Wests Tigers members are so powerless to influence decisions regarding the direction of the club that some have turned to wearing their jerseys inside out at matches in protest at the treatment of besieged coach Mick Potter.
Despite being able to draw on the traditional fan bases of Western Suburbs and Balmain, as well as the many new supporters who have come to follow Wests Tigers, the joint venture club has just 9853 members - one of the lowest in the NRL.
And given that Wests Tigers members are little more than glorified season ticket holders, it isn't hard to see why.
As a Wests Tigers member, you don't get to vote directors on or off the club's board and therefore have no real way of influencing decisions about where the team plays and trains, what jerseys they wear or who coaches them.
Those decisions are currently determined by a 10-person board, comprising of five representatives from Wests Group and five from Balmain District Football Club.
Four of the Wests directors are appointed by the powerful Wests Ashfield Leagues Club, while the fifth comes from the Wests Magpies Football Club.
In total, the Wests and Balmain football clubs have less than 700 voting members - a similar number to those who decided whether the 1908 foundation clubs should merge at historic meetings held 15 years to the day of Sunday's dramatic events at ANZ Stadium.
They elect the boards of the Balmain and Wests Football Clubs, which in turn appoint six of the Wests Tigers directors (five from Balmain and one from Wests). The other four come from the board of Wests Ashfield Leagues, which is elected by the members of the licensed club.
In contrast, up to 20,000 South Sydney members vote for two representatives on the Rabbitohs board.
Souths are 75 per cent privately owned by Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court, with the other 25 per cent stake in the club belonging to Member Co.
Each year, members elect five directors on to the Member Co. board, which currently comprises of Nicholas Pappas, Nick Hatzistergos, Ray Martin, Jim Hatfield and Michael Andrews.
To be eligible to vote, members must be over the age of 18 and need to have been a member for three years in a row - a criteria which Rabbitohs officials say about 20,000 of their 30,457 members meet.
The two directors with the highest number of votes are then automatically appointed to the South Sydney board.
Those roles are currently filled by Pappas and Hatzistergos, who are joined on the seven person Rabbitohs board by a representative of South Sydney Juniors (currently CEO Luke Curry) and four directors appointed by Crowe and Holmes a Court.
The Parramatta and Cronulla boards are determined by the members of their leagues clubs, whose numbers are far larger than any football club.
As a result, disgruntled supporters have been able to organise tickets of rival candidates to oust the boards of both clubs in recent seasons.
However, frustrated Wests Tigers members have had to resort to wearing their jerseys inside out at games as a sign of no confidence in the club's board over the handling of the coaching situation.
"We don't have any say, it is a joke," said Tony, who asked to be referred to his user name on the Roar Feed forum of "tigermaniac".
He phoned Triple M on Sunday to rally other members attending the match against St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium and he told Fairfax Media on Monday that Tigers supporters would continue the novel protest at the club's remaining games this season.
"It is the only thing we can do," he said. "Even if people don't know, they will start asking 'why has he got his jersey on back to front'. There is two messages in one - support for Mick Potter and no confidence in our board.
"My missus went to the toilet and she said people were talking about it, and on the forums everyone is aware of it. We only had one day behind it but if we have longer there I am sure there will be a lot more people who will do it.
"We don't get a say so we have to do something like that. I have been on the forums today and people are saying we have got to support him [Potter] so let's keep it going until the end of the year. It is the only way that the little person can show their support and make sure the board knows."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/wests-tigers-fans-shirty-as-club-turns-itself-inside-out-20140728-zxlxp.html#ixzz38jgNonYe
