OFFICIAL Q&A Club discussion with Shaun Mielekamp

[GNR4LIFE]

That hoop jersey from 2018 was the GOAT imo.

 

[TigerBurnsy]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

Please keep the orange jersey from this season; it is so good, my favourite home/away jersey (non special event) we have had in ages it's perfect. I personally have thought the jerseys from the last few years, with the black kit with the 2 V's, were basic and boring, so I hope this new style stays for a few more years. I believe the home kit should always be orange, as were wests tigers. For how the balance should be, I hope the home kit should be worn at all the home games or if we are playing a big rival away and the away kit at the rest of the away games.

 

[innsaneink]

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Hi Shaun
Can I suggest we focus on becoming a consistent winning football team than worry about the style and colour of a jersey

Of course that's the focus, winning football games in the ugliest jerseys I'm sure everyone would take that. I hope you can appreciate that spending a bit of time on my day off every fortnight to see what supporters think of the jerseys for next year isn't losing focus. My weekend will not be on here and will be 100% all about winning matches.

 

[ShaunMielekamp]

Club colurs are very important they define an identity, some clubs dont value this ala Panthers...I mean, pink> really?
Whose idea was this 😉

Ha that's actually an insightful point, when I was at Panthers the identity was a key part that was missing. the colours were black rust and teal, i was very passionate about getting back to the licorice all sorts and the pink just took off as a replacement for the teal away.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Hi Shaun
Can I suggest we focus on becoming a consistent winning football team than worry about the style and colour of a jersey

Tbf, it seems like more of a concern for sections of the supporter base. That and whether or not there is a Magpie somewhere on the jersey

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Shaun, what is the situation with Benji’s assistants? Is it a coincidence that the best available are all of Benji’s ex teammates?

 

[liltiger]

Hey liltiger, I might have missed your original question but happy to answer this one. Firstly whilst I don't buy into the "toxic" part I can say that yes the cultural & standards are a huge focus. There are key areas that upon reflection are learnings for the club. For example the clarity on identity of what does it mean to be a Wests Tiger needs to be better defined for all players and staff at all levels. This is also why i am passionate about the pathways because here we can ensure we drive better standards and cultures from the first touchpoint and build our DNA.

Apologies Shaun to clarify on my earlier question it was about if you have begun looking into what was causing the club to never have had long term sustained success. In your response you replied you had begun looking into it and were going to do everything in your power to resolve it. By toxic what i meant was whatever that element is thats stopping that sustained success. Not that the club, players, staff or the work envirinment is negative in any way. My apologies instead of toxic i think perhaps stymie would be a better word for what i meant. Iv no doubt everyone, you, Benji and the coaching staff, the players and everyone else at the Tigers are working your hardest to reach the goal of success. Apologies for miscommunicating what i meant.

 

[426Tlgerland]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

Yes we do need a home and away jersey , one made from the 3 combined colours - Black - White - orange , I note Balmain were 90 to 95% orange so where they got the use black predominant I have no idea , it’s simple make them equal then you don’t have issues , but I feel it will never happen when you have HBG and it’s directors running he show , proof is in the start of this years to much orange rubbish that went on , same for the logo for each foundation club ( Balmain and Wests ) you only need 1 each on the shoulders on the back of jersey , no where else , the rest is for our sponsors , good luck changing anything

 

[king_sirro]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

I definitely agree we need to embrace 2 jersey's. I have never been a fan of chopping and changing like we do. I lnow commercially its viable to change the jersey every year to create sales, but i would really love to have our jersey's set in stone. A true identity.
Black being the common colour should be the primary colour. Personally I would have the home jersey roughly 60% black, 30% orange and 10% white.
The away jersey 40% black, 40% orange and 20% white.

I wouldn't mind seeing how they look with white shorts. Not sold on that, just curious to see how the white shorts and socks would tie in.

 

[boonboon]

Our main colour should be orange for the simple reason that is the colour we have that other teams don't.

Plenty of teams wear black and others have with jerseys so to stand out in the market we should embrace our unique colour.

In regards to grounds then mainly the 2 genuine home grounds but with Magic Round and Easter at Homebush the additions. I think Commbank is an exceptional ground but it just isnt ours.

However the focus should be about how do we become the most financially viable club in the comp and the most professional in all aspects.

 

[tig_prmz]

I can say that at the start of the season our entire pathways communication was non-existent as we were short staffed. We have an amazing media team with some new (and old) faces in the team and I'll let them know the feedback on pathways comms. I agree this is an important area to ensure we keep focus on especially if we are to truly maximise our potential as a development club. What I can say though is that it is a tricky space, whilst every player, parent and supporter wants to know who the hottest property coming through in from a very young age we can run the risk of putting to much public exposure on young talent and also flags for other clubs the players they might want to try and steal from us.

With player contracts below the Top 30, Development and train/trial NRL contracts are the NSWRL contracts, These are for players from 15year old through to Cup contracts. Ultimately they are registration contracts that lock the player to the club for a set amount of time with certain benefits that are specific for each player.
An entry level contract for example might be for 3 years, includes medical cover, sign on fee ($1000) apparel, school levies and education expenses. These type of contracts secure players for Harold Matts and SG Ball for example.
The same format of contract but the increased benefits as you go higher up the pathways including a NSW Cup contract. The threshold is $20k where we can go over because it will then tip into the NRL cap calculations, so whilst there is no direct cap there is a level we can't go over without impacting the NRL cap. This is why you will see ex-NRL players at NSW senior club that can still get paid a decent per match payment but they won't play for the NRL reserve grade teams.

I'm not the expert in this area so I think I have most of it right but some astute forumites on here might be more articulate or accurate on this space of contracting for you.

Would you be able to comment on how you have allocated the funding to help with this?

I understand we can't go over $20k in the benefits but hiring better off field staff that are available full time to entire pathways would be under the cap and also give the players better benefits?

Like what Sydney roosters do which is to give access to mortgage brokers, real estate agents, career advisors, psychologists, physios etc?

Overall, I feel this is where most of the funding is required. Do we have the funds for that or do you think we are still a few years away in properly investing in this?

 

[tigertragic]

In regards to jerseys I am keen to get everyone's thoughts on what the long term should look like. I am curious when I look back at the history of the club the most common Wests Tigers jersey is the mainly black jersey with white and orange V. Many past administrators that I have spoken to about this was because black is the shared colour from both histories - not sure if this is correct or opinion of a small sample?

With no Leichhardt next year what and how should be the balance of the playing jerseys played in which colours at which grounds?

Over the last 26 years the main jersey has been primarily Black 18 times, Orange 6 times & White 2 times.

The Alternately jersey has been Orange 15 times, black 2 times, white 9 times

I find this website really helpful to understand the journey and the era's that the club has gone through: https://galleryofleague.com/austral...tra-premiership-history/wests-tigers-history/

I think it is fair to say that we have never really embraced a true Home and Away jersey like other clubs - we need to define our own narrative here I think, hence why I am keen to get various thoughts and opinions.

Hi Shaun
Like most things wests Tigers/HBG the difficulty doesn’t seem to be making a decision it’s the lack of ongoing support for that decision by Wests Tigers/HBG. Most decisions rarely last 12 months

 

[rihannafan1]

Hi Shaun
Can I suggest we focus on becoming a consistent winning football team than worry about the style and colour of a jersey

His other 50 responses pretty clearly show that the winning is his priority, don't you think?

 

[davey_farrell]

Hi Shaun.
Like many others thank you for giving up your time on the forum, a few years ago under Richo, Benji and the coaching staff were in shirts trousers and nice jacket on home game days, it actually looked really professional. I know it doesnt help us win matches, just for me personally I thought it looked really good and made us look like a professional outfit compared to the tracksuits.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

orange should be the main colour as it is unique to tigers.
Have the alternate jersey as predominantly black
club should not have a white jersey

 

[LeichhardtTiger]

Hi Shaun, Just finished watching the Youtube media conferences with Benji, Fonua (congrats 100) Bula & Api.

Mate, the Club and investors spent a fortune on the COE, but week after week we see these media grabs that are obliterated by the overhead noise of 747's hovering around the joint. So why persist with this amateur hour approach and not set up the Media in a better sound environment indoors? The players can't concentrate at the best of times due to their mates geeing them up. Why not show some professionalism - afterall they are the faces of the squad each week and only look like "gooses" when the distractions (noise and banter) kick in. And whilst you're at it, how about getting the media to use a microphone to ask their questions. Not the biggest issue, but it's the 1% ers mate thay make all the difference! 🐯 🛫✈️🛬🐯

 

[KevB]

Our main colour should be orange for the simple reason that is the colour we have that other teams don't.

Plenty of teams wear black and others have with jerseys so to stand out in the market we should embrace our unique colour.

In regards to grounds then mainly the 2 genuine home grounds but with Magic Round and Easter at Homebush the additions. I think Commbank is an exceptional ground but it just isnt ours.

However the focus should be about how do we become the most financially viable club in the comp and the most professional in all aspects.

Newcastle Knights sometimes wear an orange Jersey, something to do with mining.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I doubt there is another supporter base hung up on colours quite like this one. I’d somewhat get it if we were successful and didn’t have much to complain about. But this club has bigger problems.

 

[Blooey]

View attachment 43236

View attachment 43237

I know it's a joke, but I honestly love that concept..
Imagine our heritage round jersey is a Balmain and Wests jersey sewn together, but our old logo with the claws has attacked the old Balmain and Wests logos and has taken their spots
I would buy that lol