Meyer: cambo has once last chance

[TJL]

Galahs,

Well said mate!

 

[Black_n_White]

CEO of Wests Leagues Club Campbelltown, Tony Mathew, hit back at Mayer, questioning the consistency in promoting the event.

The $10 ticket deal was announced late in the week as an incentive for fans that arrived early to watch the junior and lower grades.

“I think there needs to be a consistency so people know what it is, so they don’t leave things to the last moment so that they don’t consider what the weather.”

Mathew, whose leagues club is no longer a shareholder in the joint-venture, also questioned the amount of interstate teams who appear at the stadium.

The Cowboys, Broncos, Raiders and Storm will all visit the region, meaning the Tigers will face no fellow Sydney teams at Campbelltown this year.

“There’s a pool of clubs that we quite often play and we would like more variety out here so we get to see all the stars,” said Mathew.

“I think the ground can hold 20,000 people and we’d like to see more games in Campbelltown against other Sydney teams.

“Then, certainly there’d be a question if another Sydney team brought a lot of supporters whether we could accommodate them and whether we couldn’t.”

Source: http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/terrific-wests-tigers-lose-skipper-robbie-farah-to-injury-as-they-roar-past-north-queensland-cowboys/story-fniabjcr-1226881767954

I thought Wests Campbelltown walked away from the Wests Tigers?

What's it got to do with them?

Not enough people pumping money into your pokies???

They sold their stake to Wests Group in a deal that had them instead adding their capital not as shareholder but as a sponsor, thus actually increasing the money from Wests aligned sources…

Have a sly dig if you please, but the move meant increased funding... better than the increased funding from, wait thats not right, normal funding no thats not right either, I think I have it this time, the debt from other Balmain affiliated sources.

Pull your head in.

 

[Glennb]

Lol…ok. We will see.

I would expect _**the rich, successful side of the JV**_ has become rich and successful by not alienating huge portions of its consumers and identifies future growth areas. .

Ummmmm the "rich successful side of the JV" is in ASHFIELD (check google earth/maps) and has become rich and successful by doing a great job encouraging patrons into a massive building to play pokies. Your point?

I'm a Wests Tigers fan (originally Balmain) and I don't want to lose Campbo at all. I truly think most old fans (young ones don't give a rats) from the Balmain side want a balanced merger.

But to take your argument further, to be honest I dotn think the Ashfield side of the merger have a sentimental attachment to Campbelltown

 

[Tiger_Watto]

Wests had a sook about this exact subject and looked for ways to make a statement… poor old wests sooky la la black birds blah blah.

You pull your head in shit for brains!

 

[TJL]

Wests had a sook about this exact subject and looked for ways to make a statement… poor old wests sooky la la black birds blah blah.

You pull your head in s*** for brains!


 

[stryker]

The disappointing crowd at Campbelltown this Saturday stems from issues going way back.

In 1987 the area had the Western Suburbs Magpies forced upon them. It was not their own team, but an inner city team relocated to the population growth area.

Though the Magpies were somewhat successful in 1991 and 1992, it was not with local players but with a team based on imported players and an imported coach.

In 1995 Tommy Raudonikis rebuilt the Magpies into a successful team that by 1996 made the semi finals. This time the side was comprised primarily of local players. The team trained in the area, lived in the area, embraced the area and the fans responded. Finally this felt like “THEIR” team. Unfortunately just when things were looking up for Wests, dark clouds rolled over Rugby League.

1997… Super League.

Money talked and the rest walked. All the good work the Magpies had done became null and void overnight. They just couldn’t compete with the cash being thrown around by the bigger clubs. This led to two wooden spoons, small crowds and their exit from the NRL. Important growth areas like the Macarthur, Central Coast, Gold Coast, Illawarra and Perth were tossed away in favour of the traditional established markets.

The Magpies only option for survival was a joint venture. St George beat Wests to partnering with Illawarra, and the geographically sensible partnership with the Bulldogs looked more like a hostile take-over. Wests only option was to jump into bed with fellow foundation club Balmain.

Again the Macarthur area was forced into a new arrangement that would see them with 50% less games a year being played at Campbelltown, and many of their local players being forced out of the game in favour of Wayne Pearce’s Balmain boys.

Wests negotiated that the team was to wear a Black Wests “inspired” jersey for half the games a year, and that the Magpie logo was to be permanently placed on the shoulder of ALL Wests Tigers jerseys.

The first game of the Joint Venture at Campbelltown was against the Brisbane Broncos. The area was willing to give the new identity a chance with 15,376 people turning up.

Unfortunately results didn’t follow and with a few on and off field dramas, the club’s support dwindled. So much so that by the end of 2004 Wests Tigers reduced the games played at Campbelltown and Leichhardt to 3 games each for the following season.

Board room support for the joint venture was now at an all-time low with the deep divisions between Wests and Balmain beginning to surface.

But these divisions were put on the sidelines with the amazing mid-year turn around the team had in 2005 that led all the way to the Wests Tigers first premiership. A record 20,527 people turned up at Campbelltown Stadium to watch Wests Tigers beat the Cowboys. The club’s on-field success puttied over the cracks. Things seemed to be heading on the right track, but even though on the exterior everything appeared ok, the foundation still remained fractured.

In 2006 Tim Sheens put in place a plan that would eventually bring the joint venture close to breaking point.

Rightly or wrongly, Tim Sheens wanted all the fringe players in a single NSW Cup side, and he chose to have them play for the Balmain Tigers. Now all Wests Tigers contracted players would play in a Balmain Jersey and would train a stone’s throw away from Leichhardt at Concord Oval in Sydney’s Inner West.

Campbelltown Stadium then played only 3 NRL games a year and mostly against out of state teams. The majority of the players lived and trained in the inner west, merchandise was predominately Black and Gold and the Wests Magpies Football Club was in turmoil.

These decisions greatly upset the Wests side of the joint venture and led to a general feeling that Wests and the Macarthur were being treated as second class citizens. This peaked in 2011 when the decision was made to remove the Magpies from the NSW Cup. At the last minute after much public outcry the decision was overturned and the Magpies and Balmain again fielded separate teams.

Balmain with their NRL fringe players (including many Magpie Juniors) made the NSW Cup Grand Final. The Magpies with a thrown together team with no NRL experience and no Wests Tigers support, came dead last.

Wests had reached the darkest of times. The Magpies dropped down to 3rd grade Ron Massey Cup, Wests Tigers ran out on the field wearing a jersey without the Magpie logo on their sleeves and Wests Campbelltown Leagues Club pulled the pin.

The Wests in the Wests Tigers had been all but removed. Throw in bad weather, supporters from the Inner West reluctance to travel to Campbelltown and playing an out-of-state team, it’s no surprise that Campbelltown’s crowd was so disappointing.

The question is, how will the Wests Tigers rebuild local support in Macarthur?

Nothing you have said here is new news mate, however relevant it may be.
The fact remains that it costs the club dollars to play there, poor crowd turn up, they blame everything under the sun, they will not change their attitudes and that is it. If we dont draw 15000+ v the Broncs then I am on the side of abandoning this ground.

What do you want the club to do? Pay people to go there and support the side that is coming second on the ladder? It is an embarrassment and this victim mentality is pathetic.

 

[Guest]

Personal attacks on one another won't be tolerated, neither will trolling and hijacking this thread into a Balmain V Wests thread - that is irrelevant.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Nothing you have said here is new news mate, however relevant it may be.
The fact remains that it costs the club dollars to play there, poor crowd turn up, they blame everything under the sun, they will not change their attitudes and that is it. If we dont draw 15000+ v the Broncs then I am on the side of abandoning this ground.

What do you want the club to do? Pay people to go there and support the side that is coming second on the ladder? It is an embarrassment and this victim mentality is pathetic.

It's not a victim mentality, it is marketing gone very wrong.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

No one is abandoning this ground. Its an empty threat.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

I thought Wests Campbelltown walked away from the Wests Tigers?

What's it got to do with them?

Despite the changes last year, I would not discard Wests Campbelltown from anything involving Wests Tigers so hastily….

 

[Demonborger]

Fielding two state cup teams was a waste of resources for a poorer return. It's a luxury that can't be justified in football or business terms, only sentimental.
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As I said many times before, the Wests Vs Balmain issues are relatively minor. We're Wests Tigers now, and i'd say most old Magpies (pre relocation) and most Balmain fans are on board with it, not to mention the post merger fans who have only ever known Wests Tigers.
\
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The issue is location, inner west vs outerwest. Honestly the club should've just dumped both grounds and gone with ANZ post 2005, would put an end to it all and given us the best location for our city wide support base.
\
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How many Juventus fans live in Torino? How many Manchester United fans live in Salford? How many Green Bay Packers fans live in Green Bay? Collingwood fans in Collingwood?

Remember back in the day the district rule meant players could only play in their districts and were part time footballers (meaning they worked in the area too). Many games were only viewable live at the ground.

That is back before it was even televised properly! Now days a person can watch an NRL game from anywhere with an internet connection! We got fans from all over Sydney, from all over NSW, QLD and Australia. We have NZ fans, and other fans living form London to Hong kong to southern USA.

Players are professional fulltime and can be sourced internationally (Blair, Taupau, Gavet, Thompson, BMM, Rowe, Tuiaki, Benji, Whatuira, Prince, etc).
Kids pick teams based upon numerous factors (friends, parents, location, colours, name, success, players, history, experiences).
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Regarding a localized supporter culture, that is largely up to the fans themselves. Organize things, liase with the club to help with support projects. Create, innovate, develop ideas that can manifest the support for Wests Tigers. If you don't like what the club is doing, then do it yourself and encourage the club to support it if it is likely to be a success. If you sit back expecting the club to fulfill your every desire then you'd be waiting eternally.

 

[galahs]

Wests Tigers lowest Home Crowds

4125 Wests Tigers v Penrith Campbelltown 25-May-2003
4359 Wests Tigers v Northern Eagles Leichhardt 28-Jul-2001
4724 Wests Tigers v North Queensland Leichhardt 14-Jul-2001
5287 Wests Tigers v Melbourne Leichhardt 24-Aug-2002
**5288 Wests Tigers v Melbourne Leichhardt 29-Jun-2013**
5648 Wests Tigers v Melbourne Leichhardt 17-Jul-2004
6158 Wests Tigers v North Queensland Campbelltown 31-Aug-2003
**6456 Wests Tigers v North Queensland Campbelltown 12-Apr-2014**

 

[Black_n_White]

Stryker, if we abandon the ground, we abandon the area… Campelltown is a no mans land within our borders, Galahs post explains as much. Leaving wont garner us more support, most likely cost us some. They are disenfranchised out there, its not Magpies home, 3 moves left the Magpies fans far from old roots, but thats not even the real issue, its that the Wests Tigers havent figured out how to embrace and include them. There is a mentality that turning up to these games out there is a Wests fans issue, that for some make believe reason there should be an entrenched fanaticism the likes of old blood teams have due to location... Wests Tigers havent thumped home the whole its our town down there, they whimsically fall back on the wheres the Wests fans... Make it Tigers town...

This is the stupidity of the whole matter... we have poor crowds, so lets cut of the 6500 that did turn up and possibly alienate them, instead of looking large and long term and asking how we can attract and garner the support of an obviously large and somewhat isolated population... Get the locals on board and we may find some travellers who will help fill Leichardt... Investing is a win win, running is short term, short sighted, and most likely initially detrimental to the numbers we already have.

As said above, I have little love for Campo, Im all Lidcombe so Campo falling for me is of little consequence, but to throw away a growing population base is just stupid. I have walked home from Homebush, took a while but did it, Leichardt is close for me 30 mins, Campo is a hike for me... I dont feel old ties to the place, but it is stupid to run, its a blossoming area... hell even get the place on board and the growing infrastructure may pop up more sponsors...

 

[tigermaniac]

The disappointing crowd at Campbelltown this Saturday stems from issues going way back.

In 1987 the area had the Western Suburbs Magpies forced upon them. It was not their own team, but an inner city team relocated to the population growth area.

Though the Magpies were somewhat successful in 1991 and 1992, it was not with local players but with a team based on imported players and an imported coach.

In 1995 Tommy Raudonikis rebuilt the Magpies into a successful team that by 1996 made the semi finals. This time the side was comprised primarily of local players. The team trained in the area, lived in the area, embraced the area and the fans responded. Finally this felt like “THEIR” team. Unfortunately just when things were looking up for Wests, dark clouds rolled over Rugby League.

1997… Super League.

Money talked and the rest walked. All the good work the Magpies had done became null and void overnight. They just couldn’t compete with the cash being thrown around by the bigger clubs. This led to two wooden spoons, small crowds and their exit from the NRL. Important growth areas like the Macarthur, Central Coast, Gold Coast, Illawarra and Perth were tossed away in favour of the traditional established markets.

The Magpies only option for survival was a joint venture. St George beat Wests to partnering with Illawarra, and the geographically sensible partnership with the Bulldogs looked more like a hostile take-over. Wests only option was to jump into bed with fellow foundation club Balmain.

Again the Macarthur area was forced into a new arrangement that would see them with 50% less games a year being played at Campbelltown, and many of their local players being forced out of the game in favour of Wayne Pearce’s Balmain boys.

Wests negotiated that the team was to wear a Black Wests “inspired” jersey for half the games a year, and that the Magpie logo was to be permanently placed on the shoulder of ALL Wests Tigers jerseys.

The first game of the Joint Venture at Campbelltown was against the Brisbane Broncos. The area was willing to give the new identity a chance with 15,376 people turning up.

Unfortunately results didn’t follow and with a few on and off field dramas, the club’s support dwindled. So much so that by the end of 2004 Wests Tigers reduced the games played at Campbelltown and Leichhardt to 3 games each for the following season.

Board room support for the joint venture was now at an all-time low with the deep divisions between Wests and Balmain beginning to surface.

But these divisions were put on the sidelines with the amazing mid-year turn around the team had in 2005 that led all the way to the Wests Tigers first premiership. A record 20,527 people turned up at Campbelltown Stadium to watch Wests Tigers beat the Cowboys. The club’s on-field success puttied over the cracks. Things seemed to be heading on the right track, but even though on the exterior everything appeared ok, the foundation still remained fractured.

In 2006 Tim Sheens put in place a plan that would eventually bring the joint venture close to breaking point.

Rightly or wrongly, Tim Sheens wanted all the fringe players in a single NSW Cup side, and he chose to have them play for the Balmain Tigers. Now all Wests Tigers contracted players would play in a Balmain Jersey and would train a stone’s throw away from Leichhardt at Concord Oval in Sydney’s Inner West.

Campbelltown Stadium then played only 3 NRL games a year and mostly against out of state teams. The majority of the players lived and trained in the inner west, merchandise was predominately Black and Gold and the Wests Magpies Football Club was in turmoil.

These decisions greatly upset the Wests side of the joint venture and led to a general feeling that Wests and the Macarthur were being treated as second class citizens. This peaked in 2011 when the decision was made to remove the Magpies from the NSW Cup. At the last minute after much public outcry the decision was overturned and the Magpies and Balmain again fielded separate teams.

Balmain with their NRL fringe players (including many Magpie Juniors) made the NSW Cup Grand Final. The Magpies with a thrown together team with no NRL experience and no Wests Tigers support, came dead last.

Wests had reached the darkest of times. The Magpies dropped down to 3rd grade Ron Massey Cup, Wests Tigers ran out on the field wearing a jersey without the Magpie logo on their sleeves and Wests Campbelltown Leagues Club pulled the pin.

The Wests in the Wests Tigers had been all but removed. Throw in bad weather, supporters from the Inner West reluctance to travel to Campbelltown and playing an out-of-state team, it’s no surprise that Campbelltown’s crowd was so disappointing.

The question is, how will the Wests Tigers rebuild local support in Macarthur?

Nothing you have said here is new news mate, however relevant it may be.
The fact remains that it costs the club dollars to play there, poor crowd turn up, they blame everything under the sun, they will not change their attitudes and that is it. If we dont draw 15000+ v the Broncs then I am on the side of abandoning this ground.

What do you want the club to do? Pay people to go there and support the side that is coming second on the ladder? It is an embarrassment and this victim mentality is pathetic.

Is that you Mayer. I have a tip for you, don't go in support of abandoning anything. Balmain have two years to fix their debt, if they don't then where will you sleep.

_Posted using RoarFEED V.4_

 

[gallagher]

I dont understand the theory that if we dont play at Cambo that we will lose our juniors. No other team or code play games (and never will) there either.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

The more i think about it, the more ticked off i get thinking about Mayer and think the guy is a complete liar. Before i start sounding like Irvine, let me balance it out by saying he's done a great job on the retention side of things, but this here, to me he's straight out lied to everyone's face. All during the week he was pushing the South West barrow saying how important the area is to the club, then all of a sudden after a poor turnout he's threatening to move the club out of the area. After that threat, how can you have taken him at his word last week, and not take it as anything more then an attempt at pandering to the locals in the hope of selling tickets. Clearly the area can't be that integral if he's prepared to walk away after only being in the job for 8 months.

 

[Knuckles]

The $25k that Mayer talks about to play at Campbelltown is interesting. I think he said we need a crowd of about 15k to cut even. So based on Saturday nights crowd of 6.5k it would cost the club about $14k to play the match there. Is that an inordinate amount of money in the big scheme of things ?
We do seem to be getting a lot of young players coming through as a result of promoting and developing the game in the region so to pay $14k ….. Should it be considered as an investment rather than a dead loss. From where I sit its $14k better spent than some of the money spent that could have been put to better use.

 

[gallagher]

The $25k that Mayer talks about to play at Campbelltown is interesting. I think he said we need a crowd of about 15k to cut even. So based on Saturday nights crowd of 6.5k it would cost the club about $14k to play the match there. Is that an inordinate amount of money in the big scheme of things ?
We do seem to be getting a lot of young players coming through as a result of promoting and developing the game in the region so to pay $14k ….. Should it be considered as an investment rather than a dead loss. From where I sit its $14k better spent than some of the money spent that could have been put to better use.

Its a big enough of a figure if we are forgoing $100k at Homebush for that game. Times that by four and its not money we can go without.

 

[Eddie]

If Parramatta stadium ever gets redeveloped to a world class 30K seater and the "stadium for the west" we should consider going there. I reckon we would attract bigger crowds there. I reckon the inner west fans would travel more to Parra then Ctown. There is a lot more atmosphere around the city and near the ground with restaurants and bars.

Might be a wild thought but I reckon its not the worst idea around

 

[Knuckles]

The $25k that Mayer talks about to play at Campbelltown is interesting. I think he said we need a crowd of about 15k to cut even. So based on Saturday nights crowd of 6.5k it would cost the club about $14k to play the match there. Is that an inordinate amount of money in the big scheme of things ?
We do seem to be getting a lot of young players coming through as a result of promoting and developing the game in the region so to pay $14k ….. Should it be considered as an investment rather than a dead loss. From where I sit its $14k better spent than some of the money spent that could have been put to better use.

Its a big enough of a figure if we are forgoing $100k at Homebush for that game. Times that by four and its not money we can go without.

What happens one day if the Stadium funding should ever dry up ?