Chammas Article

[Ron Brodrick's Spirit]

Still not a peep about Stapleton I see?
Must be his acceptable haircut.

 

[Tom Shines]

Still not a peep about Stapleton I see?
Must be his acceptable haircut.

Who? One of the dinosaurs I have dismissed? I hate both sides equally …

 

[Tiger-ferret]

Freddy absolutely cut us to pieces that night.
I've never seen a bloke playing his 1st game put on a show that he did.

Not even Galvin?

 

[Lestronge]

I agree that Wests Tigers are the future, but that doesn't mean that Magpie people and their lower grade teams should cease to exist.
I'm as Wests Tigers as anyone on here.
However the joint venture agreement gave both clubs that right. It's a shame that Balmain no longer has the capacity to fund teams (I really mean that) but I don't understand why people begrudge those that enjoy watching the Magpies play having that.

It’s not they begrudge it . I don’t ! It’s what’s the point of it ? Like who’s it serving ? It doesn’t serve the players . It doesn’t serve the club , it doesn’t even really serve the fans , if you’re under 45. And how many of those tragics get out to lidcombe to watch them anyway . It fosters division and unnecessary separation . As long as we are stuck in the past we will never have a future. Balmain has died a natural death, which IMO is for the greater good .
Now we have too many old men clinging to a jersey that hasn’t really seen the light of day in 25 years.
The kids of this club need to visualise a pathway to first grade . They need to wear the same jersey that thier hero’s do in luai and Bula and Latu etc. But they can’t .. because some 70 year old , wants to go out to lidcombe once a year , and reminisce about the time Les Boyd took someone’s head off .. or the time in 1982 in the Tooheys cup on a Wednesday X player did Y thing …. How cool …
Meanwhile more and more kids are growing up and failing to associate the team they represent in February march and April every year , with the one they follow on the tv. ESPECIALLY if they don’t follow the nrl team . Now they don’t have loyalty to thier childhood club , and they don’t have loyalty to the area they represent because the nrl jersey isn’t the same as the one they wore with thier mates when they were 17.
It’s as simple as that .
People think “oh what wank, it’s clearly the same team” … but it’s no different to motivational posters put up in the club or mottos or team values above the door .
It’s a visual aid . And the best visual aid is the jersey and emblem being one and the same !
Especially with the wests kids ! The very kids who wear the magpies jersey . They’re the ones who have the least loyalty to the club. You could blame it on a million things , the geopolitical environment they’re in , the transient nature of the people who move there ; the clubs failings in capturing the hearts and minds of the area, the poor atmosphere at the stadium , and lack of wins . The general poor place in which wests tigers sits in the zeitgeist … all of it . But it starts with the kids are wearing the wrong jersey! It’s such a simple fix …

 

[cktiger]

Still not a peep about Stapleton I see?
Must be his acceptable haircut.

Last thing I recall was Stapleton shooting down Gary Leo’s call about Balmain going it alone.
“Balmain is fully supportive of the joint venture with the Holman Barnes Group, the Wests Magpies group and more importantly Wests Tigers.

“We want nothing but sustained success for Wests Tigers and we have a wonderful working relationship with Holman Barnes.”

Elias also was quoted as saying it was nonsense.

This from the SMH recently though…
“Dennis Burgess – who last year said he wanted to bring back the Western Suburbs Magpies – is the new chairman at Wests Ashfield.”

 

[BZN]

all these people on both sides are over 60… they won’t be around forever, and the club will finally be free

Wests Tigers - No Country for Old Men

Over 60? Mate, some of the finest rugby league plays were drawn up by blokes with more candles than teeth.
Age doesn't cloud vision...but agendas certainly do.

 

[Tom Shines]

Age doesn't cloud vision...but agendas certainly do.

So why do you have one ?

Give it another 20 years and the Magpies and Balmain will just be a distant memory in an old Big League magazine

 

[BZN]

So why do you have one ?

Give it another 20 years and the Magpies and Balmain will just be a distant memory in an old Big League magazine

Why do I have an agenda? Because someone has to.

When many are trying to rewrite Wests Magpies legacy and their heartland discarded like surplus stock, silence isn't neutrality...it's surrender.

The Black and White watchtower doesn't do passive as much as it used to.

It stands for continuity, accountability, and the belief that a club should honor its roots, not erase them for convenience.

 

[cochise]

Why do I have an agenda? Because someone has to.

When many are trying to rewrite Wests Magpies legacy and their heartland discarded like surplus stock, silence isn't neutrality...it's surrender.

The Black and White watchtower doesn't do passive as much as it used to.

It stands for continuity, accountability, and the belief that a club should honor its roots, not erase them for convenience.

See accountability was exactly what the petition and review was about, you should have welcomed it.

 

[BZN]

Last thing I recall was Stapleton shooting down Gary Leo’s call about Balmain going it alone.
“Balmain is fully supportive of the joint venture with the Holman Barnes Group, the Wests Magpies group and more importantly Wests Tigers.

“We want nothing but sustained success for Wests Tigers and we have a wonderful working relationship with Holman Barnes.”

Elias also was quoted as saying it was nonsense.

This from the SMH recently though…
“Dennis Burgess – who last year said he wanted to bring back the Western Suburbs Magpies – is the new chairman at Wests Ashfield.”

Who are you quoting with "Balmain is fully supportive" etc.

 

[Tom Shines]

Why do I have an agenda? Because someone has to.

When many are trying to rewrite Wests Magpies legacy and their heartland discarded like surplus stock, silence isn't neutrality...it's surrender.

See ..talk like this does nothing to improve your argument .. no one I see is trying to “rewrite “ anything… not many care to be honest …particularly here …and you say there are “many”…. I think this is just made up to try to “justify “ your “agenda”

Before you start, not many care about Balmain either ,.. things get superseded unfortunately …both old clubs are from a previous generation just like type writers , landlines, VHS tapes and interstate train travel…its sad but it sometimes happens …

 

[BZN]

See ..talk like this does nothing to improve your argument .. no one I see is trying to “rewrite “ anything… not many care to be honest …particularly here …and you say there are “many”…. I think this is just made up to try to “justify “ your “agenda”

Before you start, not many care about Balmain either ,.. things get superseded unfortunately …both old clubs are from a previous generation just like type writers , landlines, VHS tapes and interstate train travel…its sad but it sometimes happens …

Tom, if agendas are such a concern, I'd be curious why we haven't heard from Wests Tigers Unite, led by Gary Watson, in light of what appeared to me to be an attempted board takeover, that failed.

That wasn't just background noise...it was Imo a deliberate move to change the governance structure and shift control away from Wests Magpies/HBG.

And let's not forget the 3 rebellious board members who took Wests/HBG to court over their dismissal.

If those aren't clear agendas, I don't know what is.
And I'm confident their challenge will fall short too.

 

[Tom Shines]

Tom, if agendas are such a concern, I'd be curious why we haven't heard from Wests Tigers Unite, led by Gary Watson, in light of what appeared to me to be an attempted board takeover, that failed.

That wasn't just background noise...it was Imo a deliberate move to change the governance structure and shift control away from Wests Magpies/HBG.

And let's not forget the 3 rebellious board members who took Wests/HBG to court over their dismissal.

If those aren't clear agendas, I don't know what is.
And I'm confident their challenge will fall short too.

The WT board takeover succeeded… it’s now independent… your man Richo drove that though .. otherwise he wasn’t going to sign up… HBG saluted him like Terrell May and said “yes sir”!

 

[cochise]

Tom, if agendas are such a concern, I'd be curious why we haven't heard from Wests Tigers Unite, led by Gary Watson, in light of what appeared to me to be an attempted board takeover, that failed.

That wasn't just background noise...it was Imo a deliberate move to change the governance structure and shift control away from Wests Magpies/HBG.

And let's not forget the 3 rebellious board members who took Wests/HBG to court over their dismissal.

If those aren't clear agendas, I don't know what is.
And I'm confident their challenge will fall short too.

Board takeover? What are you talking about? We wanted independence for the Wests Tigers from a dysfunctional rabble. That has been achieved.

 

[BZN]

I’m glad @Jolls has a role in club dealings and not me. He’s far more considered, composed and diplomatic.

I agree with you re @Jolls.
But anyone that has a photo of the late great John Dallas Gentle Giant and Larrikin OFF the field Donnelly attached to their post is what this forum needs more of😀.

 

[BZN]

The WT board takeover succeeded… it’s now independent… your man Richo drove that though .. otherwise he wasn’t going to sign up… HBG saluted him like Terrell May and said “yes sir”!

OK, fair enough, thank you.

 

[diedpretty]

I see Cameron Ciraldo is having a sook about the way the media treated Galvon after his piss poor game last week. Tough. Thankfully Anasta and a few others called him out and virtually told him to suck eggs.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I see Cameron Ciraldo is having a sook about the way the media treated Galvon after his piss poor game last week. Tough. Thankfully Anasta and a few others called him out and virtually told him to suck eggs.

He'd be sensitive because this is self-inflicted.

 

[TSP]

I agree with you re @Jolls.
But anyone that has a photo of the late great John Dallas Gentle Giant and Larrikin OFF the field Donnelly attached to their post is what this forum needs more of😀.

They are out there.

We should be very proud of the person he was as much as his on field toughness.

A bit of sparkle in his game too.

That’s the problem with today’s game, there’s not enough variation and a lot of forwards are robotic.

The folk who don’t want to take this into the future with us, who want to throw it away like trash, they ..

Ef me, just been a shooting up the Mt Druitt mall. I was in the car park!

Trying to live your life and people are being gunned down publicly. Ffs.

 

[TigerJunior4]

The only public division I ever see comes from Elias, Roach, Gary Leo and the Mayor of Leichhardt.
There's a common connection there.
Maybe those who constantly aim their poison darts at Magpies need to redirect their venom.

I don’t see any of those people bitching and moaning about the black and white representation on the jersey or the fact the Wests Tigers don’t have a big enough Magpie emblem.

Seems to be a trait of flog Magpie supporters from pre-2000 that can’t accept reality and the fact their team hasn’t been in first grade since then.