Sorry Tigers to fix Anzac jersey after design debacle as club mired in chronic mediocrity tries to rebuild yet again

Most fans couldn’t care less who the chairman, chief executive or any official with a glorified title is at their NRL club.

Whether they help out in the warm-ups, wear an ostentatious hat indoors and out or slice up the oranges at half-time, it doesn’t particularly matter.

They don’t particularly want to hear them on a podcast or regular radio spots.

What the fans do care is that these folder-holders are doing everything they can to ensure the team that gets put on the field every week is in a position to win.

At the Wests Tigers, chief executive Justin Pascoe and chairman Lee Hagipantelis have got the balance wrong between being the public face of the team and being the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers who give the club the best chance to rise up the ladder. 

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And what their long-suffering fans don’t want to see is amateur errors like the latest one engulfing the Wests Tigers – the release of their Anzac Round jersey emblazoned with members of the American military rather than Australian and New Zealand soldiers.

Social media lit up on Tuesday night after eagle-eyed users spotted the fact that the club had used a stock photo of US soldiers to illustrate their jersey which is supposed to be commemorating the Anzac tradition.

The club initially explained the stuff-up by saying it had collaborated during the design process with Holsworthy Army Barracks with representatives approving the image and that the NRL had also given the jersey the green light.

On Wednesday they issued a subsequent statement to apologise for the error: “The commemorative jersey to be worn by our players for this match has been criticised because an image on the jersey does not accurately depict Australian or New Zealand troops.

“As a club Wests Tigers is deeply sorry if the use of this image has in any way offended anyone. This was never our intention, and we are taking steps to rectify this.”

The redesigned jersey, which will be worn in Round 8, will be auctioned after the match with all proceeds going to Legacy to help its support for the families of war veterans.

English forward John Bateman and NRLW player Ruby-Jean Kennard model the Wests Tigers’ controversial Anzac Round jersey. (Photo: www.weststigers.com.au)

The Tigers also made a faux pas by choosing English forward John Bateman to model the original jersey – the only NRL player in their squad who was not born in Australia or New Zealand.

This jersey fiasco is the latest in a back-to-back-to-back series of black eyes for the beleaguered club.

Pascoe helping out in the warm-ups a couple of hours before the match is borderline irrelevant and being caught scrolling on his phone while in the sheds at half-time is also not a hanging offence. 

But because the team is struggling and has been for more than a decade, these are the kinds of incidents that get blown out of proportion and provide endless fodder for the insatiable NRL 24/7 news cycle. 

Put it this way, if Nick Politis was seen helping out in the warm-ups at the Roosters, he would be lauded for getting his hands dirty, mixing it with the players despite being a multi-squillionaire. 

If he was seen buried in his phone while the coach was giving a half-time address? The reaction would be what is old Uncle Nick up to … probably doing a deal to steal a player from the other team to fit under the old salary sombrero. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, chuckle, chuckle. 

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The same applies to Daine Laurie liking an Instagram post of his Indigenous All-Stars teammate Selwyn Cobbo scoring a try against the Tigers after the fullback had been dropped to the NSW Cup.

Not the smartest thing to do but a molehill that will be made into a mountain when your team is at the bottom of the ladder.

The real problem at the Wests Tigers is the constant cycle of boom-bust yo-yoing up and down the ladder and there’s been no kaboom. Where’s the kaboom? Peaking at ninth place is not a kaboom. 

It’s been this way since their last finals appearance in 2011.

When you talk about the butterfly effect of small moments, cast your mind back to the 2010 quarter-final between the Wests Tigers and the Sydney Roosters at the old Sydney Football Stadium. 

Leading by a point with a minute remaining, Tigers forward Simon Dwyer smashes Jared Waerea-Hargreaves with a brutal front-on hit which knocked the ball loose with the Roosters 20 metres out setting up for a field goal.

The ref rules a knock-on and there’s backslapping all round among the Tigers but the Roosters get the ball back after a shambles of a scrum and after a helter-skelter lead-up, level the scores on the siren with Braith Anasta’s famous long-range field goal, which is followed 20 minutes later at the end of extra time by Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s intercept try.

The Tigers regrouped the following week to edge out the Raiders in Canberra before another field goal, this time from Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward, ended their season.

What might have been.

They made the finals again the following year, exacting revenge on the Dragons in the series opener and that’s the last time they’ve won a playoff match. They were upset 22-20 by a Shaun Johnson-inspired Warriors outfit on their run to the Grand Final and the Tigers quickly crumbled. 

The sacking of Tim Sheens after a 10th-placed finish the following year was the start of a rapid demise – Benji Marshall then wanted to try rugby and the Tigers paid the price for overpaying several players who did not turn into the representative stars they had predicted while marquee recruit Adam Blair also did not live up to his price tag. 

Several players were jettisoned with Cronulla becoming a home for Wests’ excess with Andrew Fifita, Beau Ryan, Bryce Gibbs, Chris Heighington among a cavalcade of Tiger Sharks.

Mick Potter only got two years as coach to try to rebuild the club and was punted too early – his prior success in the Super League and last year’s effort as Canterbury’s caretaker only reinforce how much of an error that was.

They then hired Jason Taylor and he was also punted a couple of games into his third season after taking the heat for trying to clean up the errors made by the front office at the negotiating table. 

The Tigers looked like they were working towards sustained success when Ivan Cleary was on the bus but Nathan Cleary’s loyalty towards his mates at Penrith was another major turning point for the Tigers.

Remember when there was all sorts of talk about how Luke Brooks and Nathan Cleary would work together in the halves if/when the young Panther switched clubs to join his dad at Concord before the reverse happened with Ivan returning to Penrith. 

The Tigers were crowing when they replaced Cleary with Michael Maguire by saying they had upgraded to a coach with premiership-winning experience. Cleary now has two titles, by the way, and Maguire was sacked midway through last year..

After another three years of mediocrity, they’ve gone back to Sheens because Cameron Ciraldo didn’t like the look of the joint. 

David Klemmer. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Signing Api Koroisau, Isaiah Papali’i, John Bateman, David Klemmer and Charlie Staines has been a step in the right direction but long-term success at this club will only eventuate if their vast junior base at Campbelltown and Balmain’s inner-west ranks is harnessed correctly. 

That will take time. 

Of the current senior squad, they have only three former Wests juniors David Nofoaluma, Fonua Pole, Justin Matamua and four Balmain products in Brooks, Adam Doueihi, Brandon Tumeth and Alex Seyfarth. 

That is a sign that the club has wasted way too much money and time on washed-up veteran recruits.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

There are more players who have come through their pathways at other clubs. Look away now, Wests Tigers fans: James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jeremy Marshall-King, Taniela Paseka, Tevita Tatola, Aaron Woods, Matt Lodge, Bayley Sironen and Moses Suli.

Not to mention others who joined the club early in their career before taking their talents elsewhere like Ryan Matterson, Josh Addo-Carr, Josh Aloiai and Kelma Tuilagi. 

As he does, Hagipantelis took to the radio airwaves on Tuesday to defend his CEO and trot out the usual cliches about no one is making excuses and how they need to turn it around, emphasising they are five weeks into a five-year plan.

“We are not immune to the criticism and we hear it,” he said on SEN. “It’s at DEFCON 10 at the moment. You can’t turn on the radio, TV or pick up the newspaper without seeing our names. Some of the criticism is very personal in respect to our CEO and the attacks on him seem to be, in my view, unprofessional.”

As bleak as the current 0-5 predicament seems, the Tigers can’t afford to panic yet again. Kneejerk reactions are what got them in this mess.

Scarily enough for their long-suffering fans, it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better – they face nine finals teams from last year in their next 11 outings.

Tim Sheens. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Having Marshall as coach is their future and they need to stay on that course. 

Sheens naming his return and departure dates last year in the one announcement was odd. It wouldn’t surprise if by this time next year, Marshall has moved into the head coach’s role earlier than expected. 

Just like players, if a coach is good enough for the role, their age or experience won’t matter. 

Many first-time coaches who got the punt after their first gig were probably not going to last even if they served a lengthier apprenticeship. 

And if he can get the team on a sustained upward trajectory, it also won’t matter whether the CEO helps out in warm-ups or the chairman keeps bobbing up in the media, although even if the club is successful, it’s probably for the best if they cut that out.