The Cambo Curse

[TV Ted Ellery]

The Numbers Don’t Lie. And Neither Does History.

This isn't about turf wars or reigniting old rivalries. It's about performance, identity, and results. So let’s look at the facts, not opinions, and maybe we’ll learn something that helps us move forward as a club.


Post-Merger (Wests Tigers 2000 to Present):

• Leichhardt Oval: 99 games – 55 wins, 43 losses, 1 draw – 55.5% win rate
• Campbelltown Sports Stadium: 99 games – 39 wins, 59 losses, 1 draw – 39.4% win rate

That’s a consistent 16 percent gap in performance across 25 years. Spread across a season, that’s roughly two extra wins a year, which in many cases would have been enough to push us into finals.

But the story doesn’t start in 2000.

Pre-Merger:

• Balmain Tigers at Leichhardt Oval
  555 games: 343 wins, 197 losses, 15 draws
  Win rate: 61.8 percent
• Western Suburbs Magpies at Campbelltown Sports Stadium
  141 games: 67 wins, 67 losses, 7 draws
  Win rate: 47.5 percent

Again, we see a double-digit difference in performance.

This isn't about scrapping Campbelltown or playing the Balmain versus Wests card. Both clubs originally came from Sydney’s inner west. Wests from Ashfield, Concord, and Lidcombe. Balmain from Rozelle and Balmain. Campbelltown was a strategic expansion, not a traditional base.

The current players train in the inner west. Coaching and HQ are based there. And players consistently talk about Leichhardt's atmosphere. That connection is real.

The numbers, both historical and modern, point to one clear pattern. We consistently play better in the inner west.

So the question is this: Why is Campbelltown underperforming?
Is it facilities, atmosphere, player connection, travel? We don’t need to abandon it, but we do need to understand it. Because the difference is real and it’s costing us results.

To the long-time Wests fans: did Campbelltown ever feel like Pratten Park or Lidcombe Oval? Did it have that same bite, that same home-ground edge?

Let’s have the conversation. Not to argue. To understand. Because if we can close that performance gap, we close the gap on finals footy. Simple as that.

Balmain's dominant record at Leichhardt was all the more remarkable given our paucity of finals appearances in the 70s and 90s. For example, in 1999, with a pretty abject squad, we won 8 from 11 at home and lost all our away games.

 

[weststigers]

It’s not the grounds fault.
Saying there is a curse is just an excuse for playing shite.
Did a blade of grass knock the ball out of Gals hand? Or was it the opponent who monstered him and Doobie the fkn reserve grader who got owned again all night.
It took them 80 mins to work out how to get passed him and he still pickpocketed them.

Huge statistical gap in results there. Forget the merger. Even Wests couldn't muster 50% win rate there.

Something not right about the place.

 

[Sco77y]

How about how loud he was and the fact he wouldn't shut up. They could also do well to also turn the music down. never heard it so load.

Seems to be a new initiative to pump the music and have it playing much more frequently during and in between the game. Not just at Campbelltown. Although it doesn’t help having those harsh, tinny sounding speakers. They’d better upgrade the sound system if they want to continue with that rubbish.

 

[innsaneink]

The Numbers Don’t Lie. And Neither Does History.

This isn't about turf wars or reigniting old rivalries. It's about performance, identity, and results. So let’s look at the facts, not opinions, and maybe we’ll learn something that helps us move forward as a club.


Post-Merger (Wests Tigers 2000 to Present):

• Leichhardt Oval: 99 games – 55 wins, 43 losses, 1 draw – 55.5% win rate
• Campbelltown Sports Stadium: 99 games – 39 wins, 59 losses, 1 draw – 39.4% win rate

That’s a consistent 16 percent gap in performance across 25 years. Spread across a season, that’s roughly two extra wins a year, which in many cases would have been enough to push us into finals.

But the story doesn’t start in 2000.

Pre-Merger:

• Balmain Tigers at Leichhardt Oval
  555 games: 343 wins, 197 losses, 15 draws
  Win rate: 61.8 percent
• Western Suburbs Magpies at Campbelltown Sports Stadium
  141 games: 67 wins, 67 losses, 7 draws
  Win rate: 47.5 percent

Again, we see a double-digit difference in performance.

This isn't about scrapping Campbelltown or playing the Balmain versus Wests card. Both clubs originally came from Sydney’s inner west. Wests from Ashfield, Concord, and Lidcombe. Balmain from Rozelle and Balmain. Campbelltown was a strategic expansion, not a traditional base.

The current players train in the inner west. Coaching and HQ are based there. And players consistently talk about Leichhardt's atmosphere. That connection is real.

The numbers, both historical and modern, point to one clear pattern. We consistently play better in the inner west.

So the question is this: Why is Campbelltown underperforming?
Is it facilities, atmosphere, player connection, travel? We don’t need to abandon it, but we do need to understand it. Because the difference is real and it’s costing us results.

To the long-time Wests fans: did Campbelltown ever feel like Pratten Park or Lidcombe Oval? Did it have that same bite, that same home-ground edge?

Let’s have the conversation. Not to argue. To understand. Because if we can close that performance gap, we close the gap on finals footy. Simple as that.

Most know my story
Grew up in Ashfield went to high scool next to West Ashfield in mid 70s. School colours B&W.
Played union for the school in old Magpies jumpers donated from the club, I was a Wests jnr playing weekend footy for Holman
It was so tribal...everything there was Wests this, Wests that
Western Suburbs Hospital
Western subburbs Soccer club
Western Suburbs Cricket club
WS glass co.
WS Hardware etc etc etc
Pratten was a bit before my time...I was mor Lidcombe era but I know on game days driving with dad or walking to the ground from the station I felt like many do today doing the Rozelle pub crawl, walking thru the psych hopsital to LO

When they left in 87 to go to Cambo, I was early 20s with early 20s things on my mind, footy was not the forefront...but it stilll felt like ''they left''
It was never the same, Ive never lived near Cambo, I have no connection bar a few friends from the area thru WTs and work...Its never felt like home to me tho I guess thats a bit of fond memory nostalgia talking as well
The initial love and magic that was there which Lidcombe was a part of when I first found my team ...wasnt there with Cambo.

Balmain have deep generational roots at LO (saw this first hand being involved in BJRL with my son for over a decade, and working in the area for 15 years)
Wests dont really have that

 

[TigerBurnsy]

I’ve never been there in person but on TV it never seems to feel like a home game for us, the crowd is never very loud and it feels like a bunch of away fans are there, I remember the sellout vs saints last year and there was red and white everywhere and it seemed almost as many of them as tigers fans

 

[innsaneink]

Huge statistical gap in results there. Forget the merger. Even Wests couldn't muster 50% win rate there.

Something not right about the place.

Its not huge

Its 16 wins more at LO over 25 years

 

[innsaneink]

I’ve never been there in person but on TV it never seems to feel like a home game for us, the crowd is never very loud and it feels like a bunch of away fans are there, I remember the sellout vs saints last year and there was red and white everywhere and it seemed almost as many of them as tigers fans

Where do you live?

 

[weststigers]

Most know my story
Grew up in Ashfield went to high scool next to West Ashfield in mid 70s. School colours B&W.
Played union for the school in old Magpies jumpers donated from the club, I was a Wests jnr playing weekend footy for Holman
It was so tribal...everything there was Wests this, Wests that
Western Suburbs Hospital
Western subburbs Soccer club
Western Suburbs Cricket club
WS glass co.
WS Hardware etc etc etc
Pratten was a bit before my time...I was mor Lidcombe era but I know on game days driving with dad or walking to the ground from the station I felt like many do today doing the Rozelle pub crawl, walking thru the psych hopsital to LO

When they left in 87 to go to Cambo, I was early 20s with early 20s things on my mind, footy was not the forefront...but it stilll felt like ''they left''
It was never the same, Ive never lived near Cambo, I have no connection bar a few friends from the area thru WTs and work...Its never felt like home to me tho I guess thats a bit of fond memory nostalgia talking as well
The initial love and magic that was there which Lidcombe was a part of when I first found my team ...wasnt there with Cambo.

Balmain have deep generational roots at LO (saw this first hand being involved in BJRL with my son for over a decade, and working in the area for 15 years)
Wests dont really have that

Mate, I think you articulated that really well. Honestly, I reckon most fans would feel the same way. I remember when Balmain changed to Sydney Tigers. It didn't feel right at all. Not a direct comparison, but it highlights a similar point. One thing we all share is that traditional base in the inner west, and maybe as a club we should lean into that a bit more.

To your point, I don't think Wests fans are attached to Campbelltown because of the ground itself or any deep emotional connection. It feels more symbolic, a way to avoid feeling like they have been erased. And I totally get that.

But if fans increasingly identify the club as an inner west team, and we keep trying to push into areas that do not align with that identity, are we just missing the mark? This whole growth corridor narrative is being forced down everyone’s throat without much thought to how the fanbase actually sees the club. I may be wrong here, but it's just the sense I get. Maybe neither fanbase has any real connection to the south west?

Should population growth be the deciding factor in where we play? The All Blacks draw from a much smaller population than most other top-tier nations, yet they consistently perform. So is "growth area" really the best lens to make these decisions through?

None of this means we cannot keep investing in juniors out west, but we don't own the west exclusively either. We can recruit from anywhere and we should.

We already share that territory with Parra and the Bulldogs anyway. And we have been recruiting from as far as Keebra Park on the Gold Coast. But that does not mean we need to be playing our NRL games there.

 

[Harvey]

We need to make our homeground an advantage so other clubs hate to play us there (just like Manly and Melbourne do),Leichhardt Oval is a massive advantage for us and other clubs hate playing us there as we always seem to perform better there than anywhere else.Certainly it is too small and out of date for a full time ground which is why i continually push for Homebush to be our homeground and then it is up to our club/team to make other clubs fear playing us there.It will take time but if you want WT to succeed into the forseable and long term future it needs to be done.

You cannot have a homeground advantage at grounds other teams regularly play at.

Homebush would mean that we have no advantage over the Dogs or Souths. Same as there is no advantage in playing Parramatta at our home ground Commbank stadium

 

[weststigers]

That shouldn't take anyone long to work out,we barely win a game there.

You can only work with what you've got and stack the odds in our favour as best we can.

 

[weststigers]

Its not huge

Its 16 wins more at LO over 25 years

It's home winning record of 39% across 100 games over 25 years which is 16 games... correct. If Campbelltown had an equal home advantage, the law of averages would have played out across this sample size and time period.

I could accept that argument over a shorter time span or smaller number of games, but whichever way you slice the numbers, Campbelltown has a poor record over the short and long term. It's not an outlier stat based on one poor season or a poor series of games due to other factors. We play equal games at both venues in each season. Not sure I want to wait another 25 years to get a sample size of 200 games either

 

[Harvey]

It's home winning record of 39% across 100 games over 25 years which is 16 games... correct. If Campbelltown had an equal home advantage, the law of averages would have played out across this sample size and time period.

I could accept that argument over a shorter time span or smaller number of games, but whichever way you slice the numbers, Campbelltown has a poor record over the short and long term. It's not an outlier stat based on one poor season or a poor series of games due to other factors. We play equal games at both venues in each season. Not sure I want to wait another 25 years to get a sample size of 200 games either

What were the records of the sides that we played against at each of the grounds.

 

[weststigers]

What were the records of the sides that we played against at each of the grounds.

Not sure. Are you suggesting we played against terrible teams at Leichhardt for 100 games and the Campbo games were against teams that were killing it? Would be worth looking into.

 

[Harvey]

Not sure. Are you suggesting we played against terrible teams at Leichhardt for 100 games and the Campbo games were against teams that were killing it? Would be worth looking into.

I became a Magpies fan when the moved to Campbelltown. A 12 year old with pommy parents who had no real interest in league. Even then they were a 2nd side for a lot of local as they had moved from other areas and has their own club loyalties.

When the magpies poached Warren Ryan and half the Canterbury team that joint was pumping. Big, loud crowds. Even when the side was hopeless under the last years when Tommy was coaching, there was still a connection to the local area.

The magpies burned bridges there through there favoring certain junior clubs talent when it came to picking junior rep sides.

Once the joint venture happened any connection to Campbelltown was lost. Wests Campbelltown who held a share at that point were constantly outvoted by Ashfield and Balmain voting as a block to focus activities in the inner west. Wests Campbelltown handed back their share and ceased providing any financial assistance.

In terms of games there since the joint venture, I know I used to get out to watch the Broncos play there regularly, but I also seem to remember it was never Melbourne. Gold Coast & Knights were other teams we saw there regularly. Sydney based teams were hardly ever spotted.

The atmosphere last night was dead. There was no ongoing noise, it was silent. I think the fans there are resigned to the type of performance the team puts in. Should have beaten the knights and Souths there this year, but the team turned it up.

 

[Tom Shines]

I became a Magpies fan when the moved to Campbelltown. A 12 year old with pommy parents who had no real interest in league. Even then they were a 2nd side for a lot of local as they had moved from other areas and has their own club loyalties.

When the magpies poached Warren Ryan and half the Canterbury team that joint was pumping. Big, loud crowds. Even when the side was hopeless under the last years when Tommy was coaching, there was still a connection to the local area.

The magpies burned bridges there through there favoring certain junior clubs talent when it came to picking junior rep sides.

Once the joint venture happened any connection to Campbelltown was lost. Wests Campbelltown who held a share at that point were constantly outvoted by Ashfield and Balmain voting as a block to focus activities in the inner west. Wests Campbelltown handed back their share and ceased providing any financial assistance.

In terms of games there since the joint venture, I know I used to get out to watch the Broncos play there regularly, but I also seem to remember it was never Melbourne. Gold Coast & Knights were other teams we saw there regularly. Sydney based teams were hardly ever spotted.

The atmosphere last night was dead. There was no ongoing noise, it was silent. I think the fans there are resigned to the type of performance the team puts in. Should have beaten the knights and Souths there this year, but the team turned it up.

they have usually split the games three ways with Allianz or Accor over the years … that stadium got the majority of the games against Sydney home teams as they got to pick the games they wanted … I have seen the Cowboys and Storm plenty of times at LO….

 

[TigerBurnsy]

Where do you live?

Lived in Sydney when I was a little kid but I can’t remember going to Ctown, but I’m in Brisbane now

 

[Bruiser]

With what is now an independent board, surely they need to get Wests Campbelltown back in the tent.
In addition Holman Barnes, Wests Campbelltown and any new club at Rozelle must embrace the Wests Tigers Brand unconditionally as their main Rugby League identity, pay homage to their respective roots sure but, the main focus needs to be and remain Wests Tigers.
Representation in KOE Cup should also be Wests Tigers only.
We cannot succeed at Campbelltown without the full commitment and support of that adjoining club, Look at the connection between Parramatta Leagues & Commbank Stadium or Panthers and Penrith Stadium, we have the opportunity to do the same or better. That should also be a huge carrot to Wests Campbelltown but, we can't afford to lose the opportunity to a competitor either.

 

[Ed Reschs]

With what is now an independent board, surely they need to get Wests Campbelltown back in the tent.
In addition Holman Barnes, Wests Campbelltown and any new club at Rozelle must embrace the Wests Tigers Brand unconditionally as their main Rugby League identity, pay homage to their respective roots sure but, the main focus needs to be and remain Wests Tigers.
Representation in KOE Cup should also be Wests Tigers only.
We cannot succeed at Campbelltown without the full commitment and support of that adjoining club, Look at the connection between Parramatta Leagues & Commbank Stadium or Panthers and Penrith Stadium, we have the opportunity to do the same or better. That should also be a huge carrot to Wests Campbelltown but, we can't afford to lose the opportunity to a competitor either.

I became a Magpies fan when the moved to Campbelltown. A 12 year old with pommy parents who had no real interest in league. Even then they were a 2nd side for a lot of local as they had moved from other areas and has their own club loyalties.

When the magpies poached Warren Ryan and half the Canterbury team that joint was pumping. Big, loud crowds. Even when the side was hopeless under the last years when Tommy was coaching, there was still a connection to the local area.

The magpies burned bridges there through there favoring certain junior clubs talent when it came to picking junior rep sides.

Once the joint venture happened any connection to Campbelltown was lost. Wests Campbelltown who held a share at that point were constantly outvoted by Ashfield and Balmain voting as a block to focus activities in the inner west. Wests Campbelltown handed back their share and ceased providing any financial assistance.

In terms of games there since the joint venture, I know I used to get out to watch the Broncos play there regularly, but I also seem to remember it was never Melbourne. Gold Coast & Knights were other teams we saw there regularly. Sydney based teams were hardly ever spotted.

The atmosphere last night was dead. There was no ongoing noise, it was silent. I think the fans there are resigned to the type of performance the team puts in. Should have beaten the knights and Souths there this year, but the team turned it up.

 

[The Fresh Oil]

Every team must look with hope when the draw gets released to see if they are lucky enough to get the Tigers.

*fixed your typo.

 

[Bruiser]

Don't disagree with what you say nor your observations, sounds like the relationship is damaged but, is it too late to fix it?
If we can start winning games things could turn around but, what we need to do is somehow secure the "next generation" of fans for Wests Tigers and we can't do that unless we are fully endorsed by Wests Campbelltown and I believe that is simply "Not Negotiable".