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@Tigersmurf said:Have we really done that well with two lower grade teams to choose from?
Supporting two lower grade teams just weakens our depth as we have less money to pay for players and as such we have lesser quality teams. Now I know that our teams are doing well, but that is because we took a punt on guys and developed our own talent. Look at the Dogs Cup side, it is full of players capable of playing first grade. We have some great players in our lower grade teams but not to that extent.
Great post Gobbs - I think you made a lot of sense.
@Gobbs said:@alien said:Wests Magpies area is basically around Liverpool down through Campbelltown/Macarthur and down to around the Southern Highlands. Are you telling me that whole area shouldn't have their own NSW Cup side? What a joke!
99.9% of people that reside and follow League in the Liverpool, Campbelltown-Macarthur & Southern Highlands region don't care about NSW Cup. The interest that attracts the couple of hundred or so fans to watch the Magpies go around at Campbelltown on a Saturday afternoon are the 0.01% that do give a stuff and friends & family of the players.
@alien said:@Gobbs said:@alien said:Wests Magpies area is basically around Liverpool down through Campbelltown/Macarthur and down to around the Southern Highlands. Are you telling me that whole area shouldn't have their own NSW Cup side? What a joke!
99.9% of people that reside and follow League in the Liverpool, Campbelltown-Macarthur & Southern Highlands region don't care about NSW Cup. The interest that attracts the couple of hundred or so fans to watch the Magpies go around at Campbelltown on a Saturday afternoon are the 0.01% that do give a stuff and friends & family of the players.
I wasn't really talking about because of the fans. I'm talking about the players that play for teams in this area. The area is big enough and has enough local teams that I don't think they should have to compete with players from the Balmain district to make a NSW Cup side.
@matty119 said:@alien said:@Gobbs said:99.9% of people that reside and follow League in the Liverpool, Campbelltown-Macarthur & Southern Highlands region don't care about NSW Cup. The interest that attracts the couple of hundred or so fans to watch the Magpies go around at Campbelltown on a Saturday afternoon are the 0.01% that do give a stuff and friends & family of the players.
I wasn't really talking about because of the fans. I'm talking about the players that play for teams in this area. The area is big enough and has enough local teams that I don't think they should have to compete with players from the Balmain district to make a NSW Cup side.
This may be valid, but that is assuming that the people in the local area are the ones competing for the spots. Realistically, how many local juniors does the current Wests Magpies squad have??? A handful…..The Balmain team has a large number in its side, and yet seem to be the more supportive of the two. I think that any players coming from each now area are not growing up dreaming of playing State Cup for Wests or Balmain, they are dreaming of playing First Grade for the Wests Tigers. The costs which are incurred by both Balmain/Ryde Eastwood and Wests are unneeded, particularly when they could be pooled to go into one even more competitive team. It would most certainly involve some pain for both the players who lose their spots and loyal supporters who have followed the club for a lifetime, but we ultimately need to work in favour of the greater good, which in this case is the growth and continuation of Wests Tigers as a club. A combined State Cup team for 2011 is the best case scenario.
@smeghead said:Actually considering projected figures without leagues club grants for the Wests Tigers financial position this season and considering the number of State Cup players who are currently under Wests Tigers contracts it is forseeable that the Wests Tigers club will be able to cover the additional player cost and travel expenses for a Wests Tigers State Cup side.
Ryde Eastwood would be perfectly willing to be a major sponsor of any Wests Tigers State Cup side as well.
Regardless of my personal opinion on the issue the roadblocks to this happening are not massive
@Gobbs said:@alien said:Wests Magpies area is basically around Liverpool down through Campbelltown/Macarthur and down to around the Southern Highlands. Are you telling me that whole area shouldn't have their own NSW Cup side? What a joke!
99.9% of people that reside and follow League in the Liverpool, Campbelltown-Macarthur & Southern Highlands region don't care about NSW Cup. The interest that attracts the couple of hundred or so fans to watch the Magpies go around at Campbelltown on a Saturday afternoon are the 0.01% that do give a stuff and friends & family of the players. It has been a dying competition for years and the sooner the Game can once again return to a 3 Grade Format of 1st Grade, Reserve Grade and U/21's or U/23's the better off Rugby League will be. Greater transperancy and structure not only for the fans but for the players.
To me, cheering on the Maggies in NSW Cup isn't the same as cheering on the Maggies like I used to prior to the Joint-Venture. It never has felt the same and never will. Wests Tigers now fill that void for me. I have often turned up to NSW Cup Games watching Balmain and Western Suburbs go around with a vested interest on players who are pushing for First Grade or keeping a close eye on WT's contracted players, hoping they are performing well rather than wanting either side to win.
11 years on, and I do believe it's time that both clubs unified and became unified in all 3 Grades. Maybe then, just maybe, the fans might finally unite and get behind 'Wests Tigers' in its entirety, rather than continuing to see the Joint-Venture as still Balmain or Western Suburbs.
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Hopefully an Independent Commission can bring about this change and dissolve the fledging NSW Cup, restructure the U/20's competition and provide Rugby League some very much needed structure, strengthening the progression and development of talent coming through for all clubs to help the prosperity of the Greatest Game of All.