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Joint venture ticks all the right boxes on and off the field
DANIEL LANE
March 14, 2010
The signing of Lote Tuqiri, a proposed trial match in Asia next year, being a million dollars better placed than this time last year, a 50 per cent rise in supporter memberships, a "full kit" of sponsors allied with the retention of such stars as Robbie Farrar and Benji Marshall - all are proof Wests Tigers are no longer the poor cousins of Sydney's NRL clubs.
"That's where we deserve to be and that's where we want to be," said Wests Tigers chief Stephen Humphreys of his club's triple-A status.
"People like Lote don't make uninformed decisions. He has a good management company behind him who do their homework, and the boxes they needed to tick with us included the [financial] security and the financial health of the business, the people involved in the business, our existing sponsors and future."
Tigers marketing manager Brett Clarke said the corporate and fan support for the joint venture heralded the club's arrival into the code's big league.
The fact they've splashed out to lure Tuqiri, along with signing Marshall to a six-year deal while securing most of their roster to new contracts, contrasts with the penny-pinching days of 2003 when new coach Tim Sheens, his assistant Royce Simmons, and other football club officials painted the Concord Oval gymnasium's walls and scavenged local gyms for old equipment to save cash.
"Sponsorship-wise we're almost a million dollars up on this time last year, and that is despite the global financial crisis and economic gloom around the world," Clarke said. "From a membership point of view, we're up 50 per cent on last year [5,500], so that means the top tier of our grandstands at Campbelltown and Leichhardt are now sold, which means we have guaranteed revenue and our members get the best seats."
Skipper Farrah, who last year shunned offers from rival clubs to sign a five-season deal, admitted the front office had exceeded his expectations. "There is a lot of stability and ambition here," Farrar said. "One of the major issues in my staying or not was the ambition of the club and [its] move forward.''
DANIEL LANE
March 14, 2010
The signing of Lote Tuqiri, a proposed trial match in Asia next year, being a million dollars better placed than this time last year, a 50 per cent rise in supporter memberships, a "full kit" of sponsors allied with the retention of such stars as Robbie Farrar and Benji Marshall - all are proof Wests Tigers are no longer the poor cousins of Sydney's NRL clubs.
"That's where we deserve to be and that's where we want to be," said Wests Tigers chief Stephen Humphreys of his club's triple-A status.
"People like Lote don't make uninformed decisions. He has a good management company behind him who do their homework, and the boxes they needed to tick with us included the [financial] security and the financial health of the business, the people involved in the business, our existing sponsors and future."
Tigers marketing manager Brett Clarke said the corporate and fan support for the joint venture heralded the club's arrival into the code's big league.
The fact they've splashed out to lure Tuqiri, along with signing Marshall to a six-year deal while securing most of their roster to new contracts, contrasts with the penny-pinching days of 2003 when new coach Tim Sheens, his assistant Royce Simmons, and other football club officials painted the Concord Oval gymnasium's walls and scavenged local gyms for old equipment to save cash.
"Sponsorship-wise we're almost a million dollars up on this time last year, and that is despite the global financial crisis and economic gloom around the world," Clarke said. "From a membership point of view, we're up 50 per cent on last year [5,500], so that means the top tier of our grandstands at Campbelltown and Leichhardt are now sold, which means we have guaranteed revenue and our members get the best seats."
Skipper Farrah, who last year shunned offers from rival clubs to sign a five-season deal, admitted the front office had exceeded his expectations. "There is a lot of stability and ambition here," Farrar said. "One of the major issues in my staying or not was the ambition of the club and [its] move forward.''
