Wests Tigers have an identity crisis

Since I don't live in the Macarthur area, I am not aware of what the club does to generate support. Can somebody provide details of things they do, such as school and hospital visits?
 
liverpool is pretty close to bankstown and i know a lot of my friends go for bulldogs for that reason.

i live near liverpool, and as far as i cant tell, they don't do the promotions here in livo. cambo im not too sure.

john skandalis came to my school once, but it was a very unscheduled meeting. he just came there to meet our principal because they were good friends.

the area this journo is talking about imo is the camden area which is closer to livo than to mcarthur/cambo. tigers can claim this area if they want.

BUT, if they focus too much on this side, the lilyfield, rozelle people will be like wtf.. concord is a good place imo. move too close down south you make the balmain guys angry.

training of NYC down this area is not a bad though
 
@Gary Bakerloo said:
@cktiger said:
The Government giving them a wake up call by announcing development ?
Yeah , I'm sure O'Farrell rang Humphreys and said "Hey , we're announcing developments that include some sections of the Macarther area - get that up the board members".

You are taking it to the extreme and that was not the impression I received. He just referenced the amount of investment being placed in the area being a good indication for the club that the area will continue to grow, therefore highlighting the importance of Wests Tigers to maintain/grow its attachment to the area.

Sorry , Gary , but when he chooses words like , 'wake up call' , 'snubbed' , 'criminal' , turned its back', 'idiotic' and 'smug' in a story aimed at what he obviously sees as a Balmain bias (otherwise why roll out old Elias quotes to try to prove the legends think they're wrong too) I think I am justified in taking it to the extreme.
It's good to note he sees Leichhardt Oval as a part of the future too - maybe have one token game there when we move the rest to Campbelltown.
As for Gould , he has ONE area to try to pull behind his team.
We don't have that luxury - and if you concentrate on one area you obviously do so at the expense of the other.
Oh , and it's not rocket science that development will come in undeveloped areas - and the Governments decisions to develop some areas of Macarthur have ZERO to do with the WestsTigers.
The guy who wrote the story has no idea . :crazy
 
@deejaii said:
Lol at digging up a Benny Elias quote from 2006, Curtis must hav been saving that one up for a while.
Investing in the southwest should b a good thing for the region and the club, not sure it was necessary to turn the story into a dig at managment.
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Yeah he's clutching at straws there. As much as I respect Benny, he has some pretty out-there (and usually short-lived) ideas. I remember at one stage he was arguing that Balmain should merge with Souths AND the Roosters lol
 
@Skando&Hodgo said:
@Sabre said:
Tigers didn't turn their back on the area. They saved it.
One word: Criteria

Wests didn't make it and Balmain could have just let them die. So I agree that the article is disrespectful
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Balmain wouldn't have fit the criteria either so what are you trying to say?

_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Actually Balmain did meet the Criteria. But Gary's reply is true:
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@Gary Bakerloo said:
@Sabre said:
Tigers didn't turn their back on the area. They saved it.
One word: Criteria

Wests didn't make it and Balmain could have just let them die. So I agree that the article is disrespectful
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Yes, but in the course of 13 years, it has now come to fruition why Balmain could not stand alone. One could argue, the shoe is on the other foot now….

Without Balmain Wests would have played their last game in 1999.
Without Wests Balmain probably would have died a few years later and neither Wests nor Balmain woul currently exist in any form. Which is why we need to put that behind us and embrace Wests Tigers as a single club.
I might get shot down for this but I hope we never move our training base away from Concord Oval. It is distinctly and solely Wests Tigers with no connection to Balmain or Wests. Moving HQ and training to Leichhhardt or Campbelltown is a step backwards imo. Im not saying we shouldnt be doing more to improve our presence in the west but we should definitely hold on to Concord Oval as it is one of the few things that is not connected to the past and is wholly about Wests Tigers.
 
He's an idiot and Campbelltown should be happy they have even 4 games, there are bigger regions of Sydney that have nothing.

P.S Balmain district isn't just inner west, it extends to the north bank of the parra river/harbour (with Manly confined to the Peninsula and Parra to the hills district it's the only district with NRL representation until Newcastle)

The current arrangement is best, and the club should grow support base across the entire Sydney metro area.
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Going back in time Wests probably should've merged with the Dogs and Balmain and Norths should've merged, but now that's just useless thought.
 
@cktiger said:
@Gary Bakerloo said:
@cktiger said:
The Government giving them a wake up call by announcing development ?
Yeah , I'm sure O'Farrell rang Humphreys and said "Hey , we're announcing developments that include some sections of the Macarther area - get that up the board members".

You are taking it to the extreme and that was not the impression I received. He just referenced the amount of investment being placed in the area being a good indication for the club that the area will continue to grow, therefore highlighting the importance of Wests Tigers to maintain/grow its attachment to the area.

Sorry , Gary , but when he chooses words like , 'wake up call' , 'snubbed' , 'criminal' , turned its back', 'idiotic' and 'smug' in a story aimed at what he obviously sees as a Balmain bias (otherwise why roll out old Elias quotes to try to prove the legends think they're wrong too) I think I am justified in taking it to the extreme.
It's good to note he sees Leichhardt Oval as a part of the future too - maybe have one token game there when we move the rest to Campbelltown.
As for Gould , he has ONE area to try to pull behind his team.
We don't have that luxury - and if you concentrate on one area you obviously do so at the expense of the other.
Oh , and it's not rocket science that development will come in undeveloped areas - and the Governments decisions to develop some areas of Macarthur have ZERO to do with the WestsTigers.
The guy who wrote the story has no idea . :crazy

If the role was reversed and the Inner-Sydney area we cover was as big as the Livo-McArthur area and was recieving the same minimal amount of exposure, maybe you'd be tempted to use those words as well. The moral of the story, don't judge a man till you've walked in his shoes
 
Again I think the NYC full time training model is a good one to adopt for right now.

Maybe after 3 or 4 years of sustained profit with no Leagues Clubs grants a move for an extra game each at CSS & LO can be an option.

As it stands we are in a position that lends itself to excellent media coverage due to locality, a very reasonable lease price and state of the art facilities for the players. I would not be in a massive rush to change that.
 
@GNR4LIFE said:
@cktiger said:
@Gary Bakerloo said:
@cktiger said:
The Government giving them a wake up call by announcing development ?
Yeah , I'm sure O'Farrell rang Humphreys and said "Hey , we're announcing developments that include some sections of the Macarther area - get that up the board members".

You are taking it to the extreme and that was not the impression I received. He just referenced the amount of investment being placed in the area being a good indication for the club that the area will continue to grow, therefore highlighting the importance of Wests Tigers to maintain/grow its attachment to the area.

Sorry , Gary , but when he chooses words like , 'wake up call' , 'snubbed' , 'criminal' , turned its back', 'idiotic' and 'smug' in a story aimed at what he obviously sees as a Balmain bias (otherwise why roll out old Elias quotes to try to prove the legends think they're wrong too) I think I am justified in taking it to the extreme.
It's good to note he sees Leichhardt Oval as a part of the future too - maybe have one token game there when we move the rest to Campbelltown.
As for Gould , he has ONE area to try to pull behind his team.
We don't have that luxury - and if you concentrate on one area you obviously do so at the expense of the other.
Oh , and it's not rocket science that development will come in undeveloped areas - and the Governments decisions to develop some areas of Macarthur have ZERO to do with the WestsTigers.
The guy who wrote the story has no idea . :crazy

If the role was reversed and the Inner-Sydney area we cover was as big as the Livo-McArthur area and was recieving the same minimal amount of exposure, maybe you'd be tempted to use those words as well. The moral of the story, don't judge a man till you've walked in his shoes

Forgetting all the future development (which has nothing to do with his biggest gripe) exactly what do the people of the Macarthur region actually want the Tigers to do?
He says the people of the area 'want to be wanted".
How?
Does he think we should have parades through the streets of Leumeah like they do in Rozelle - wait a minute they don't do that in Rozelle either!
Train there so the thousands who don't turn up to the 4 home games can come and watch them run laps every day?
I'm all for more promotion of our teams in BOTH areas and beyond.
Would love to see us become a global team - and petty us against them agendas ,backed up by unrelated events and old comments, from a bonehead blogger who offers no solutions to anything he complains about won't help that cause.
 
I would love nothing better than having 12 home games at LO but that would be madness. The present set up is very good, maybe a little more thought has to go into what teams we schedule to play at what ground in order to maximize exposure and get better crowds.

The main thing is if they keep being a top six club and play a good brand of football the punters will support them and many league fans will drop them in flash if they start to struggle.

The moving of the u20 base to Cambo is a good idea and gives them a presence in the area but really it all comes down to good marketing and the CEO and his team have to get lots of press and exposure in the area and make the brand name a massive thing in the South West. Its a hard market to crack, lots of young families doing it tough with very little left in the weekly budget for a day at the footy, but in saying that it is a massive area and their are also people who have a stack of cash.

One thing is for certain if we stayed as two clubs we would be like the Tasmanian Tiger now–extinct
 
@Demonborger said:
He's an idiot and Campbelltown should be happy they have even 4 games, there are bigger regions of Sydney that have nothing.

P.S Balmain district isn't just inner west, it extends to the north bank of the parra river/harbour (with Manly confined to the Peninsula and Parra to the hills district it's the only district with NRL representation until Newcastle)

The current arrangement is best, and the club should grow support base across the entire Sydney metro area.
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Going back in time Wests probably should have merged with the Dogs and Balmain and Norths should've merged, but now that's just useless thought.

Wow, I thought that the comment by Sabre was pinheaded, but yours is positively breathtaking.
 
@smeghead said:
Again I think the NYC full time training model is a good one to adopt for right now.

Maybe after 3 or 4 years of sustained profit with no Leagues Clubs grants a move for an extra game each at CSS & LO can be an option.

As it stands we are in a position that lends itself to excellent media coverage due to locality, a very reasonable lease price and state of the art facilities for the players. I would not be in a massive rush to change that.

Smeg, my opinion of you has just gone up 1000%. You are the Johnny Farnham of this website "The Voice of Reason". Please note that I am not taken the mickey with my comment.

For the rest of you gibberers, the inner west is dying. For anyone to suggest that this is the way of the future, you are kidding. Rationalisation of the Sydney clubs is coming and if we are not careful, we could be swallowed up again. The south west is crying out for a team to be embrace. The next thing you know we will be supporting the West Sydney BulEels (with just a dash of Tigers)
 
Can someone tell what the WT do differently for the areas of Campbelltown and Balmain ?

I assume that the players, visit schools in each district, visit hospitals in each district, visit shopping malls in each district, play 4 games in each district. Ok they train at Concord where the HQ is so that is closer to Balmain than Campbelltown.

I am not getting into who has the bigger Leagues Clubs etc but just want see according to this article what is different ?
 
I think it is refference to only four main points of interaction with the community per year and that this sees a lesser feeling of embracing the Macarthur community that they wish to be embraced by.

There are the same amount of school visits etc but with the Inner West the players also live in the community which would broaden the feeling of attatchment some may argue.

If we can equalise this somewhat by growing our NYC side out of the Macarthur it would lead to a better balance. It also is a bit of a proving ground for developing these kids as figureheads, seeing how they respond, what they need to work on etc without being a massive deal for anyone outside of the Macarthur. It just helps stamp out brand in the area which is why I am so for a 3 grade across the board branding and with an even split of State Cup games at LO & CSS as I would hope give away free passes in schools, run BBQ's that injured players can attend and work at within each ground take photos etc. We have made the club a business success moving forward and now we need to go back a little and improve community relations etc. Get the councils to come to the party for State Cup ground hire etc make it a cheap game day experience at LO & CSS similar to the variety on offer at Henson where a beer, sausage sandwich and entry costs less than $20.

There have been positive moves. I like that Lote & Blair have columns in the Advertiser etc and slowly this will grow. 2005 came as such a shock that we as a club were not as ready as we could have been to use it as a real springboard.

We now have the maturity in playing group, management and media savvy to achieve all our goals and become a massive force straddling and embracing two large communities
 
@Alf Duguid said:
@smeghead said:
Again I think the NYC full time training model is a good one to adopt for right now.

Maybe after 3 or 4 years of sustained profit with no Leagues Clubs grants a move for an extra game each at CSS & LO can be an option.

As it stands we are in a position that lends itself to excellent media coverage due to locality, a very reasonable lease price and state of the art facilities for the players. I would not be in a massive rush to change that.

Smeg, my opinion of you has just gone up 1000%. You are the Johnny Farnham of this website "The Voice of Reason". Please note that I am not taken the mickey with my comment.

For the rest of you gibberers, the inner west is dying. For anyone to suggest that this is the way of the future, you are kidding. Rationalisation of the Sydney clubs is coming and if we are not careful, we could be swallowed up again. **The south west is crying out for a team to be embrace**. The next thing you know we will be supporting the West Sydney BulEels (with just a dash of Tigers)

They've already got one that they don't (according to some people) embrace .
You can't tell me the people of the Macarthur region don't know which team represents them.
The original blog was just a nobody having a shot at WestsTigers management .
 
Kids dont want 20's or reserve grade players that no one knows….they want first graders I'm afraid.
Benji
Robbie
Ellis
Blair

guys you can call by one name and theyre immediatley known.

To those fans on here from Cambo:
Do you feel isolated?
Does it feel like a visit, when a game is on at Cambo?
 
@Juro said:
Since I don't live in the Macarthur area, I am not aware of what the club does to generate support. Can somebody provide details of things they do, such as school and hospital visits?

Gearzone at Macarthur Square always has players showing up.

The local newspaper now have Four Tigers Players Writing columns.

All the secondary merch places around here predominantly stock tigers stuff - (I.e - Best and Less) with other teams a distant second.

Local/upcoming juniors like Groat, Lawrence, and Tedesco get out and about as well

I have to admit, they are pushed fairly hard around here.
 
@magpiecol said:
@Demonborger said:
He's an idiot and Campbelltown should be happy they have even 4 games, there are bigger regions of Sydney that have nothing.

P.S Balmain district isn't just inner west, it extends to the north bank of the parra river/harbour (with Manly confined to the Peninsula and Parra to the hills district it's the only district with NRL representation until Newcastle)

The current arrangement is best, and the club should grow support base across the entire Sydney metro area.
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Going back in time Wests probably should have merged with the Dogs and Balmain and Norths should've merged, but now that's just useless thought.

Wow, I thought that the comment by Sabre was pinheaded, but yours is positively breathtaking.

Pinheaded? how so? Is it because i don't fall for the lie that Macarthur is any more special that any other part for rugby league in Sydney? North shore has 0 rugby league presence, greater corporate and household wealth and a larger population (including the largest asian australian communities which are largely untapped). Try and tell the ARLC that you are more special than anyone else.

Now from Wests Tigers view, Macarthur is part of our area, but so is Balmain and its rugby league hinterland (which is not merely "inner west"), and i see no reason why either region should be favoured over the other WHEN our true supporter base is city wide.

We will see a far greater push towards central venues, the ARLC will want to push towards 30k+ derbies between big clubs such as Tigers vs Bulldogs, Parra vs Bulldogs, Dragons vs Roosters, etc etc etc and there is a good chance memberships will be ground based (we may see a season ticket that is 6/3/3 home allocation + including seats for dogs, eels, roosters, souths away so the split will be more like 10/3/3 or 8/3/3/2) .

Concord personally i like, it gives us a centralised admin and training base (try rent out two office buildings in two areas to split your time between, waste of money) - and it reconnects with the original area of Wests. But really training base should be calculated from cost + facilities + how much the staff and players like it). As for reserves and under 20's it makes the most sense for them to train where the first grade side trains so the coaching staff can easily see how they are developing.

It would be nice if the club held more public events with the fans in both areas. Wests Tigers don't even have an annual presence at the Granny Smith Festival in Eastwood, which regularly draws 100k people from the surrounding area.

1\. Macarthur is not the chosen people
2\. Joint venture should be split 50/50
3\. Training base should be centralised
4\. Venue for derby games will be centralised at SFS or ANZ
5\. Regionalism is nice but this tribe is metropolitan now
 
@Gary Bakerloo said:
**Wests’ Tigers have an identity crisis**

In their budget, the government announced new projects costing $181 million dollars on new housing areas which will support 76,000 new homes. Many of them in Camden and Liverpool.

camden/campbelltown and livo are almost as far as livo and sydney, bird's eye wise, not time wise.
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They also announced $397 million for the South West Rail Link. Not to mention upgrades to the M5 Motorway and Camden Valley way. These are the growth indicators Tigers Chief Executive Stephen Humphreys surely must be looking at.

the area they are talking about here is near livo, not near cambo. it comes under the liverpool district.

imo.. i think enough is being done near campbelltown and with this growth you should betargeting people near livo and not near cambo. most people think cambo and livo are the same thing. on the M5.. it's around a 30 minute off peak. on the M5 from livo to sydney, it's around 40 minutes.

the overall tone of the article is pretty critical and if u wanna criticise, they should get there facts right before doing so. targetting cambo doesn't exactly mean you're targeting the area where the growth is.
 
That article was rude and factually incorrect. Basically it is just gutter journalism.

The writer of that article also made a choice to do his best to put the club in a negative light.
 

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