The story or the Wests Tigers is an interesting one. The Wests Tigers are an amalgamation of two great foundation clubs who merged in the belief that survival instead of independence was their best option.
The Super League War wreaked havoc on the game, and the Western Suburb Magpies and the Balmain Tigers were both victims of its destruction.
However, the members of these two great clubs came together and to guarantee their place in the future and voted to merge as one. Since the 2000 season, a new club has operated.
Although, the club won a competition in 2005 under the guidance of Tim Sheens and came close a couple of years later the club has failed to achieve its potential. Why is this?
There are many variables to this question.
Although the club merged, it was in essence still two separate clubs trying to hold together a marriage when they still wanted to live the life of a bachelor. It was a single club in name only.
The Wests faction – of which there were Ashfield and Campbelltown – and the Balmain faction sat together at board level and tried to navigate their way forward.
Another issue was the club’s location. Wests Magpies based in Campbelltown operated out of the growing south-west. While the Balmain Tigers worked out of Leichhardt, the inner west of Sydney. Two polar opposites in the Sydney region. The club chose to train at Concord which is far closer to Balmain’s home then to the south-west.
As a neutral, I always found this decision boggling. I thought everyone would recognise that the south-west was going to be the growth area and so basing yourself in this area would have been beneficial.
In any case, success came after five years on the field when they won their maiden title in 2005. Unfortunately, progress was not occurring off it. The Balmain Leagues club faced battles and hurdles to stay solvent. Broken promises from the state government did the club no favours.
(AAP Image/Action Photographics/Matt Impey)
Furthermore, the Wests side of the joint venture was going through their own divisions. The foundations of the new club did appear to be built on sand.
In the end, the West Magpies disappeared from the NSW Cup, and the Balmain Tigers (who had partnered with Ryde – Eastwood much earlier) came together once more in 2013 and entered a Wests Tigers team in the NSW Cup.
This disjointed effort showed that it took 13 years for the club to try and solidify its branding as a single entity.
As always with rugby league, things are never so simple. The Balmain faction of the joint venture required funds from the NRL to stay afloat. The Wests side was travelling okay, and with Balmain struggling, this gave them the upper hand at board level.
From 2018 the Western Suburbs Magpies will re-join the NSW Cup. It will be the clubs 110th year in operation. They will act as the feeder team to the Wests Tigers. Unfortunately for Balmain fans, your day in the sun may be over.
Although the club still trains and operates out of Concord, apparently the club is looking to target the south-west with more intent. Yet, this refusal to make a permanent move highlights how the club struggles with itself.
I haven’t even mentioned all the internal dramas the club has faced. Players and coaches fight. The player and coach turnover do not help build a strong supporter base. This continuing revolving door does the young club no favours.
At the end of the 2017 season, the Wests Tigers boasted 17,686 members. This number had grown from its early origins; however, the Tigers should be a superpower of rugby league.
If they had held tight the old fans of Balmain – one of the code’s stronger teams regarding supporters – and the Magpies and unified them together from the outset, they would no doubt be a team that players would want to play for and that fans would want to support.
The solution to their problems is not easy. It may be painful. I’ll offer my two bobs worth as a neutral but, know that the hard-core fans will shoot them down. That’s okay. I get it. It’s your club. Despite this, my suggestions are as follows.
The Wests Tigers needs to move their administration out to the south-west of Sydney. Moreover, all training and all facilities associated with rugby league need to follow suit. The Campbelltown and MacArthur regions need to see and know that the club will represent them by being based among them. Serving an area when the club itself is based on the other side of Sydney does not work.
For the traditionalist, having the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers operate at the NSW Cup level as separate single entities should be a goal. The two clubs could then act as a feeder into the elite level, but remember to keep those two clubs separate.
They are foundation clubs. They are proud clubs. They are clubs we should keep and honour. Playing in the NSW Cup alongside the likes of Newtown keeps tradition and the fans of those clubs in our game. Western Suburbs won four titles while Balmain 11. Losing these clubs is most certainly not in the interests of the game.
Finally, The Wests Tigers need to become independent from both the Balmain and Wests factions. Its board should consist of no one from these entities. It should be a real stand-alone organisation that has a single purpose and vision for itself, not for its predecessors.
It must strive to promote itself independently from the past while celebrating its short history. The club needs to engage the community and drive the membership model that is so successful around the world and with rugby leagues main competitor the AFL. If it does this, then the club going forward has a bright future.
Wests Tigers
First Season: 2000
Titles: 1 (2005)
Fred
Guest
If household income is the measure, why don't the Tigers relocate to Mosman? The Mosman-Vaucluse Tiger Yachts has a nice ring to it
Peter Phelps
Guest
Stephen has a good point. I don't really care which clubs move out of Sydney but it has to happen. The Tigers are certainly a candidate and I don't care what the juniors situation is. Its those old men burying their heads in the sand and saying no not my club that are the problem.
bjt
With the Sydney glut being one of the key issues facing the NRL and rugby league's growth, and now that the Sharks have finally got a premiership, the Tigers are sitting very high on the chopping block. With such a toxic history would anyone really miss them? Robbie and Benji are not much of a legacy... Balmain Tigers and Western Sydney Magpies in the NSW Cup where they belong. "Wests Tigers" can live on in Wikipedia.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Wests and Balmain merged because, like many, they thought that competing in the professional league was the same as survival. But that's not true. Both clubs still exist, the Wests Tigers sitting 'above' them is not them.
BIG PAT PNG
Guest
I TOTALLY AGREE, WESTS TIGERS MUST BE THE NAME AND MUST REMAIN OUR TEAM IN THE NRL!
Mark Campbell
Roar Guru
I think the days of forcing teams to relocate are over. It hurts the fans too much. Though, no doubt the NRL would love to see a team relocate voluntarily. The Tigers moving out to the SW is not really a relocation as it's their territory already. All in all, I think Wests Tigers fans should be optimistic. If the front office gets its house in order, the club could be the biggest in Sydney.
Boydy-In-Brisbane
Guest
As a Wests Tigers supporter and very proud Balmain boy, I am certainly not averse to your idea. I think both clubs do in fact need to maintain their identity in some form and your thoughts have much merit.
Rick
Guest
Black and white is sooooooooooo boring! Now gold and black - that lights up the ground. If one must add a little bit of white for history's sake than maybe but if you want a standout colour on the field and on TV then it must be predominantly gold and black. Anybody who goes to both Leichhardt and Campbelltown to watch the mighty Tigers will quickly tell you which of the two has the best vibe (secret message - it isn't Campbelltown!). Wests Tigers have one of the highest crowd attendance rates of any team in the comp - other than the one town teams. I would suggest that in 2018 those numbers will go through the roof. The idea of basing Wests Tigers entirely out west is stupid beyond belief. It is on a par with the Liberal government wanting to move the PowerHouse Museum out west. Leichhardt, Balmain, Ashfield and Lidcombe are the inner west and west. Not all the west is located in Parramatta and beyond.
winmati
Guest
as a supporter of the west tigers they will be my second team balmain tigers always be no.1 I agree with what I just read and west tigers should be a stand alone club 2018 tigers No.1 thanks wests magpies for keeping the tigers alive
Steve
Guest
Well said John.
Steve
Guest
Once a Magpie all ways a Magpie!
Davico
Roar Pro
And yes I know about Collingwood but the narratives are very different!
Davico
Roar Pro
You think that branding a club the Magpies is going to be a hit??
Steve
Guest
Mark you have it half right! The Balmain side of the so called JV have no money. The Wests Magpies own 75% of the Wests Tigers, the Wests Tigers only have 18,000 fans after 18 years which is a disgrace, that means the JV has failed. Simon Cook the Wests Ashfield CEO said the Wests Tigers have a potential of 250,000 fans! so where are they Simon? The Wests Ashfield directors tell us the tiger is more marketable than a Magpie, have the Wests Ashfield directors look at Collingwood AFL Team? they have the most fans in the AFL and they are Magpies, Has the Wests Ashfield directors done a study of what team the people of Campbelltown would like to see play at Campbelltown where the real growth area is for the NRL? When its all said and done nobody wants the Wests Tigers, its a nobody team!
Davico
Roar Pro
Your joking right! They have the biggest pool of juniors in the whole NRL. What are you basing them getting moved on? Rich benefactors? Its not the NFL!!! Chooks and Rabbits should be forced to move before WT. I am an old Balmain fan and while I don't agree with a lot of the article I am a realist. The Wests Tigers should be based in SW Sydeny to take advantage of the juniors in the area. A half descent stadium in the area would be handy as well, I am not talking 30,000 but big enough to cater for a crowd and good facilities. Old maggie fans also have to accept that the team is the Tigers! As far as merchandise and branding goes the Magpie is never coming back and we all just have to deal with the fact that the old days are over. Unfortunately RL is full of boards full of old men with old grudges and until they wake up the game will never be the main game in Australia
Joshua C Burnell
Guest
liverpool is 34 minutes to Concord and 22 mins to Campbelltown and the same to parra and belmore so even a move to campbelltown would not connect us to liverpool anymore then we could be now. mediam weekly household earnings in campbelltown is 1400 while in balmain is 2673 virtually double so i'd say its you who would be surprised about just how right i was. inner west is the future of this club while maintaining a community position in cambelltown as we do now
Billy
Guest
What do "Balmain" bring to the merged club now other than a couple of games at a run down dump of a ground every season? They should move out to the west permanently and support the grassroots football at some level in the inner west, until the Bulldogs (or whoever) pick up their juniors. I feel for them, but like North Sydney anyone clinging onto a Tigers jersey isn't the future of your game.
steve
Guest
Why should the NRL takeover the administration of a club that is meeting all its financial goals and meeting the criteria of its NRL licence. Thats just nonsense.
Stephen Carter
Guest
Quite frankly, the Tigers are in an overcrowded Sydney market that has too many clubs. In an NRL that cannot contemplate any form of expansion then either Sydney clubs must relocate or be culled to admit clubs in other highly populous cities like Perth or a second Brisbane team. The Tiger would be such a candidate, relocation should be far further than one part of Sydney to another. The NRL can never grow until it embraces this concept.
Kelvin Johnson
Roar Rookie
The club is being run into the ground by the current management. Jason Taylor was one win away from making the finals in 2016. Three games into 2017 with one win and two loses he is sacked by Justin Pascoe so he could get his mate Cleary a gig. What happens when Cleary is 8 zip after 8 rounds will he be sacked? The captain Aaron Woods a Balmain local who you would presume knows more than any of us what really goes on couldn't wait to leave. Tedesco and Moses replaced with Lolohea and Reynolds, well done Pascoe and Go we will finally get our first wooden spoon in 2018.