T
Tiger_In_The_Gong
Guest
An Open Letter To The Wests Tigers – We Will Not Forget.
Like most long term Wests Tigers supporters the events of the last couple of months have really left me disheartened. I no longer enjoy watching the team play and see no sign of that improving any time soon.
If i knew what to do with that part of me that is forever stamped a Tiger i would have walked away weeks ago. 30 years in the making it’s etched in the fabric of who we are and unfortunately its the only hold the club still has over its intelligent and most passionate supporters. A hold they are using and taking for granted!
Like my fellow supporters we work hard and live a busy and sometimes monotonous life. All we want at the end of the working week is to sit back and enjoy watching our team compete. A team founded on working class principles of rolling up your sleeves and having a go.
The pre season trials left me with optimism and a hope that the tougher and more direct style implemented by new coach Mick Potter would see a change from the frantic and fumbling mess Tim Sheens had left us with. Some exciting recruitment complemented a young roster with plenty of upside.
After a very promising start we were well placed and were mostly viewed in a positive and uplifting way. The events that followed are ones I and many other Wests Tigers supporters will never forget.
It appears more and more likely that Mick Potter will be the one and only casualty of the lowest period in the Wests Tigers 15 years. Without any shred of decency, integrity or self appraisal the key players in the embarrassment of season 2014 will escape any judgement and be back next year.
Once again they club will be expecting our financial and emotional support. It may not be as easily forgotten as they think.
The role Grant Meyer played in this season’s debacle will never be forgotten. The Channel 9 footage capturing his interaction with Potter immediately after another loss and the way he then gestured to Kidwell said more in those few seconds than any of his previous carefully worded media statements. He may go on and do some good things for the club but i for one will never forget his 2014 contribution.
To hear reports of Robbie Farah refusing Meyer’s offer to talk over their differences and the ongoing dispute leaves most fans shocked and very disappointed if true. We have a young impressionable playing group and they deserve better!
For many years Robbie Farah has been the heart and soul of the club but his complete lack of what most reasonable people would call leadership during these tough times will never be forgotten.
The senior playing group and the way they have played in the last six games will never be forgotten. We can see you are dogging it, we can see you do not want to play for the coach, we can see you think you are more important than the jersey. Most importantly we can see just what all those thousands of loyal supporters who turn up week after disappointing week actually mean to you. We will never forget!
The support staff at the club who seem more intent on self promotion and ugly back room agendas will fair no better. They will carry their role in this whole mess and the underhand way in which they gain any promotion with them throughout their career. We will never forget. We may support and praise them, they may be successful but we will never forget.
The recruitment manager while probably not directly involved in any of the recent controversy is also someone we can no longer respect. No long suffering fan thinks he is doing a reasonable job. The results and consistent lack of quality recruitment speaks for itself. We will never respect support staff who aren’t judged by their performance.
Last but not least, the faceless, bumbling and incompetent board. For 15 years this club has struggled to assemble a respected and functioning board. Each and every failure or limitation we have had placed on us can be traced directly back to the board and its lack of stability and direction.
The decision to bring forward the sacking of a coach because they were scared of him finishing the season well was one the whole rugby league community will never forget. In one of the darkest days in the clubs short history, the whole rugby league community said to this board NO! , NO! You are incompetent, out of your depth and not capable of making these sorts of tough decisions. Like the spineless faceless men they are they relented and postponed the decision.
We hope the new board under the NRL proposed structure bring some wise heads, clear and open agendas and some much needed hope.
It may be too late for some, personally im going to have a hard time supporting this club if Potter who has shown a lot of integrity, strength and leadership during this time is singled out. The board, the CEO, the captain, the senior playing group and the support staff have all disgraced themselves to some extent and should also be accountable.
As loyal as we are in support is as stubborn as we are in disapproval.
We will not forget!
Like most long term Wests Tigers supporters the events of the last couple of months have really left me disheartened. I no longer enjoy watching the team play and see no sign of that improving any time soon.
If i knew what to do with that part of me that is forever stamped a Tiger i would have walked away weeks ago. 30 years in the making it’s etched in the fabric of who we are and unfortunately its the only hold the club still has over its intelligent and most passionate supporters. A hold they are using and taking for granted!
Like my fellow supporters we work hard and live a busy and sometimes monotonous life. All we want at the end of the working week is to sit back and enjoy watching our team compete. A team founded on working class principles of rolling up your sleeves and having a go.
The pre season trials left me with optimism and a hope that the tougher and more direct style implemented by new coach Mick Potter would see a change from the frantic and fumbling mess Tim Sheens had left us with. Some exciting recruitment complemented a young roster with plenty of upside.
After a very promising start we were well placed and were mostly viewed in a positive and uplifting way. The events that followed are ones I and many other Wests Tigers supporters will never forget.
It appears more and more likely that Mick Potter will be the one and only casualty of the lowest period in the Wests Tigers 15 years. Without any shred of decency, integrity or self appraisal the key players in the embarrassment of season 2014 will escape any judgement and be back next year.
Once again they club will be expecting our financial and emotional support. It may not be as easily forgotten as they think.
The role Grant Meyer played in this season’s debacle will never be forgotten. The Channel 9 footage capturing his interaction with Potter immediately after another loss and the way he then gestured to Kidwell said more in those few seconds than any of his previous carefully worded media statements. He may go on and do some good things for the club but i for one will never forget his 2014 contribution.
To hear reports of Robbie Farah refusing Meyer’s offer to talk over their differences and the ongoing dispute leaves most fans shocked and very disappointed if true. We have a young impressionable playing group and they deserve better!
For many years Robbie Farah has been the heart and soul of the club but his complete lack of what most reasonable people would call leadership during these tough times will never be forgotten.
The senior playing group and the way they have played in the last six games will never be forgotten. We can see you are dogging it, we can see you do not want to play for the coach, we can see you think you are more important than the jersey. Most importantly we can see just what all those thousands of loyal supporters who turn up week after disappointing week actually mean to you. We will never forget!
The support staff at the club who seem more intent on self promotion and ugly back room agendas will fair no better. They will carry their role in this whole mess and the underhand way in which they gain any promotion with them throughout their career. We will never forget. We may support and praise them, they may be successful but we will never forget.
The recruitment manager while probably not directly involved in any of the recent controversy is also someone we can no longer respect. No long suffering fan thinks he is doing a reasonable job. The results and consistent lack of quality recruitment speaks for itself. We will never respect support staff who aren’t judged by their performance.
Last but not least, the faceless, bumbling and incompetent board. For 15 years this club has struggled to assemble a respected and functioning board. Each and every failure or limitation we have had placed on us can be traced directly back to the board and its lack of stability and direction.
The decision to bring forward the sacking of a coach because they were scared of him finishing the season well was one the whole rugby league community will never forget. In one of the darkest days in the clubs short history, the whole rugby league community said to this board NO! , NO! You are incompetent, out of your depth and not capable of making these sorts of tough decisions. Like the spineless faceless men they are they relented and postponed the decision.
We hope the new board under the NRL proposed structure bring some wise heads, clear and open agendas and some much needed hope.
It may be too late for some, personally im going to have a hard time supporting this club if Potter who has shown a lot of integrity, strength and leadership during this time is singled out. The board, the CEO, the captain, the senior playing group and the support staff have all disgraced themselves to some extent and should also be accountable.
As loyal as we are in support is as stubborn as we are in disapproval.
We will not forget!
