Beginning of the end for the Wests Magpies

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By CurtisW1908, 13 Jan 2012 CurtisW1908 is a Roar Rookie

Tagged:: Balmain Tigers, NRL, NSW Cup, Rugby League, Western Suburbs Magpies

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Not many kids remember the Western Suburbs Magpies. Not many kids know their history. When the Magpies merged with the Balmain Tigers in late 1999, the only thing Magpies supporters could keep was their memories and the chance to support a new competitive side in the NRL. Now, that’s gone too.

In the late 1990s, rugby league was changing. It was a necessity that clubs evolved from the dark ages and move forward together. That meant Sydney clubs like North Sydney, Manly, South Sydney, St George, Balmain and the Magpies had to make some harsh business decisions to survive.

The Magpies had to decide between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Tigers. One of these teams would be their new partners in a merger.

It was thought that going with the Bulldogs would be a death sentence as the cashed up Bulldogs simply wanted the Macarthur region. The Tigers were also considering an offer from the Parramatta Eels, but Balmain too thought a takeover was inevitable from Dennis Fitzgerald and the Eels.

The Wests Tigers were born. Two foundation clubs built on heart and spirit. This thing could work. It would be a long process but it could work.

But 2012 will be the final season of senior footy for the Magpies. A decision made by Wests Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys will see only a Balmain side entered into the NSW Cup from 2013. The Magpies are dead.

“In my opinion Wests, Balmain and Wests Tigers spend an inordinate amount of time, money and effort on the NSW Cup, and I believe we’d all be far better off if some of that time, effort and money was redirected into the junior leagues and junior development programs,” he said.

“I’ve expressed that view to the Wests Tigers directors.”

The Balmain takeover began with the subtlest of moves. A decision was made last year to drop fringe first graders only to the Balmain NSW Cup side.

The least Humphreys and the Wests Tigers could do is field the NSW Cup side as the Wests Tigers in a predominant black strip.

Magpies chairman Paul Dillon is fuming. “We’re very disappointed with the Wests Tigers, and what should have been a wonderful celebration has come to this,” Dillon said.

“The agreement was the Wests Tigers be the NRL side, and Wests and Balmain remain in the New South Wales Cup. We offered to the Tigers to play in the NSW Cup with a Magpies jersey and stick a Tiger on the sleeve but they said no.”

People will probably tell me to stop whingeing and get over it. To move with the times and accept the Magpies fate.

But those people weren’t there in ‘99 when the Magpies played their last game against the Auckland Warriors. I was there with the other fans that never gave up. Twelve years old and sitting by myself, crying and chanting for 80 horrid minutes while the Warriors thrashed a hapless Wests side.

As an eight-year-old I sat at the Sydney Cricket Ground watching a Sheffield Shield game with my father and brother when I realised Andrew Leeds was sitting directly behind me. I was such a fan of Leeds I couldn’t bare talk to him and went and hid for three hours until he was gone.

The very same kid who would cry with joy when the Magpies would win a rare game.

Then came the merger and the dawning of a new era. I remember their very first game like it was yesterday. A 24-24 draw against the Brisbane Broncos was a good start. But it was the crowd that stuck with me that day. One side of Campbelltown Stadium chanted “Tigers” while the other side chanted “Wests”.

Eventually the Wests chants died out and people accepted this new team. But that doesn’t mean you can forget history and respect.

They might as well call themselves Balmain again. The Wests Tigers doesn’t work without the Wests Magpies.

Passion and loyalty are things you don’t associate with modern day rugby league. The last piece of loyalty left dies with the Magpies.

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The Crowd Says (31) | Page 1 of Comments

January 13th 2012 @ 7:25am
Jonny G said | January 13th 2012 @ 7:25am | Report comment

As an old supporter of the North Sydney Bears, I feel your pain

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January 13th 2012 @ 7:45am
Mals said | January 13th 2012 @ 7:45am | Report comment

Curtis – tough times for Magpies supporters. Humphries said it was a cost cutting exercise but what criteria was used in the decision to cut the Magpies & keep Balmain? Or is it simply a case of thinly disguised favouritism?
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- January 13th 2012 @ 8:45am
  Will Sinclair said | January 13th 2012 @ 8:45am | Report comment
  
  I’m not sure they’re cutting the Magpies and keeping Balmain are they?
  
  I think they’re replacing both teams with a single Wests Tigers NSW Cup team.
  
  Reply
January 13th 2012 @ 8:28am
Ben of Sydney said | January 13th 2012 @ 8:28am | Report comment

Why not have the Magpies contest the NSW cup and the Balmain Tigers contest the Toyota cup?

Sharing is caring

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January 13th 2012 @ 8:41am
Will Sinclair said | January 13th 2012 @ 8:41am | Report comment

As a former Balmain Tigers tragic, I know how you feel… It was hard to lose my team, and I remember clearly those last, sad days of my old club.

Although, having said that, I have come to accept the merger, which has given us a more competitive team than any of us could have imagined back in the late 90′s. And, for the main part, the merger has been very successful, with little ill feeling (I reckon Benji Marshall alone has made the thing work – he brought glamour and success, which always smooths these things.)

I am aware, also, that the Wests Tigers are referred to as “the Tigers” far more than as “Wests”. And that helps those of us from the Balmain camp.

I actually think they made a bad mistake when originally naming the team. For some reason, certain Western Suburbs identities insisted on the team being called “Wests” rather than “Western Suburbs”. I have no idea why this happened – and I still think it’s stupid.

And I really think more people would refer to the team as “Wests” if it was a shortened version of the proper “Western Suburbs”… Maybe now is the time to change, and make them the Western Suburbs Tigers, or Wests for short?

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- January 13th 2012 @ 11:17pm
  Queensland's game is rugby league said | January 13th 2012 @ 11:17pm | Report comment
  
  Their name should be the West Sydney Tigers or Western Sydney Tigers.
  
  Reply
  - January 16th 2012 @ 1:19pm
    Epiquin said | January 16th 2012 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
    
    west sydney tigers rolls much better off the tongue
    
    Reply
January 13th 2012 @ 8:44am
Will Sinclair said | January 13th 2012 @ 8:44am | Report comment

Curtis -

My understanding is that the loss of the Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup team is being driven by the refusal of Wests Ashfield to continue to find the team?

They are concerned that their contribution would be better served on a Wests Tigers NSW Cup side, which would benefit the NRL team more (by freeing up more cash, and by allowing all Wests Tigers players to play together in all grades).

What do you know about this?

And surely this is the end of the Balmain Tigers as well?

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January 13th 2012 @ 9:11am
chrisc101 said | January 13th 2012 @ 9:11am | Report comment

What a joke of a story. The media is doing their very best to drum this up into something which it isn’t. Who actually goes and watches NSW Cup since the introduction NYC? Most of the games are played in front of friends and loved ones.

Wests Tigers needs to forge its own identity. There will always be Balmain and Western Suburbs junior districts. But at a senior level it is Wests Tigers. The decision to field 2 teams has long outlived its used by date, made at a very emotive point in time, in a day when second grade was a legitimate competition.

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January 13th 2012 @ 9:15am
Jeff Dowsing said | January 13th 2012 @ 9:15am | Report comment

I actually find it incredible that Wests Tigers kept separate NSW Cup teams afloat for so long given the expense and lack of cohesive development of players for the NRL side.

Especially when you consider only two Victorian AFL clubs even have their own stand alone feeder teams.

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January 13th 2012 @ 9:16am
The Cattery said | January 13th 2012 @ 9:16am | Report comment

Curtis
good article, it’s important to hear from supporters of the Magpies. It’s a sad say when a foundation club is lost because the competition as a whole loses so much. In my view the game as a whole has not done enough to make sure these sorts of clubs have a chance of surviving, but it’s very tough, we see even in the AFL that two foundation clubs from 1897 (of the original ended up either moving permanently to another city or merging with a team from another city.

ONe sad aspect is that the magpie is one of the best Australian mascots imaginable, a pugnacious bird, especially in September/October, it’s the perfect symbol for a tough football team, who protects their turf no matter what the odds.

League should never have lost the magpie from its totem pole.

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January 13th 2012 @ 9:43am
sheek said | January 13th 2012 @ 9:43am | Report comment

There is a sad irony here.

Taking the emotion out of the process, had the Sydney rugby league clubs adopted the super league blue print, they would all most likely still be participating in Sydney premier division or equivalent – Norths Bears, Souths Rabbitohs, Easts Roosters, Wests Magpies, Balmain Tigers, Newtown Jets, Saints Dragons, Canterbury Bulldogs, Manly Sea Eagles, Parramatta Eels, Penrith panthers, Cronulla Sharks.

The Sydney super league clubs in the NRL would then have been “greenfield” creations – basically Sydney S-E ( incorp. Souths, Easts, Newtown), Sydney North Harbour (incorp. Norths, Manly, Balmain), Sydney Greater West (incorp. Wests, Parramatta, Penrtih) & Sydney S-W (incorp. Canterbury, Saints, Cronulla)- but given more appropriate names acceptable to the community.

But the Sydney clubs weren’t going to be part of anything less than the top drawer. In the end, what we see today is perhaps less than ideally satisfactory.

History & tradition are the oxygen that allow sports to survive & thrive. You throw that away at great risk…..

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January 13th 2012 @ 9:44am
Chris Chard said | January 13th 2012 @ 9:44am | Report comment

As a Steelers fan I can empathise with you to a degree

Originally after the Steelers/St George joint Venture both sides had a NSW cup team. Despite making the GF in their only season the Steelers side was removed after a year (lack of $$$ from Steelers club), although so too was the St George side eventually.

However starting from next year Illawarra will start to be a feeder team for the Dragons in the NSW cup, so these things can turn around.

As for Wests disappearing I wouldn’t stress to much. The Magpies have had more near death experiences than Spiderman and having one reserves team does make a lot more sense for Wests Tigers, even if it probably shoud be Wests rather than Balmain-Ryde.
And hey, at least WT’s seem to do a prety good job at honouring Western Suburbs history with retro jerseys etc .If I were you i’d focus your energy on lobbying for Campbelltown to get redevloped so it can hold some of the games currently moved by WT’s to the SFS.

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