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Alex Tricolas

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Joined June 2015

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NRL and Wests Tigers Tragic living in the nation\'s capital. Not the only person in Canberra openly crying like a baby on Grand Final Day in 1989, but perhaps the only one crying tears of sorrow.

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Wests Campbelltown neither. Read my comment above.

Sixteen years of travesty: Wests Tigers and the miracle premiership that solved nothing

You are quite correct that the Wests Tigers fault line is no longer Magpies v Balmain. It is now entirely Inner West v South West. But if we want this club to secure an an identity for itself, let us at least be clear headed about a few things.
Firstly, since Campbelltown walked away and Balmain went into financial armageddon, Wests Ashfield is the only thing keeping this club operational. For all the talk of relocation, the fact is that it is the inner West, and namely the punters who walk through the doors every day to eat a chicken parmy, drink a beer and drop a few bucks into the pokies, which fund this team. It is entirely correct that the Inner West community they live in should be considered the true owner of this team.
Secondly, in the battle of the home grounds, there is no contest. Leichhardt is the faded jewel in the crown. This semi-ruined temple to rugby league, almost universally loved despite its outdated facilities, remains a crowd and player favourite across the league. There is a magic to the place that simply cannot be recreated in the sterile environment of Campbelltown Stadium (a place with no story) or even in fancy whiz-bang arenas located not too far away and recently completed. It is to Sydney rugby league what Old Trafford is to Manchester or Anfield is to Liverpool. West Tigers are holding gold in their hands and don’t realise it. Not only that, but it is located just 4km from Wests Ashfield and 6km from HQ at Concord.
Thirdly, a myth of epic proportions continues to be peddled by all and sundry in regard to the advantages of relocation wholesale to the MacArthur region. That myth is that you can’t be successful in the Inner West because (a) the heartland has moved and (b) you need to place yourself within the boundaries of a vast ‘nursery’ in order to succeed.
That is bogus. Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm have dominated the competition for the better part of the last decade and neither is an example of this flawed logic. Roosters recruit well from whichever junior comp and Melbourne recruit from a nursery located 1500 kms to the north. Penrith has become a monster in recent times primarily because it raided the NSW Central West, and not just its own backyard. Somehow nobody is suggesting the Panthers move to Bathurst or the Storm move to Queensland.
It’s time to accept that the Inner West communities which take in the traditional Balmain and Wests territories, stretching from Birchgrove Oval to Leichhardt, from Pratten Park to Lidcombe and Concord are the heart and soul of this club.
Now all that said, very little of this has anything to do with success on the field. That is entirely a mess made by a few responsible people, and they should be held accountable.

Sixteen years of travesty: Wests Tigers and the miracle premiership that solved nothing

Not buying it. Balmain means a lot to many Wests Tigers fans, even the young ones. Maybe it was his uncle’s dream, but the dream that kids of Moses’s generation grew up with was to emulate their Wests Tigers hero Benji Marshall.

As for feeling cheated, I would say that Moses has not actually earned the right to demand the silly money that is being talked about. Uncle Benny and cousin Isaac have done a good job of talking him up, and the media have gone along for the ride. But regardless of his potential, he is not a million dollar player yet.

Never was a fan of Jason Taylor, but he is spot on labelling this young crew as disrespectful. As for the Eels, they have drunk the Kool Aid.

No small wonder that Moses wants to leave Wests Tigers

Lewis and Jennings have both performed brilliantly for their respective clubs and for their state since leaving. Both are playing semi final football while Penrith are struggling to avoid the spoon. Seems like Penrith did the right thing…

Lewis and Farah: A tale of two stalwarts

Hi Kurt,

You make many valid points, but all are relatively moot once Farah’s contract is taken into consideration. Had Wests Tigers not given him four more years, had they not asked him to take a pay cut when he was at the top of his game, had this happened when he was coming off contract, then the tap on the shoulder would have had to be taken on the chin.

As it stands, they have dug themselves into a hole again by moving people on before their contract has been fulfilled–but this time, they have done it to arguably the biggest club hero in their history, and it is leaving a stench that just won’t wash out. If you were Farah, would you walk? He is well within his rights to stay, he has earned his payday and he will get it, what ever happens.

Regardless of what anybody at the club may think of Farah, surely he deserves to have his contract honoured, or at the very least be given a proper opportunity to find a new home and to go out with dignity.

Surely his manager could have been given the heads-up at the beginning of the year rather than a few weeks ago, and surely he could have been given a fitting tribute at a final home game. As it stands, we witnessed the absurd situation last weekend of a warm goodbye for Richards and Galloway at the Tiger’s final home game, but not a peep from the club about Farah.

Of course, we keep hearing that rugby league is a business now, so perhaps there is no room for this type of quaint sentiment in the game any more. But let’s look at it from a business perspective. The Tigers will once more pay big bucks for a player to run out against them. There is no stealing away into the night for this one, they are stuck carrying the baby here to the tune of a million bucks a year.

And while we are on the subject of business, the corporate gobbledygook coming out of Marina Go is quite possibly the most cringe-worthy part of this whole sorry tale. KPIs, winning culture, future success, moving forward… Blah, blah, blah. Members and fans are rightfully getting sick of hearing it.

Truth is, we are waiting to see what this winning culture even looks like. Whatever it is, it can’t possibly be a culture where it is acceptable to tear up the final two years of the club’s longest serving captain – a player good enough to be the incumbent State of Origin hooker.

It can’t possibly be a culture that remains addicted to moving players on before their contracts are up while paying them to play for other clubs. And it can’t possibly be a culture that accepts finishing at the bottom of the ladder while also blowing the club’s salary cap because of bad player recruitment and retention decisions, and then doing it all over again!

At this stage, it may be the only thing to do for Taylor and the board to suck eggs and let Farah play out one more year of his contract. Sammy Ayoub will have time to find him a home for his final year, and Farah gets to say goodbye to the fans properly. The Tigers will only pay for Farah to play against them for one season rather than two, and at the very least, they will be assured of a packed Leichardt Oval for at least one match next year, regardless of where they sit on the ladder.

Robbie Farah must call time on his Tigers career

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