@bigsiro said:
One thing I often wonder is if we had taken the stance of the Rabbitohs. They refused to merge and accepted being in isolation. As we all know they were later re-instated.
I regret that we didn't have the balls to do that.
For both clubs, it was not a lack of balls, but a lack of money. Neither club had the financial reserve nor high net worth individuals to mount what ended up being a high court case. Western Suburbs had effectively been fighting the game's administration from 1908 and with Ashfield's decision in the early 80's to cut funding to player salaries and the lack of big sponsors in the late 1990's, the club was effectively financially exhausted after the Super League war. You probably know more about the Balmain experience than me, but given what has occurred recently, Balmain was probably 10 years behind Wests when it came to the financial position.
Interestingly and someone can correct me if wrong, but the High Court decision for Souths meant all clubs excluded by the NRL at the end of 1999, could have demanded reinstatement. Wests and Balmain decided against as they obviously felt the merger was the best way forward. All other teams (eg: Gold Coast) did not have the means to reapply.
The decision by Ashfield to cut contributions in the 1980's and to make the merger put them, as a Leagues club, ahead of many other leagues clubs in realising that pumping money into a football club does not make for a profitable business. Many other clubs continued to make large contributions to football clubs and many are now on their knees (eg: Manly, Souths, Cronulla). Those hard decisions are now paying dividends for both Wests Ashfield and the merger. Wests Ashfield and Campbelltown are now very profitable and despite Balmain Leagues struggling, the strength of Ashfield and Campbelltown buys Balmain Leagues time to get their business running profitably again whilst retaining their connection to the NRL. This only helps further secure Wests Tigers future and gives the game's administration absolutely no excuse to move our team from our traditional areas.
Back to Souths, we still have a community based ownership model with the Football Clubs and Leagues Clubs being the major shareholders. You can walk into Wests Ashfield, Campbelltown & Balmain Leagues, buy a beer and know you are contributing to your NRL club and local area. Souths required private ownership to continue along and they are run by individuals who could walk away tomorrow. Much prefer our model.
