong via Souths).
It's important for joint venture clubs to hold on to history.
The Magpies have been the under-acknowledged half of the Wests Tigers merger for half a generation now, with most NRL followers under the age of 25 knowing the club only as the Tigers.
Manly-Warringah is known universally as Manly; Canterbury Bankstown as Canterbury and Cronulla Sutherland as Cronulla but the NRL and media tend to lop off the first name of Wests Tigers.
Not so for another joint venture club, St George Illawarra.
Many Steelers supporters will argue their club disappeared in the merger but Illawarra joined the then NSWRL in 1982, while the Magpies are a 1908 foundation club.
All of which makes it difficult for passionate Wests supporters to understand why, with the March 31 deadline expiring for penniless Balmain to remain in the joint venture, that the Ashfield-based Magpies club have steadfastly insisted the Tigers name will remain forever.
Reports last week said Wests weren't fussed about the March 31 deadline passing; Balmain would definitely have a minimum 25 per cent of the venture, with 10 years to pay off a debt to acquire another 25 per cent, restoring their equity to 50:50.
The Ashfield club is maintaining a strict vow of confidentiality on negotiations with Balmain's creditors, the NRL, but it would surprise if the Leichhardt Tigers were given another 10 years to acquire a second 25 per cent.
**But Wests insist the retentions of the Tigers name and some Balmain equity are not negotiable.**
Given this, the question must be asked: would Balmain do for Wests what Wests are doing for Balmain?
Based on the early operation of the Wests Tigers joint venture, the answer would be, no.
Big games were predominantly played at Leichhardt; the players ran out in gold jumpers, with the tiny magpie emblem on the sleeve obscured by tape; ex-Tigers players became the popular spokesmen for the club and most people called the club, Balmain.
Balmain-based directors of the merged entity will tell you Wests directors were inept.
But the Wests vote was divided three ways – the Ashfield licensed club, the Magpies football club and Wests club at Campbelltown.
Now, however, Wests Campbelltown has exited the joint venture and the relationship between Ashfield and the Magpies is very tight.
So, why this nobility, this extraordinary generosity to the old Tigers with their licensed club now a vandalised site on Victoria Road?
Because Wests have been on the executioner's block three times and know what it is like to be threatened with excision from history.
Many at NRL headquarters believe rugby league began in 1998 and some of the eight-member ARL Commission believe the kick off was even later … when they were appointed.
Furthermore, there is collective feeling among Sydney licensed clubs that their role in propagating rugby league is under-valued by the code's bosses.
The unity among Sydney NRL clubs has never been stronger, despite attempts to divide them over the allocation of $1.2 billion in funds to Sydney stadiums.
Contrast this with the era of the cartel of strong Sydney clubs when the late Bill "The King" Carson, then president of Wests, stood up at a Monday night meeting of the NSWRL after a vote on co-operation was defeated and said, "In here, it's catch and kill your own."
The NSWRL voted Wests out in 1983 but the club went to the courts and won because an unincorporated body did not have the power to kick out a member.
The league then incorporated and voted Wests out at the end of 1984 but the Magpies went to the Equity Court and won under the oppression of a minority law. The NSWRL successfully appealed to the NSW Supreme Court but Wests was granted leave to the High Court and used the time to re-group.
At the end of the Super League war, when the number of clubs was to be cut from 20 to 14, Wests were again on the chopping block, ranked among the vulnerable.
Balmain always had a friend at headquarters during these turbulent times, despite Wests having two leagues clubs and more territory.
Wests have never had a strong voice in town, as Kelly and Boyd will attest after multiple visits to the Phillip Street judiciary.
These gnarled heroes may well be proud of their club's nobility to Balmain and respect it for maintaining confidentiality with headquarters but King Billy's words still rule.
\
\
Roy Masters
April 6 2016
Roy Masters
Wests will hold another heritage night on Thursday, this one honouring those players who came from the bush to play for the Magpies, with many becoming internationals …Tommy Raudonikis (Wagga), Les Boyd (Cootamundra), Noel Kelly (Goodna), John "Snoozer" Elford (South West Rocks) , the ghost of John "Dallas" Donnelly (Gunnedah) and Harry Wells (Wollongong via Souths).
It's important for joint venture clubs to hold on to history.
The Magpies have been the under-acknowledged half of the Wests Tigers merger for half a generation now, with most NRL followers under the age of 25 knowing the club only as the Tigers.
Manly-Warringah is known universally as Manly; Canterbury Bankstown as Canterbury and Cronulla Sutherland as Cronulla but the NRL and media tend to lop off the first name of Wests Tigers.
Not so for another joint venture club, St George Illawarra.
Many Steelers supporters will argue their club disappeared in the merger but Illawarra joined the then NSWRL in 1982, while the Magpies are a 1908 foundation club.
All of which makes it difficult for passionate Wests supporters to understand why, with the March 31 deadline expiring for penniless Balmain to remain in the joint venture, that the Ashfield-based Magpies club have steadfastly insisted the Tigers name will remain forever.
Reports last week said Wests weren't fussed about the March 31 deadline passing; Balmain would definitely have a minimum 25 per cent of the venture, with 10 years to pay off a debt to acquire another 25 per cent, restoring their equity to 50:50.
The Ashfield club is maintaining a strict vow of confidentiality on negotiations with Balmain's creditors, the NRL, but it would surprise if the Leichhardt Tigers were given another 10 years to acquire a second 25 per cent.
**But Wests insist the retentions of the Tigers name and some Balmain equity are not negotiable.**
Given this, the question must be asked: would Balmain do for Wests what Wests are doing for Balmain?
Based on the early operation of the Wests Tigers joint venture, the answer would be, no.
Big games were predominantly played at Leichhardt; the players ran out in gold jumpers, with the tiny magpie emblem on the sleeve obscured by tape; ex-Tigers players became the popular spokesmen for the club and most people called the club, Balmain.
Balmain-based directors of the merged entity will tell you Wests directors were inept.
But the Wests vote was divided three ways – the Ashfield licensed club, the Magpies football club and Wests club at Campbelltown.
Now, however, Wests Campbelltown has exited the joint venture and the relationship between Ashfield and the Magpies is very tight.
So, why this nobility, this extraordinary generosity to the old Tigers with their licensed club now a vandalised site on Victoria Road?
Because Wests have been on the executioner's block three times and know what it is like to be threatened with excision from history.
Many at NRL headquarters believe rugby league began in 1998 and some of the eight-member ARL Commission believe the kick off was even later … when they were appointed.
Furthermore, there is collective feeling among Sydney licensed clubs that their role in propagating rugby league is under-valued by the code's bosses.
The unity among Sydney NRL clubs has never been stronger, despite attempts to divide them over the allocation of $1.2 billion in funds to Sydney stadiums.
Contrast this with the era of the cartel of strong Sydney clubs when the late Bill "The King" Carson, then president of Wests, stood up at a Monday night meeting of the NSWRL after a vote on co-operation was defeated and said, "In here, it's catch and kill your own."
The NSWRL voted Wests out in 1983 but the club went to the courts and won because an unincorporated body did not have the power to kick out a member.
The league then incorporated and voted Wests out at the end of 1984 but the Magpies went to the Equity Court and won under the oppression of a minority law. The NSWRL successfully appealed to the NSW Supreme Court but Wests was granted leave to the High Court and used the time to re-group.
At the end of the Super League war, when the number of clubs was to be cut from 20 to 14, Wests were again on the chopping block, ranked among the vulnerable.
Balmain always had a friend at headquarters during these turbulent times, despite Wests having two leagues clubs and more territory.
Wests have never had a strong voice in town, as Kelly and Boyd will attest after multiple visits to the Phillip Street judiciary.
These gnarled heroes may well be proud of their club's nobility to Balmain and respect it for maintaining confidentiality with headquarters but King Billy's words still rule.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
@Abraham said:
Hang on. Weren't you just having a chuckle a page or 2 back about the guy a few pages ago ripping into the Magpies? Now the shoe is on the other foot and you've lost your sense of humour. Double standards.
gallagher
Well-known member
I like Roys writing but that seemed like a very biased and unecessary article.
diedpretty
Well-known member
@Tigervitaly said:
Dollars
Wests - lots
Balmain - zero well to be more accurate minus 11 million
jirskyr
Well-known member
@gallagher said:
He is becoming fatter and fatter and less and less relevant as the years go by.
Roy still holds to old hatreds like Wests v Manly, Wests v the world… half our supporters don't even remember Maggies and the less we lean on those old biases, the better off we are.
Gary_Bakerloo
New member
@jirskyr said:
Agree, don't lean or rely on them, but they are part of the JV story. Those old "emotions" are just as much part of the JV story as the 1909 GF and the ensuing hatred of Souths, the 61-63 GF's, the '69 GF….and dare I mention it the '89 GF.
balmain boy
Well-known member
Why anyone would pay Roy to do anything these days is beyond me. Such dribble. Every single time. This isn't the 80s Roy. Why would the Herald stick with a dinosaur like him?
Cosimo_Zaretti
New member
:supporter:
@jirskyr said:
gallagher
Well-known member
@Cosimo_Zaretti said:
Yeah. Classic us v them tactic. Sounds like he actually believes it.
diedpretty
Well-known member
A lot of people on here throw their arms in the air and yell the old catch phrase we are not Balmain and we are not Wests we are Wests Tigers. They fail to acknowledge that Wests have been virtually invisible in this JV - even the other day Ben Ikin still referred to the JV as Balmain. There was an article a week ago that stated that James Tedesco was a Balmain junior. What Roy is pointing out is correct - most people and the media see Wests Tigers solely as a rebadged Balmain. At work i constantly pull people up who refer to the JV as Balmain. I do think he is being a bit over the top when he says Balmain would dump Wests if the roles were reversed. But it is interesting to see the remarks against the article.
cqtiger
Well-known member
@diedpretty said:
Rubbish. I'm an old Balmain dinosaur but I never hear "Balmain" mentioned in regards to Wests Tigers these days. I agree it happened a lot in the early JV years but not now.
I hear Wests Tigers or simply Tigers, that's it. That's no different to 'Dogs as opposed to calling them Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. When you stop and think about it Cronulla (poor Sutherland), Manly (poor Waringah) and Canterbury (poor Bankstown) are worse off
Cosimo_Zaretti
New member
@diedpretty said:
It's back to front. We are Balmain. We are Western Suburbs. You can call us Wests, you can call us the Tigers, or Magpies or Balmain. You can call them the boys from Leichardt, or Campbelltown, or Concord. All are correct.
gallagher
Well-known member
@cqtiger said:
Yeah, i havn't heard us called Balmain for years. Actually Alan Jones did when attacking Go last year but apart from that hardly ever.
I used to support western suburbs and always refer to us as the tigers. Is that bad?
I loved him in '78
Gee thats nearly 40 years ago…showing my age
Hes a fossil
Gee thats nearly 40 years ago…showing my age
Hes a fossil
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