The Wests Tigers Lament Thread

[Stevec]

I've read so much comment about Wests bailing out Tigers and as I understand when the JV took place was it 2000 ? Forgive me as I lived overseas from 1990 - 2005 (picked a good year to come home ) .
Why did Balmain go broke ? I remember the Leagues Club on Victoria Rd it always seemed a bit small compared to Penrith ,Parra , Dogs etc and seemed an almost impossible location to make bigger . I also think the demographics changed a lot in this period in the area with the latte sippers moving in and real estate going into the millions from Balmain to Ryde .
From what I could follow at the time Balmain had a mid table side but Wests were dead last
Would like someone to give me a bit of history on all this ?

 

[Cobarcats]

I've read so much comment about Wests bailing out Tigers and as I understand when the JV took place was it 2000 ? Forgive me as I lived overseas from 1990 - 2005 (picked a good year to come home ) .
Why did Balmain go broke ? I remember the Leagues Club on Victoria Rd it always seemed a bit small compared to Penrith ,Parra , Dogs etc and seemed an almost impossible location to make bigger . I also think the demographics changed a lot in this period in the area with the latte sippers moving in and real estate going into the millions from Balmain to Ryde .
From what I could follow at the time Balmain had a mid table side but Wests were dead last
Would like someone to give me a bit of history on all this ?

You've basically answered it yourself.
The club went broke because expenditure was greater than income.
The club defaulted on a series of loans, including one for $4.5 million made in 2009 and before the club could be saved it was literally burnt to the ground.
Poor demographics is the main reason for it's demise. It's in the process of redevelopment.
More to follow I guess.

 

[batboy]

I think what people forget because they get embroiled with the old Magpies ,Balmain issue is that the TIGERS brand is enormous and it is highly prized in the sports faculties..
I dont care if they call us WESTS or TIGERS...for all of us that are fair dinkum fans,supporters or members know our history and embrace the unification of both foundation clubs....simple really...

........
Here comes the Collingwood Magpies (And membership numbers they have) Post.

I wish you luck.

 

[Stevec]

You've basically answered it yourself.
The club went broke because expenditure was greater than income.
The club defaulted on a series of loans, including one for $4.5 million made in 2009 and before the club could be saved it was literally burnt to the ground.
Poor demographics is the main reason for it's demise. It's in the process of redevelopment.
More to follow I guess.

Thanks I always thought the major shift in demographics would be a problem
I grew up on Tennyson point which is a part of Gladesville and it was very working class .My father sold up in 80's and moved to Central Coast and now his old house worth millions . I felt the Rugby League footprint diminishing but still and will always love the mighty tigers . When I came home in 2005 from 16 years overseas I myself moved to Central Coast which kind of created my bias to having the Central Coast Tigers 500,000 pop and unrepresented in the NRL and Stadium in place . Just a pipedream
If we could put a competitive roster together ( which we haven't yet imo) and play finals then its PROBLEM SOLVED

 

[tony soprano]

Wonder how first day of preseason was

 

[tigertuff]

Wonder how first day of preseason was

I was thinking the same. I thought there might have been a few pictures up on the website and we could have seen who was in the fat club.

 

[mike]

You can actually see what the outcome of our club is going to be, eventually the Tiger side of the is going to be cancelled out,

AND THE NEW NAME OF THE TEAM WILL SIMPLY BE WEST MAGPIES BLACK AND WHITE.

THE NEW NAMES FOR ALL THE CLUBS,
WILL BE.

WESTERN SUBURBS LEAGUES CLUBS LTD.

Wests Ashfield Board members have lost their position on the Wests Tigers Board for suggesting less. Never going to happen. The Tigers brand is too important to the NRL. It will always be the Wests Tigers.

 

[Cobarcats]

Why don't you mention the facts, just because your a member doesn't exclude you from copying a google search. Please state the facts and set things right.
Good on you tragic for being a valuable forum member. 👍

 

[Kaito]

I was thinking the same. I thought there might have been a few pictures up on the website and we could have seen who was in the fat club.

Rabs' son is terrible at engagement.
Bring back Dan Talintyre & Junior

 

[tony soprano]

Rabs' son is terrible at engagement.
Bring back Dan Talintyre & Junior

Mate got to get junior rabs on the 🎤 commentating

 

[Kaito]

Mate got to get junior rabs on the 🎤 commentating

Haha I fully endorse this idea!

 

[tony soprano]

Haha I fully endorse this idea!

He did one reserve grade last season.

Wasn't his dad but not like the commentating too crash hot anyway.

 

[Kaito]

He did one reserve grade last season.

Wasn't his dad but not like the commentating too crash hot anyway.

I'm sure he would be really good if he
Worked on it. Same distinct voice 😆

 

[tony soprano]

I'm sure he would be really good if he
Worked on it. Same distinct voice 😆

Agree mate.

 

[cochise]

The decision and flip flop of the NSW Government to use the site for a metro station was an issue as well. That decision was the reason the club moved out of the site.

 

[Needaname]

It started before that.
As a late teen I was regular at the leagues club especially as a go to spot to chill after all the hotels in Balmain closed at pumpkin time.
Around the time of the pokies tax and following that the smoking ban in internal buildings a lot of recreational clubs started to suffer a loss.
They began renovating the bistro area and upstairs function rooms to try and get more interest from just the regulars but they were dying a slow death with only the bistro as their main income source.
They weren’t the only club to close.
In Drummoyne the bowling / sports club, RSL all closed up either before or after the leagues club closing. Many other bowling clubs from the surrounding suburbs closed up. The only clubs that survived were the ones with multiple restaurants and more function options then just the pokies. Hopefully the new club if it ever gets built doesn’t fall back on the nostalgia of an old fashioned leagues club as the attraction and provides a broader entertainment venue.

 

[batboy]

You can actually see what the outcome of our club is going to be, eventually the Tiger side of the is going to be cancelled out,

AND THE NEW NAME OF THE TEAM WILL SIMPLY BE WEST MAGPIES BLACK AND WHITE.

THE NEW NAMES FOR ALL THE CLUBS,
WILL BE.

WESTERN SUBURBS LEAGUES CLUBS LTD.

If the constant caps locks and bolding of your statements wasn't enough to let us in on what we're dealing with....

This statement clears it up once and for all.

Stupidest thing I've read in my years here....
Memberships increasing year on year because the generation of Wests Tigers fans only is reaching adulthood - And you think they're gonna change the name back to a team no one even remembers....

I applaud you
👏👏👏

 

[batboy]

The decision and flip flop of the NSW Government to use the site for a metro station was an issue as well. That decision was the reason the club moved out of the site.

Yeah, Everyone forgets they kinda had to leave for the metro to go through - Then the Metro never went through.