Does anyone else no longer care? What makes you continue to show up?

[tigeress]

Personally I haven't checked out, but I don't watch every game in full at the moment, not since the finals charge ended this year.

My kids won't leave me in peace so it's hard to watch matches live; it's not exactly a negative thing, they just jump about and ask a million questions, it makes the viewing experience even more tense. They certainly will never go to bed if the footy is on, so 8pm kickoffs are terrible.

So I often watch on delay. That then means I'm always highly at risk of finding out the score from my phone messages, so I need to stay away from my phone as well.

I am a full member but I don't live in Sydney any more, so the trek back to Sydney is a big undertaking if we are playing badly. I am usually pretty consistent early in the year, but for example I recently skipped the Eels and Warriors matches. Warriors because it was a Friday night at Campbo - not my favourite and taxing after work. Eels because I hate playing Eels at Parramatta Stadium, it's the worst decision ever. Freezing cold and it's their bloody home ground.

I'll be back on task Rd 1 2027. I will probably never give up, though it is deflating, I am ever optimistic. And it's kind of like lottery, if I ever stop watching, for sure they'd start winning again and I'd regret it. There must surely come a time when Tigers are good again, for some decent stretch of time?

I started following Balmain in the 80s, we've been so ordinary for so long, we've only made the Finals 8 times since I started in 1986 (86-90, 2005, 2010-11) - 19.5% success rate. I am used to it unfortunately. In some ways it does make the Finals series less stressful to watch.

To follow this crazy club you have to be optimistic don't you !

And we were for a little while this season when they were on their unbelievable winning streak, we were all so hopeful then, but I think we were all wondering when it was going to end, that's being a bit pessimistic isn't it.....but that's because we follow WT's and probably will continue to do so as long as we live, but we don't have to like a lot of the stuff that is going on, in and around the club, and I think we should remain vocal about those things

 

[Jimmy]

100% haven’t even been on the forum this week which is odd for me. I think that us supporters have lived off delusional hope for so long that now we can’t even do that anymore. To play finals 3 times and not since 2011 is a joke. To then make the wrong decisions with management and operations constantly is just a total disrespect to the fans.

For me I just don’t think I can feel the disappointment of supporting the club with all I’ve got anymore. Will always be a Tiger and could never support another club but I suppose my attention will be shifted elsewhere for now. A break from riding every emotional low that comes with being a supporter of the Wests Tigers.

 

[jirskyr]

To follow this crazy club you have to be optimistic don't you !

And we were for a little while this season when they were on their unbelievable winning streak, we were all so hopeful then, but I think we were all wondering when it was going to end, that's being a bit pessimistic isn't it.....but that's because we follow WT's and probably will continue to do so as long as we live, but we don't have to like a lot of the stuff that is going on, in and around the club, and I think we should remain vocal about those things

I fell into the trap of hoping they'd be able to keep it up.

It was simple things - sticking in the tackle, line speed, low errors. The starting roster, less injuries, is decent on paper.

I hoped dearly that we wouldn't derail after that match where Doueihi and Samuela got injured, with Bula injured and Api suspended, but that's when it all fell apart. The hiding from Cronulla was the turning point. There's something dreadfully wrong if you start giving up 50 points in a match. Apart from the obvious "you can't win the comp if you concede 50" statistic, conceding 50 means there are match conditions that your team simply cannot handle, and every team will try to exploit those conditions from there on. Rugby League is unforgiving, there's no way back from a flogging except herculean athletic efforts and concentration.

So I had hoped this year was different - different approach, better roster than last year, and we finished with 9W last year which was a huge improvement after 3 spoons. I wondered if Benji could be effective being more of a man-manager (a la Wayne Bennett) than the hard-nosed approach we got with Madge.

But no, we'll be lucky to get another win this year, and almost certainly will not convert the current 7 wins into 9. Last year we had 4W 5L from the last 9 rounds. This year we already have the 5L for the last 9, with Roosters and Panthers still to come, plus Cowboys and Dragons.