@Gary Bakerloo said:
@TigersAreTerrific said:
I didn't "forget" to mention the rebranding as the Sydney Tigers because I was trying to be respectful of former magpies supporters. The rebranding of the Balmain Tigers to the Sydney Tigers was before its time. We will soon be competing against the Western Panthers and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. The Wests Tigers brand is being eroded. We may as well return to Sydney Tigers and try to appeal a much broader base than just Campbelltown. We are competing for supporters across the NRL landscape, the days of local teams are gone.
Sydney Tigers was not ahead of its time, its just got blown out of the water by the Roosters and to a lesser extend Canterbury. Balmain tried something different and it failed and perhaps it was fate it did fail because the Wests Tigers brand is much better. To go back to "Sydney Tigers" would kill this club as we would then be in direct competition with the Roosters for sponsorship, not to mention losing control over a large portion of our current junior pool (I would envisage Canterbury or Penrith would get the Macarthur junior leagues). As much as the Roosters may not have juniors etc, they have effective off field management and some very heavy corporate support. In addition, the game is looking to further rationalise and reduce the number of teams in Sydney, why put all our eggs in one basket and go head to head with the Roosters? Believe me, we will not win.
Wests Tigers brand is perfect and it continues to build, not erode. It provides a differentiation from the inner city market, but does not completely dislocate the club from this area. So your comment that we should "try to appeal to a much broader base than just Campbelltown" is ludicrous, because the club is already doing this with a blend of sponsorship and fans across Sydney - the entire focus is not Campbelltown and rightly so.
At this point in time, Wests Tigers are pushing up towards being
a glamour club (all bias aside). We have super stars, Benji Marshall,
Lote Tuquri and to a lesser extent Robbie Farah. We have a super high
profile guy in Beau Ryan (possibly more important than the even Benji).
We are running hot (one premiership, last two seasons top four, this
year heading in the right direction). We have a good brand.
It depends what Penrith does, but Snake hit it a couple of posts back.
The "Wests Sydney Tigers". Penrith are going to look to leech off our
brand. It is a club with next to no supporters, the poker machine revenue
is drying up and has as much future as cigarette advertising. What they
have are "potential supporters" in the greater west. They tried to kill
Wests Magpies by joining "super league" along with "Cronulla". Penrith
are a desperate and filthy club that needs to be watched. Cronulla will
die soon, but Penrith will survive by virtue of being in the West.
The Sydney Tigers didn't get blown out of the water by the Roosters. Balmain
spent the best part of 10 years winning and made two grand finals. They
spent ten years with a team of state of origin and Australian
players. When they started losing the crowds disappeared. I would love to
see the Tigers go head to head with the Roosters. The move from being
known by suburb to being known by emblem has been enormously damaging for
the Roosters ie. Moving from Easts versus Balmain to Tigers versus Roosters
has hurt them not us. Kids don't dream about being a chicken. Their
major sponsor is steggles for crying out loud. They have the corporate
market in chicken sales covered and have no supporters. Nobody cares
about the Roosters except Nick Politis. He has been around for a long time,
and when he goes, so will the Roosters.
The Wests Tigers brand being perfect doesn't hold. Things change and we need
to stay ahead of those changes. We are moving out in front and we need to
stay there. We can't just close shop regarding branding as you suggest.
