Lost opportunity in Macarthur

[Tiger5150]

I agree that this was a lost opportunity to enmesh ourselves in the area, but does anyone know how much this opportunity cost?

Good opportunities are not good at any cost.

 

[jirskyr]

Sounds like a Mickey Mouse initiative to me.

I agree. Souths "partnering" with an A-League team that hasn't played a match yet.

If you read the text of the article, the primary outcomes of the partnership are reciprocal access to matches and 5% off merchandise. Tigers already had a merchandise store in Macarthur Square and I believe it has closed - one can only assume lack of cost effectiveness.

The secondary outcome is Rabbits offering a mobile phone product, which has absolutely nothing to do with growing rugby league in a region. Can't wait for Rabbits to start offering credit cards and pawn brokerages.

After which the partnership falls to generic "Souths Cares" community initiatives that may already exist in SW Sydney or elsewhere.

Tigers already do community work in the area.

All of this pales in comparison to actually playing in the area.

Magpies and WT have been labouring in Macarthur for over 30 years and still it is far from an outstanding league region, either in junior development, fan base or corporate dollars. That's not an opinion, that's just fact. Also a fact is that club would be fully aware of the pros and cons of investment in the game in Macarthur, the only question is how much effort and $$$ they invest in trying.

The fact that Souths are throwing a few bucks into the region is really quite meaningless to me. I mean, they are offering merch discounts to residents of SW Sydney from their merch store at Heffron Park. I don't see fleets of vehicles driving across town 60 minutes to Matraville for 5% off a Souths jersey.

The real fact of the matter is that Western Sydney is both a source of power and frustration for all Sydney clubs. There is no doubt of the potential in the population both financially and in footballers, but by the same token, the area is heavily populated by immigrants with no direct links with rugby league, and it's a huge and long-term task for the entire code to covert this population into card-carrying members.

For example Parramatta now has a huge subcontinental population in its heartland, but I don't know if I can name a single footballer of Indian or Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi heritage in the NRL or any grade below. I have no idea if Parramatta can sell good numbers of memberships to these families.

And then finally you get the argument whether or not there is tangible benefit, some 40-50 years down the track, of attempting to sure-up specific geographical areas within Sydney. It may be that Wests Tigers supporters are actually widely dispersed across Sydney. Souths already claim to have 10,000 members in SW Sydney, which would be 1/3rd of their entire membership. Now is this a product of Souths investment in Macarthur, or simply a by-product of population dispersal out of traditional inner South Sydney? Do people in Redfern steadfastly support Rabbits and live in the area any more than Tigers fans still claim hold over Balmain, Rozelle and Birchgrove?


Are the other facts listed in the article as accurate as the fact that the team has not played a game yet?


The fact that it's not widely known they've played a game yet - I didn't know either - kind of reinforces that Souffs signing a fluff merchandise agreement with them is no big deal.

Ah the "no games" thing was me, not the article. I looked it up briefly, didn't find any Macarthur Bulls results. I don't think it matters if Bulls have played zero or 10 games, they haven't got many runs on the board yet.

 

[jirskyr]

South West Sydney is a bit like Gosford, they want their own team to support and not share it with other Sydney areas. Until that happens nothing much will change and South West Sydney will remain a satellite to the all codes. The first code that has a dedicated and supported team in that area will win the hearts and minds of the kids.

A league just did that.

Game over

Let us all wait and see how Macarthur Bulls does long-term before we conclude that hearts and minds have been won.

GWS Giants started with a bang, pretty sure their fan base has plateaued for some years now despite heavy central AFL investment and discounts.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Souths have signed a ground breaking partnership with Macarthur FC.

Wests Tigers are losing the region to Souths and even Penrith..... What is our strategy for our footprint??

https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2021/01/29/ground-breaking-partnership-with-macarthur-fc/

Honestly, I don't know, but think we may be giving up out there. Wests Magpies Canterbury Cup team has moved from Campbelltown.

I definitely think club bosses see our future as being in the Inner-West. Our membership, crowd attendance and general support is much bigger in this locality. And with the centre of excellence coming at Concord I think this is the area our focus should be on.

It is definitely the inner-west, no doubt about it. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to step back and look where Wests Tigers have developed and it’s not Campbelltown.

exactly it is not like they built COE at campbletown
hope we can keep the Junior nursery going though and not let souths in dogs may be next


So you want your cake and you want to eat it too. The point is Souths are proactively engaging the community out there while we sit by and do nothing. It won't change much over the next year or two but they will just keep chipping away until they have a foothold in the area. They already play trials there and hold regular junior and school clinics in the area. Its not about moving lock stock and barrel to the area - its about maintaining strong ties with community and looking at ways to strenghten our hold on that nursery you talk about. People keep whingeing on here about doing what the "big" clubs do and then when one of those big clubs proactively moves in on our turf the same people say who cares it means nothing. It obviously means something to Souths.

We do all those things in the area plus play NRL games there, not just trials? We support the junior leagues out there and are developing and strengthening pathways, including putting highly experienced coaching staff in roles to mentor coaches, players and trainers. There are plans for an academy to be built in the area.

The area is not really engaging with the club, what is it that people want the club to do?

The people want the club to relocate to Campbelltown, that’s not going to happen.

Its not so much about relocating its about looking after what you have look how much things have changed in the last 20 years whats it going to be in the next 20 years ????? some of us will be long gone others will be still be around you don't want the scenario of SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA

I don't know if the area has the ability to support an NRL team.

Don't think the area has the inclination to support an NRL team.

Most people that move to new development areas, already have grown up supporting teams from the areas they move from.
E.g. If people on here moved to say Gymea or Caringbah - would you become Sharks supporters or continue to follow the Tigers?

spot on Russell

 

[Snake]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

 

[Harvey]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I live in the south west and have had kids at local schools for the last 7 years and my experience is very different to yours.

Didn't you have a similar opinion to other grounds last season when you were the defacto spokesman for bankwest?

 

[swag_tiger]

Weren't south's trying to take Leichardt area at one point?

 

[mike]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I’m with you @Snake. Never throw good money after bad. Time to consolidate in the inner-west. I’ll still go wherever the Wests Tigers play but the South West has never really worked and unlikely it ever will.

 

[Papacito]

Back in 2016, the Federal Government promised to tip in $15 million for a centre of excellence at the Western Sydney University campus at Campbelltown. I believe Council were going to throw in a further $5 million.

The university has a pretty amazing school of medicine and a good sports science program. The proposed centre would have been cutting edge and right now we'd be doing preseason in it.

Instead, the powers that be decided that getting $5 million here and there for a glorified community centre in an area that's much smaller population wise was a better deal.

The fact that Souths (who are no slouches in the commercial department) have now edged in on the area further shows that our management and board are the wooden spooners of the comp.

 

[cochise]

Back in 2016, the Federal Government promised to tip in $15 million for a centre of excellence at the Western Sydney University campus at Campbelltown. I believe Council were going to throw in a further $5 million.

The university has a pretty amazing school of medicine and a good sports science program. The proposed centre would have been cutting edge and right now we'd be doing preseason in it.

Instead, the powers that be decided that getting $5 million here and there for a glorified community centre in an area that's much smaller population wise was a better deal.

The fact that Souths (who are no slouches in the commercial department) have now edged in on the area further shows that our management and board are the wooden spooners of the comp.

Glorified community centre? It is a $56m facility and will be state of the art, but hey lets just make rubbish up.

 

[JC99]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I was born after the merger so no bias there, have lived in the south west my whole life too. trust me mate there's very little promotion of the Wests Tigers out here besides the games and even those aren't advertised much.

I agree that spreading our home grounds everywhere isn't the way to go but this area certainly does have relevance to the Wests tigers and they under utilise it constantly even though it's the fastest growing place in NSW.

Souths will continue to use my area as an area of growth to continue building their membership and viewer numbers. Seems like they're doing it pretty effectively looking at their numbers, we should take note of it.

 

[gallagher]

There were no knights fans in Newcastle in 87 or Broncos fans in brisbane either. Wests have been in Campbo longer than those two teams have existed but due to massive mismagment havn't engaged the community. In 34 years!!!!
And it continues......

 

[Snake]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I was born after the merger so no bias there, have lived in the south west my whole life too. trust me mate there's very little promotion of the Wests Tigers out here besides the games and even those aren't advertised much.

I agree that spreading our home grounds everywhere isn't the way to go but this area certainly does have relevance to the Wests tigers and they under utilise it constantly even though it's the fastest growing place in NSW.

Souths will continue to use my area as an area of growth to continue building their membership and viewer numbers. Seems like they're doing it pretty effectively looking at their numbers, we should take note of it.

Your quote of fastest growing population has been touted for 35yrs trust me ,this was the Magpies theme song for many a decade .It is a mirage when you equate population with numbers joining an organisation .

 

[JC99]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I was born after the merger so no bias there, have lived in the south west my whole life too. trust me mate there's very little promotion of the Wests Tigers out here besides the games and even those aren't advertised much.

I agree that spreading our home grounds everywhere isn't the way to go but this area certainly does have relevance to the Wests tigers and they under utilise it constantly even though it's the fastest growing place in NSW.

Souths will continue to use my area as an area of growth to continue building their membership and viewer numbers. Seems like they're doing it pretty effectively looking at their numbers, we should take note of it.

Your quote of fastest growing population has been touted for 35yrs trust me ,this was the Magpies theme song for many a decade .It is a mirage when you equate population with numbers joining an organisation .

All you gotta do is drive through Gregory hills, oran park and leppington heights to see the amount of new houses and businesses being built. Goldmine for whatever club decides to pursue it which seems to be Souths at the moment.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I was born after the merger so no bias there, have lived in the south west my whole life too. trust me mate there's very little promotion of the Wests Tigers out here besides the games and even those aren't advertised much.

I agree that spreading our home grounds everywhere isn't the way to go but this area certainly does have relevance to the Wests tigers and they under utilise it constantly even though it's the fastest growing place in NSW.

Souths will continue to use my area as an area of growth to continue building their membership and viewer numbers. Seems like they're doing it pretty effectively looking at their numbers, we should take note of it.

Your quote of fastest growing population has been touted for 35yrs trust me ,this was the Magpies theme song for many a decade .It is a mirage when you equate population with numbers joining an organisation .

All you gotta do is drive through Gregory hills, oran park and leppington heights to see the amount of new houses and businesses being built. Goldmine for whatever club decides to pursue it which seems to be Souths at the moment.

And it’s just going to continue to get bigger and bigger as new suburbs continue to pop up further and further out. Absolute negligence from our club.

 

[Snake]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I live in the south west and have had kids at local schools for the last 7 years and my experience is very different to yours.

Didn't you have a similar opinion to other grounds last season when you were the defacto spokesman for bankwest?

Yes any rational decision would place Bankwest over Campelltown stadium but rational decisions are like finding a needle in a hay stack . Its not worth the aggravation championing that place anymore , the new SFS at Moore park will fit the bill for our club it ticks ALL the boxes Transport/corporate /state of the art facilities/airport /drinking holes galore everything the major CBD can offer and there is not an opposition club next door that will make many happy .Considering 99%of supporters do not use it anyway .I feel once the COE is up and running this is the next on the agenda ONE home ground and hallelujah for that !

 

[JC99]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I live in the south west and have had kids at local schools for the last 7 years and my experience is very different to yours.

Didn't you have a similar opinion to other grounds last season when you were the defacto spokesman for bankwest?

Yes any rational decision would place Bankwest over Campelltown stadium but rational decisions are like finding a needle in a hay stack . Its not worth the aggravation championing that place anymore , the new SFS at Moore park will fit the bill for our club it ticks ALL the boxes Transport/corporate /state of the art facilities/airport /drinking holes galore everything the major CBD can offer and there is not an opposition club next door that will make many happy .Considering 99%of supporters do not use it anyway .I feel once the COE is up and running this is the next on the agenda ONE home ground and hallelujah for that !

This I can agree with. One home ground is the future

 

[cochise]

Does anyone really think that the Weststigers has not engage with the community over the years in the South West .I have grandchildren living in the area and know for a fact that the Tigers attend these schools !
Plenty of posters here with agendas one thinks...
What a load of garbage Re Souths engaging in the South West ,Fact how many NRL games do they play there FAT ZERO! How many schools in the area do they attend each season.
My views are the sooner the Tigers return to there roots the better the inner city is home ! The Campbelltown experiment has been a disaster from the first ball the Magpies kicked off ,I was there and to the last game. WE will no longer attend games there as we think that area has no relevance with our club .
If the club chooses to continue wasting there time there good luck to them..its a flawed concept thinking that being spread over a large area of the city equates to success ..IMO consolidation is the key to success in the Sydney basin .
Souths engaging in the South West Please give me a break!!!

I live in the south west and have had kids at local schools for the last 7 years and my experience is very different to yours.

Didn't you have a similar opinion to other grounds last season when you were the defacto spokesman for bankwest?

Yes any rational decision would place Bankwest over Campelltown stadium but rational decisions are like finding a needle in a hay stack . Its not worth the aggravation championing that place anymore , the new SFS at Moore park will fit the bill for our club it ticks ALL the boxes Transport/corporate /state of the art facilities/airport /drinking holes galore everything the major CBD can offer and there is not an opposition club next door that will make many happy .Considering 99%of supporters do not use it anyway .I feel once the COE is up and running this is the next on the agenda ONE home ground and hallelujah for that !

Just insert my posts on this from past discussions.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Back in 2016, the Federal Government promised to tip in $15 million for a centre of excellence at the Western Sydney University campus at Campbelltown. I believe Council were going to throw in a further $5 million.

The university has a pretty amazing school of medicine and a good sports science program. The proposed centre would have been cutting edge and right now we'd be doing preseason in it.

Instead, the powers that be decided that getting $5 million here and there for a glorified community centre in an area that's much smaller population wise was a better deal.

The fact that Souths (who are no slouches in the commercial department) have now edged in on the area further shows that our management and board are the wooden spooners of the comp.

I think the board realised inner city / concord was the way to go
south West didn't work for newton jets or Magpies

 

[TigerWest]

Souths have signed a ground breaking partnership with Macarthur FC.

Wests Tigers are losing the region to Souths and even Penrith..... What is our strategy for our footprint??

https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2021/01/29/ground-breaking-partnership-with-macarthur-fc/

We can always follow the Roosters & Storm strategy?

We have plenty of suppoters, just need to start winning to bring it all together, imo.