MacDougall
New member
Let me preface this post by saying that I have spent roughly 12 hours of my entire life in Sydney. I am a Balmain fan since before I can remember and I can only put it down to being 3 years old in 1989 and feeling sorry for all the players after they lost the grand final. You can tell me I'm not a real fan because I'm not a local or whatever but when I started supporting the Tigers the nearest team to Grafton was Brisbane and they were Queenslanders. I was born in the year of the Tiger, love the animal and picked em for life.
Now on to the point here. I hear from Western Suburbs Magpies supporters how much it sucks to have their side of the merger ignored or what have you. They always cite the fact that there is only a teency little magpie on the jersey and that the side is based at Concord. That the players don't promote the game out in Campbo and surrounds and so they don't feel a part of it. Well I just heard this much said on a video posted in another thread and I'm at my wits end here.
Look, we are the "Wests Tigers." I always thought it was lame and we should have been the Western Suburbs Tigers but what does it REALLY matter? Is there any reference to Balmain on the jersey? Do the players REALLY walk the streets of Lilyfield and Leichhardt with a speakerphone promoting themselves and handing out lollies to children? I can't say for sure whether they do but if they really do spend more time promoting the game by going out to schools, local businesses and doing fan days in the inner west then from up here in Brisbane I don't see it. I see articles written exclusively for the Macarthur newspaper and videos of them going to school after school out in the Macarthur. The most utterly irritating thing is that there was such uproar about the Magpies not having a state cup side, well what about the Balmain Tigers? At least Wests have a Bundy Cup side. Never a second thought for the fact that the Balmain Tigers senior football club are literally dead right now. Gone. Media officials and supporters alike cry the plight of the Magpies well it seems to me like Balmain have it just as bad. And with all the talk of Balmain going broke and the Magpies having all the cash the Maggies side of this merger seem to be really raising their hackles.
From my opinion this whole issue stems from the fact that rugby league in this country has a romance with Leichardt Oval. The Wests Tigers didn't create that "issue" but when you have the most beloved playing ground in the game you will hear the media and the players talk about playing there. Them's the breaks. Perhaps there would be a similar love affair with Campbelltown Stadium if the fans stopped whining about not having a state cup team and embraced what they have. Because it's no less than what the Balmain side of this merger have, other than a love of the club.
Now on to the point here. I hear from Western Suburbs Magpies supporters how much it sucks to have their side of the merger ignored or what have you. They always cite the fact that there is only a teency little magpie on the jersey and that the side is based at Concord. That the players don't promote the game out in Campbo and surrounds and so they don't feel a part of it. Well I just heard this much said on a video posted in another thread and I'm at my wits end here.
Look, we are the "Wests Tigers." I always thought it was lame and we should have been the Western Suburbs Tigers but what does it REALLY matter? Is there any reference to Balmain on the jersey? Do the players REALLY walk the streets of Lilyfield and Leichhardt with a speakerphone promoting themselves and handing out lollies to children? I can't say for sure whether they do but if they really do spend more time promoting the game by going out to schools, local businesses and doing fan days in the inner west then from up here in Brisbane I don't see it. I see articles written exclusively for the Macarthur newspaper and videos of them going to school after school out in the Macarthur. The most utterly irritating thing is that there was such uproar about the Magpies not having a state cup side, well what about the Balmain Tigers? At least Wests have a Bundy Cup side. Never a second thought for the fact that the Balmain Tigers senior football club are literally dead right now. Gone. Media officials and supporters alike cry the plight of the Magpies well it seems to me like Balmain have it just as bad. And with all the talk of Balmain going broke and the Magpies having all the cash the Maggies side of this merger seem to be really raising their hackles.
From my opinion this whole issue stems from the fact that rugby league in this country has a romance with Leichardt Oval. The Wests Tigers didn't create that "issue" but when you have the most beloved playing ground in the game you will hear the media and the players talk about playing there. Them's the breaks. Perhaps there would be a similar love affair with Campbelltown Stadium if the fans stopped whining about not having a state cup team and embraced what they have. Because it's no less than what the Balmain side of this merger have, other than a love of the club.
