Home Ground situation needs to change

[Deleted member 3518]

@cochise mate , I’m not getting into an argument with you !
Only the first part was directly related to a quote you said , the rest was a direct comment of the general negativity . And most of the posts I read of magpies are usually pretty intelligent and to the point .
Of course he wants a return to the magpies it’s whats familiar. I’m assuming he’s close to 40 or above , that’s what he knows.
But like many things , the way we remember things is usually extremely inaccurate, and often with rose coloured glasses .
You are always running into fights with people dude , just chill out and respect an alternate view .
The comment about the return to Cambo is a view shared by many. I personally don’t agree , but I respect the view point . I prefer to stay towards the inner west , but does that mean I want a return to Balmain ?
Nope I just think that’s the better choice. Most of the clubs in Melbourne are toward the inner city and they play out of 2 grounds , I don’t see the problem .

 

[jirskyr]

I like ANZ, always have, and I'm not super fussed about the "atmosphere" with smaller crowds. It's still pretty noisy, just not as good as when it's full.

My main complaint about ANZ is the lack of direct trains, having to go to Central then Lidcombe then Olympic sprinter, which I think they will change in the next few years with rail works.

We can judge again when ANZ is refurbed, but I'd be happy to go there full-time.

I went to every Wankbest match this year and the place is Nouvelle Parra Stadium. And I have to walk through Parra shops to get there. Only upside is fast trains from Central. But overall, no thanks, don't care how slick the stadium itself is.

Because WB will be only the 3rd-newest stadium in Sydney in about 5 years.

 

[cochise]

Only the first part was directly related to a quote you said , the rest was a direct comment of the general negativity

Then I suggest you structure your post to be better understood as the way you structured that paragraph implied that I along with others were making those types of posts.

The comment about the return to Cambo is a view shared by many. I personally don’t agree , but I respect the view point . I prefer to stay towards the inner west , but does that mean I want a return to Balmain ?

I have no problem with people expressing a view to making CSS our homeground, I used to hold that view myself. I do have a problem with people who openly state that they would like to see the return of the Wests Magpies name, I will argue against that.

You are always running into fights with people dude , just chill out and respect an alternate view .

Not really fights mate, I really enjoy debating differing views and I am opinionated. That sometimes leads to my posting style coming across as argumentative, I'm ok with that. I will always strongly debate people who harbour views and agendas that are disruptive to the foundations of our club!

 

[Needaname]

I get the argument.
There’s merit in staying put and fighting for our slice of the corporate pie currently split between Parra, Dogs, Souths and Roosters.
The closer we stay to the ‘city of Sydney’ The more attractive our club is as a destination for sponsorship and player recruitment.
I get the feeling the NRL really only want about 4- 6 clubs in the Sydney Basin.
Based on the way they have positioned their stadia it’s safe to say. Easts and Parra are their number one clubs.
Penrith is isolated so it’s safe.
There is no club representing the north so Manly is said to be safe. However if the roosters got their way I’d say they would want to have feeder juniors from central coast all the way down the pacific hwy to Sydney city..
South Sydney is safe on profile.
So we are left with
Us
Bulldogs
Saints
Cronulla-Sutherland.

Now I realise that relocation has become a muted topic recently so their is probably no need for this analysis but I want to focus on the Bulldogs.
This club sits smack bang in the middle of our territories.
In a location that is probably one of the least desirable of Sydney.
Fed by juniors of the same region.
Plays all their home games 20 K’s away from their traditional heartland at ANZ.
Why are the Bulldogs never spoken about in relocation?
Why don’t they lobby for a rebuild of Belmore Park?
Why can they have followers from such a small surface area yet they are considered a power club of Sydney?

So the point Is I guess. Does it matter where you pull up shop? You just need to make sure you have a competitive product and you run your business better then anyone else in your market you’ll always end up favourable.

Relocation to North, South or out of Sydney isn’t going to work fullstop if we lack the best people on board to achieve it.

Then there is the other side.
Moving closer to Wests’ heartland in Campbelltown / Macarthur.
I live close to Penrith and i see first hand how the community of a small town, which has grown to a small city over the last 10 years embrace a one town team. Although still part of Sydney the locals wouldn’t see it that way. The club is viewed much like a Newcastle or Townsville and far removed from the Sydney circus.
The thing is though the Panthers were established in Penrith and support and location has never wavered. The locals have been able to follow the same club in the area from 1966.

Much different to the Macarthur region.

I know it’s silly to say that we should just continue on the same path but really we probably should. If the NRL wants a club to be based out in the Macarthur region well stand firm until they enforce it.

By then the Macarthur Bulls have probably tasted success and might start lobbying for an rebuild / upgrade / increase in capacity to Campbelltown Stadium. And like Parramatta we can sit back wait for it to happen then ensure we’re ready to take full advantage of it when it arrives.

We won’t be in Bankwest forever.

 

[gallagher]

But surely even blind Freddie must be able to see there is NO better alternative, than for our Wests Tigers fortress to be located in C’town.

Campbelltown has never accepted a team playing there and have had a very long time to do so!

When the merger first happened good crowds attended
matches at CSS games were shared with LO with good crowds attending then some good intentioned person struck a deal with ANZ whilst this was a financial decision it alienated a number of supporters and caused a drop off in attendace at matches due to the quality of games on offer at both CSS & LO I think particularly with CSS I myself discontinued being a season ticket holder.With a similar sharing of games between CSS and LO in the future crowds would return.Whilst Bankwest Stadium is a wonderful venue it will never be home and playing PARRAMATTA there is ludicrous

Seasons 2001, 2002 and 2003 we got crowd ave of 9k, 9k and 8k at campbo. In 2004 when we started playing at ANZ , Campbo averaged 13k.

 

[Harvey]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Good luck with Campbelltown it just has been rated the worst ground by fans in Sydney ... so unless someone has 40 million plus to knock it down and rebuild its a pipe dream ! Leichhardt 3rd Bankwest 1st .

Thats why we need to get in with the new A league franchise their major backer is in construction and has already said things will be happening at CSS .Its worked out well for the Wanderers with Bankwest and you can bet your life no A league team will want to share a home ground it all about tribalism and you can also bet they will want to keep up with Sydney FC and WSW

The new A-League franchise with the construction backer is the Western United outfit from Melbourne.

Macarthur FC don't have an owner or major sponsor yet.

Details of Mavarthur FC
WHO'S BEHIND IT: Billionaire property developer Lang Walker's decision to come on board was pivotal, adding financial muscle to the bid fronted by Potentia Capital director Gino Marra. Ex-Socceroos Brett Emerton and Nick Carle gave the bid its football nous.

This is why we need to get together and talk they are already building a COE

I searched prior to making my post so that must have slipped through. Nothing official on their website or on Wikipedia. I know ProBuild are the major sponsor for Western United. Can you post the link for this?

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/how-macarthur-southwest-sydney-secured-an-aleague-licence-for-the-201920-season/news-story/d0e7acf514ba6a5b1babba2ad2de53d8

Thanks.

Article was from last year. MFC have been hopeless in announcing anything. Off topic, ol' Nicky Carle fattened up after retiring...

 

[gallagher]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.

 

[jirskyr]

since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)

I'm not a resident, but isn't part of the challenge that Campbelltown is itself full of "blow-ins"? By this I mean that a large % of SW Sydney, as well as W and NW Sydney are new movers; wherever there's new land and a big growth in new houses, people come in from all over, particularly immigrants. They don't yet have a long-term association with the area nor rugby league, or they bring their existing league team with them.

I'm not saying that Wests shouldn't do everything they can to engage the area, but also the NRL is equally responsible for public engagement.

You can say what you will about GWS, but AFL have pumped millions and millions into their expansion sides, including 5-6 years of salary cap allowances, and AFL itself has invested many millions in the general development of AFL in Sydney.

You can sleight the NRL and clubs for that, but everyone knows that AFL has more money to drop simply because of their consistently higher crowds and long-term high membership rates (TV deals being about equal in the last years).

However, AFL expansion crowds are fairly stagnant, around 11-12K, and I certainly would not say that the Giants are making big dents in Western Sydney, not anything like the Wanderers have been able to achieve, despite Giants being a legit successful team recently (I had to look that part up because I don't follow AFL at all, I wouldn't have a clue who is good or otherwise).

The "best juniors" argument is just silly, IMO. If you have a large population area then all clubs are going to come looking for talent. Penrith don't retain all far West kids, Parra don't retain all midwest kids, Wests don't retain all SW kids etc.

You know all the other stories - Hoffman was at Magpies but his Dad knows Craig Bellamy and they headhunted him. Hayne ended up at Westfield Sports, which isn't even in the Macarthur, and played for Cabramatta as a junior, which is Parramatta district. Folau moved to Brisbane when he was 15, for his Dad's work, and played Junior QLD - nothing you can do about that. For every Hoffman and Hayne who ever lived in Macarthur, there are also plenty that do end up entrenched at Wests - Rowdy, Nofo, Bryce Gibbs etc.

 

[Harvey]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.

Yes and GWS may even benefit through those engaged fans traveling to watch games or buying merchandise.

 

[cqtiger]

I still don’t know why Rockhampton isn’t considered. We’ll be able to pick the eyes out of the Capras talent and get some graziers to bank roll us.

Oh, and I live in town ?

How big is your backyard? Could you fit a boutique stadium in?

My block is 800 square.
I even have a back upstairs deck (members stand)

Bindii’s are a bugger though (no rain)

 

[Harvey]

since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)

I'm not a resident, but isn't part of the challenge that Campbelltown is itself full of "blow-ins"? By this I mean that a large % of SW Sydney, as well as W and NW Sydney are new movers; wherever there's new land and a big growth in new houses, people come in from all over, particularly immigrants. They don't yet have a long-term association with the area nor rugby league, or they bring their existing league team with them.

I'm not saying that Wests shouldn't do everything they can to engage the area, but also the NRL is equally responsible for public engagement.

You can say what you will about GWS, but AFL have pumped millions and millions into their expansion sides, including 5-6 years of salary cap allowances, and AFL itself has invested many millions in the general development of AFL in Sydney.

You can sleight the NRL and clubs for that, but everyone knows that AFL has more money to drop simply because of their consistently higher crowds and long-term high membership rates (TV deals being about equal in the last years).

However, AFL expansion crowds are fairly stagnant, around 11-12K, and I certainly would not say that the Giants are making big dents in Western Sydney, not anything like the Wanderers have been able to achieve, despite Giants being a legit successful team recently (I had to look that part up because I don't follow AFL at all, I wouldn't have a clue who is good or otherwise).

The "best juniors" argument is just silly, IMO. If you have a large population area then all clubs are going to come looking for talent. Penrith don't retain all far West kids, Parra don't retain all midwest kids, Wests don't retain all SW kids etc.

You know all the other stories - Hoffman was at Magpies but his Dad knows Craig Bellamy and they headhunted him. Hayne ended up at Westfield Sports, which isn't even in the Macarthur, and played for Cabramatta as a junior, which is Parramatta district. Folau moved to Brisbane when he was 15, for his Dad's work, and played Junior QLD - nothing you can do about that. For every Hoffman and Hayne who ever lived in Macarthur, there are also plenty that do end up entrenched at Wests - Rowdy, Nofo, Bryce Gibbs etc.

I do not think recent arrival means someone is a blow in. But rather someone with no attachment to or no investment in the community.

 

[TheDaBoss]

I still don’t know why Rockhampton isn’t considered. We’ll be able to pick the eyes out of the Capras talent and get some graziers to bank roll us.

Oh, and I live in town ?

How big is your backyard? Could you fit a boutique stadium in?


My block is 800 square.
I even have a back upstairs deck (members stand)

Bindii’s are a bugger though (no rain)

u checked for abestos?

 

[cqtiger]

I still don’t know why Rockhampton isn’t considered. We’ll be able to pick the eyes out of the Capras talent and get some graziers to bank roll us.

Oh, and I live in town ?

How big is your backyard? Could you fit a boutique stadium in?


My block is 800 square.
I even have a back upstairs deck (members stand)

Bindii’s are a bugger though (no rain)

u checked for abestos?

It’s not Brookvale but it’s an older house so there’s probably some there.

 

[cktiger]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

**The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.**

It all goes back to whoever the dope was who named the merged teams.
Both the AFL and soccer teams acknowledge the area they represent.
IMO we should have been called The Western Tigers... still would have kept both sides happy.
Campbelltown and Macarthur just don't seem to want to get on board.

 

[gallagher]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.


Yes and GWS may even benefit through those engaged fans traveling to watch games or buying merchandise.

I'm sure they will.

 

[jirskyr]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

**The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.**

It all goes back to whoever the dope was who named the merged teams.
Both the AFL and soccer teams acknowledge the area they represent.
IMO we should have been called The Western Tigers... still would have kept both sides happy.
Campbelltown and Macarthur just don't seem to want to get on board.

I am pretty certain that the Magpies part of the merger pushed for Wests, not Western.

And I note that it's all well and good for GWS and Wanderers to be "Western", because their inter-city competition are very clearly based in the middle of town. Western Tigers, well sheesh, what does that make the Panthers and Eels?

Not that I disagree with you in terms of the name I still think Wests Tigers is an awkward thing to say, as a formal team name.

But if the team name is enough to turn people away, it's a weak reason. Wests is close enough, surely? It doesn't have any alternative or vague meaning. You can't be thinking that Wests Tigers are a team from the North. I mean, the Doggies are Canterbury-Bankstown but play at Belmore Oval, so where is the representation of Belmore? South Sydney are more like middle Sydney, being well North of both Dragons and Sharks.

 

[cktiger]

As a long time follower and resident of Campbelltown I will point out a few perceptions and historical views:
- the old magpies moved to Campbelltown around 1986, they were generally a financially poor and underperforming club
- they did however embrace the community and people felt an attachment, particularly through watching kids they knew from juniors coming through under 21’s and into grade
- the team was visible with training in the local community and Tommy was a regular at the leagues club, sinking schooners with and offering greyhound tips to the locals
- crowds were on par with other teams at that point and surged when the team performed during the Warren Ryan years of some success
- since the merger there is a perception that the club are blow ins in the area
- there is very little engagement with or visibility in the local area (the upcoming holiday camps are another example)
- the best juniors, whose exploits are known from an early age through local media, are not identified and nurtured and eventually turn up at other clubs (Hayne, Falou, Hoffman, Paea bros to name a few)
- the scheduling of games (which the club has little control over) is terrible with the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys regular opponents. The closest thing to local derby’s are the raiders or Penrith playing there.

So the crowd you end up with are diehard magpie fan, tigers fans that can be bothered travelling, opposition fans that travel and league mad kids that can convince their parents to take them.

While the area is growing a lot of new residents already follow another club or do not follow league.

A generation of potential tigers fans has already been lost through the lack of engagement. There are a lot of young families with kids and the club is not engaging those kids.

I have children in year 2 and year 5. They both know who the GWS giants are and have trawled through player profiles online to identify players that visited for Auskick sessions.

The youngest is currently undergoing a 4 week soccer skills program with Western Sydney Wanderers players (male and female) attending the school to work with the kids.

My oldest has seen tigers players at the school once, and when I read the names in the school newsletter it was 2 under 20’s players and a reserve grader.

As a club your brand, fan base and crowds need to be grown by success, recognition and engagement and the club is not ticking any of those boxes in the MacArthur region.

You would likely get a bigger crowd to a Souths v Cronulla game

**The wanderers and the giants don't play games in Campbo though. It shows you can engage the community without playing there.**

It all goes back to whoever the dope was who named the merged teams.
Both the AFL and soccer teams acknowledge the area they represent.
IMO we should have been called The Western Tigers... still would have kept both sides happy.
Campbelltown and Macarthur just don't seem to want to get on board.

I am pretty certain that the Magpies part of the merger pushed for Wests, not Western.

And I note that it's all well and good for GWS and Wanderers to be "Western", because their inter-city competition are very clearly based in the middle of town. Western Tigers, well sheesh, what does that make the Panthers and Eels?

Not that I disagree with you in terms of the name I still think Wests Tigers is an awkward thing to say, as a formal team name.

But if the team name is enough to turn people away, it's a weak reason. Wests is close enough, surely? It doesn't have any alternative or vague meaning. You can't be thinking that Wests Tigers are a team from the North. I mean, the Doggies are Canterbury-Bankstown but play at Belmore Oval, so where is the representation of Belmore? South Sydney are more like middle Sydney, being well North of both Dragons and Sharks.

I know where you're getting at but the brains trusts at both GWS and the Wanderers thought differently and it seems to have worked for them.
I've always thought the name was awkward - you even still see supporters mucking up the name.
As for Belmore Oval.. it's a suburb right in the heart of the Canterbury- Bankstown area and Souths were named in 1908, when they really were south of Sydney... and there wasn't too much of anything further out.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I think the thought process behind Wests instead of Western was it put more Magpie identity in the name. You could call them Wests as well as the Tigers. Whereas with the Western Tigers, they would exclusively be referred as the Tigers. You can't call them Western.

 

[jirskyr]

GWS and the Wanderers thought differently and it seems to have worked for them.

Those clubs weren't mergers.