There are rumours that Justin Pascoe, CEO of Wests Tigers, could be making an imminent decision to step down from his role at Wests Tigers. It cannot be understated how important this decision could be for our club. The implications of this decision, should he choose to leave, could be transformational for our organisation. The purpose of this post is to establish an agenda as a fan group should there be changes in our administrative leadership - members have a voice to influence the decision making in any changes to leadership that can significantly impact our fortunes as a club moving forward.
It is hard to say whether or not tonight's (yesterday now) NRL360 put this on the agenda for Pascoe or the club, but nevertheless it has been a long time coming and we need to react coherently and in unison to effect and affect the change that we want, and more importantly deserve, in our club.
Initially there are a couple of things that are important;
1. Membership is critical at this time - if Pascoe steps down any non members (I am one) should immediately sign up. This gives us a voting stake in the changes that will occur at the top.
2. Unity - Western Suburbs and Balmain Tigers supporters are the same fans for all intents and purposes in 2023. Both of our foundation clubs are tied to the identity of this joint venture. We are historic, important and great clubs whose roots in the game run far deeper than a lot of our competitors. Both of our fan bases have paved and paid the way for this game since 1908. We were, and in many cases still are, the battlers that provide the base load power that this game has used as a platform to expand and glorify itself as one of the premier professional contact sports in the world. Very few Balmain supporters can afford to live in Balmain or their feeder areas anymore and the ones that can shouldn't be bemoaned if they support and want to have a positive impact on this club. Let us unite to honour the great historic people who have donned our jerseys - no prejudice - no bias. Black and White - Black and Gold together as one.
There are also many people who only support Wests Tigers - not Western Suburbs or Balmain - and their clarity, impartiality and dedication to this brand is as critical and welcome as it ever has been. It will take all of us, regardless of our allegiances, to force the changes we want to see in this organisation.
What is our agenda from here? That is up to us.
There are moderators of this forum, suffering long term members and fans of this club who are much smarter than me and need their voices to be heard. Can we come up with a unified, data and evidence based agenda that we can put to the club that will impact our immediate - 1-3 years - and medium term - 3-5 years - on field results.
Some talking points to act as a catalyst for analytical, fair and productive discussions on the potential future of our club are:
1. Can we get a better coaching arrangement that our current one? - In my opinion we would be better off under Flanagan than we are under Sheens. Is our nostalgia/legacy move to hire Sheens, Benji and Robbie the fastest and most transformative avenue to sustained on field and club wide success? Is Sheens still relevant in a 2023 coaching capacity? Flanagan is not the answer without consensus - can we reach a united position on who is? Flanagan, Des, Ryles, Wane, Woolf, Toovey, Hannay, Hornby, Parish, Morris, Slater?
2. Are the key players who have been part of the Pascoe/Go era holding our club back - we have only known failure for 12 years - do we need a clean break - can we make demands in terms of player retention over the next few seasons that will be heard and understood by our administrative leadership? We are the most polarised fanbase in the game - it is clear that we need a meaningful response from the club in terms of who wears our jersey. Should we start public, fanbase wide polling to determine who receives contracts from us beyond this year? There are long term players who are clearly tied to this point of order - can we try to view them as objectively as possible to reach a consensus on whether they help or hinder us?
3. Are there administrators and administrative structures that are preferred among the fanbase to turn around the fortunes of our club? - when Parramatta was in the doldrums Peter Sterling came out and publicly backed Burnie Gurr as a professional sports administrator to turn their club around. The results of his acquisition for Parramatta speak for themself. Who are our candidates and what is our structure moving forward to ensure football excellence, stability and profitability (they absolutely do not include Benny Elias)? What are alternative revenue avenues to pokies? How do we capture and retain juniors with an eye on a Penrith style production and retention line?
This post will be criticised heavily by many - that is welcome and accepted. All I as the OP want is positive discussion that will be participated in by the members of this forum, our (non)friends in the media who read this forum and potentially newer members than me who are coming to this meeting place for people with a vested interest in this club who want to make a difference to its ongoing fortunes.
I am so tired of being laughed at by peers for supporting this club. I am so tired of people in the media, be it pundits or ex players, talking this/these clubs down like it is/they are a piece of shit and laughing at us fans like we are are stupid and talking down our players because they are awful. We have a rightful place in the game that needs to be reclaimed and the time is now and it begins with a unified, vocal version of us (the fans) - the lifeblood and viability of this organisation.
