Lost opportunity in Macarthur

[Russell]

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.

How many animals does that 10,000 in the SW include?

 

[Russell]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

 

[hammertime]

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.

We got $40 million for support, far more. Having it it in corcord also means players can live west or inner city if they choose. They aren't restricted to Cambo and it's surrounds.

The tigers have done far more than south's in the area over the last decade. But it never translates to growth

 

[JC99]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Clearly they're not finding that out because they've got heaps of members from the area already and seem to want to continue to do so.

 

[mike]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Clearly they're not finding that out because they've got heaps of members from the area already and seem to want to continue to do so.

Probably more South’s demographic. Keep the feeder clubs going, the rest don’t care.

 

[tiger_one]

Fans are not confined to areas within a distance to their club of choice.
They follow the club they choose for lots of reasons (eg family ties, team mascot, team colours, star player power, friends' infliuence and all the variances out there.... ).
So this is just another fluff story of a very slow off season.
Spin is always spin.

 

[jirskyr]

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.

Logical fallacies abound.

Firstly, new houses and new businesses are actually small populations, and whilst future growth is essentially assured (anything above zero is growth), at this time there is as much population available anywhere where there is growth, not just where new houses are going up in empty paddocks.

For example, the highest net gain areas for total population in 2019 were actually Parramatta, Sydney CBD and inner South (Green Square, Waterloo), inner South West (Hurstville-Canterbury).

As a %, of course new suburbs will skyrocket where 1,000 new people is infinitely more than zero people and four cows.

Second fallacy is an assumption that a new area will eventually have a significant population density. There is likely to be more people in Pyrmont and Green Square for a very long time, than Gregory Hills or Leppington per square metre. In fact regional Sydney has always had lower density than inner Sydney.

Therefore why is there any specific argument to focus on a new suburb versus the heavy populations existing in other suburbs? Why South West compared to North West or Central Coast or Wollongong? There are 5.23 million people in Sydney and the combined memberships of all Sydney clubs would be lucky to be 3-4% of that entire population. Therefore developmental opportunities in Sydney, based exclusively on population, abound.

Third fallacy to equate new homes with clear or superior supporter possibilities. The families moving to the Harrington Parks of the South West may already have well-entrenched support for other clubs, or strong ties back to another geographical area, or may have no interest in league whatsoever. In fact, a likely argument exists that new immigrants with no League background tend to migrate to newer suburbs for opportunities and those newer populations, COVID notwithstanding, are very difficult to convert into paid-up members.

Your most viable membership/fan conversion from a non-League background is arguably via existing league supporter pathways. And those existing pathways are just as likely to dominate in existing geographies, particularly those with strong historical ties to rugby league and/or a given club, as much as any new suburb.

Fourthly, Wests Magpies and Wests Tigers have been working in the South West for 35 years. A perceived lack of penetration (I say perceived, because nobody has suggested how to measure Tigers' success or lack of success in entrenching within the community) may indeed be total incompetence.

However you would think, over 35 years, eventually someone with some idea of fan engagement would have come along within a rugby league institution, to have made some significant headway, if such headway was in fact easily made in Macarthur.

The counter argument - if Macarthur is such a lucrative area and new suburbs are such an untapped source of fans, why haven't Souths gone there earlier? Why are only Souths partnering up with local soccer sides? Why isn't every rugby league club clamouring over school access and junior club affiliation in the South West?

Alternatively, it may be that the Magpies and Tigers are fully aware of the opportunities and challenges in Macarthur and are managing those as best they can, with the budget available and politics at hand. It may be that Souths will throw money up against the wall any make very little headway in the region. Souths are arguably the benchmark for member subscriptions, so it remains to be seen if they can be successful in non-traditional jurisdictions.

Lastly I find it a VERY weak argument to suggest that Souths doing some flimsy deal with Macarthur Bulls has some direct indication on the effort, or lack of effort, by Wests Tigers in Macarthur. I can imagine, had Tigers done the partnership, that lots of supporters would point to it as "fluff" or a waste of time, or counter-productive, as much as anyone might say it is innovative.

Souths are "partnering" with a soccer team, which I find to be a token approach in any region. It may actually be highly innovative, but one has to ask are Roosters partnering with Sydney FC, or Parramatta with Wanderers? Knights with the Falcons? At what point does the partnership become negatively competitive?

At what point does the A-League actively compete significantly with rugby league? Should NRL clubs be getting into bed with soccer, when soccer is one of the major codes competing for juniors? When parents concerned about the full-contact nature of League instead prefer their girls and boys to play football or basketball?

Souths might as well partner up with GWS if they really want to get down with an alternative-code club that actually has some financial clout.

 

[happy_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?

Agree fully mate, I am a prime example of that. I grew up in the Hunter but by the time the Knights came in I was 10 and already had my team. I have lived in both Parramatta and now Penrith for the past 20 years. There is no way I would change to follow any of these teams as I am a Wests Tiger through and through even though I have never lived in one of our catchment areas.

So your a gypsy then ??

 

[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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

 

[JC99]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

 

[cochise]

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?

Agree fully mate, I am a prime example of that. I grew up in the Hunter but by the time the Knights came in I was 10 and already had my team. I have lived in both Parramatta and now Penrith for the past 20 years. There is no way I would change to follow any of these teams as I am a Wests Tiger through and through even though I have never lived in one of our catchment areas.

So your a gypsy then ??

Yes I am and I just placed a curse on you.

 

[cochise]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

 

[happy_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?

Agree fully mate, I am a prime example of that. I grew up in the Hunter but by the time the Knights came in I was 10 and already had my team. I have lived in both Parramatta and now Penrith for the past 20 years. There is no way I would change to follow any of these teams as I am a Wests Tiger through and through even though I have never lived in one of our catchment areas.

So your a gypsy then ??

Yes I am and I just placed a curse on you.

Let me guess ...that my footy side doesn't make Top 8 again .....DOH

 

[JC99]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

Well I'm not the only one who sees it. Couple other posters on here from the area agree with me, the club does very little out here. Kids clinics mostly

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Concentrating our resources in the inner west is the best strategy. I've always regarded our traditional areas in the Wests and Balmain areas as being gold mines for talent. We always augment talent with juniors brought in from other districts as well as Qld and NZ. I also really like the idea of Lidcombe Oval being utlilsied similar to Henson Park. It provides a feel of traditional ground roots rugby league and I am from the Balmain side of WTs.

 

[cochise]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

Well I'm not the only one who sees it. Couple other posters on here from the area agree with me, the club does very little out here. Kids clinics mostly

Mate, they stepped in to help support the junior league for one thing. They are in the process of strengthening the pathways. The elite programs are linked directly to the club. What you said is just completely wrong. Could they do more? Yes most definitely but to say if they abandon the area all that would be lost is 3 NRL games is a fabrication.

 

[cochise]

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?

Agree fully mate, I am a prime example of that. I grew up in the Hunter but by the time the Knights came in I was 10 and already had my team. I have lived in both Parramatta and now Penrith for the past 20 years. There is no way I would change to follow any of these teams as I am a Wests Tiger through and through even though I have never lived in one of our catchment areas.

So your a gypsy then ??

Yes I am and I just placed a curse on you.

Let me guess ...that my footy side doesn't make Top 8 again .....DOH

Yep, didn't realise that I also cursed myself.

 

[JC99]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

Well I'm not the only one who sees it. Couple other posters on here from the area agree with me, the club does very little out here. Kids clinics mostly

Mate, they stepped in to help support the junior league for one thing. They are in the process of strengthening the pathways. The elite programs are linked directly to the club. What you said is just completely wrong. Could they do more? Yes most definitely but to say if they abandon the area all that would be lost is 3 NRL games is a fabrication.

How longs it taken them to start fixing the pathways? It's been shambles for a decade or more. I'm yet to see any difference with them either. I'm glad hartigan has identified it's an issue though.

Regardless, I wasn't talking about a pathways point of view for juniors, I was talking about fan interaction with the club in the region. Should've worded it better, that's my bad.

 

[Tiger5150]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

Well I'm not the only one who sees it. Couple other posters on here from the area agree with me, the club does very little out here. Kids clinics mostly

The truth is always a gradient. IMO its important to occasionally view things from "a mile above" to get an overall POV. In this respect, all apparent indicators have been positive, increased pathway definition, increased resources on junior talent selection/retention etc are all positive and are all unarguable.

On the other hand, this thread and all this angst has been regarding another NRL team sponsoring a ***soccer*** team. It is an external indirect opportunity. I agree a lost opportunity but at what cost? If it cost Souffs $50 then of course it is bad missed opportunity, if it was $5M then it is a missed opportunity but not at a cost that is bearable. Obviously it would not have been $5M, but there is a number on that scale where it becomes not worth it and I would rather the club spenbd whatever money it has for the Macarthur in more direct methods than a soccer team.

 

[cochise]

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......

That's because the community didn't want to be engaged.

It is a dud area for the Wests Tigers as it was for the Magpies.

The good thing is that Souffs will find that out the hard way.

Well it's about time we cuts ties with the area. Wht are we wasting time and resources there?

There are fans here lol.... not that we get anything anyway. Tigers could cut ties and there'd be no difference besides 3 Campbelltown games.

That is complete rubbish.

Well I'm not the only one who sees it. Couple other posters on here from the area agree with me, the club does very little out here. Kids clinics mostly

Mate, they stepped in to help support the junior league for one thing. They are in the process of strengthening the pathways. The elite programs are linked directly to the club. What you said is just completely wrong. Could they do more? Yes most definitely but to say if they abandon the area all that would be lost is 3 NRL games is a fabrication.

How longs it taken them to start fixing the pathways? It's been shambles for a decade or more. I'm yet to see any difference with them either.

Regardless, I wasn't talking about a pathways point of view for juniors, I was talking about fan interaction with the club in the region. Should've worded it better, that's my bad.

The junior league was ran into the ground and our pathways were destroyed post the "big 3" leaving when we decided to buy our players instead of paying for potential because they left anyway.

It wasn't until Madge arrived that we started to pay attention to our pathways again. That is why we have both Palmer and Farah working in roles that involve mentoring and training of players, coaches and trainers in our pathways system. Just because you can't see it doesn’t mean there isn't stuff occurring.