Well, I'm an old (literally) Balmain fan and I didn't get that impression. At all.Doesn't the new Tigers post-game song start with saying that the club is from the Western Suburbs? I'm not sure how that resonates with fans/members from Lillyfield, Leichhardt, Balmain and, no doubt, many other inner-west suburbs.
Maybe it's not just clumsy lyrics devised by Benji et al, but is a recognition that the future lies elsewhere?
Mind you, I don't think they're that smart to think as strategically as that.
it is literally the old Magpies song and the old balmain song, the old Magpies and balmain fans would remember the songs no doubt
Well, I'm an old (literally) Balmain fan and I didn't get that impression. At all.Doesn't the new Tigers post-game song start with saying that the club is from the Western Suburbs? I'm not sure how that resonates with fans/members from Lillyfield, Leichhardt, Balmain and, no doubt, many other inner-west suburbs.
Maybe it's not just clumsy lyrics devised by Benji et al, but is a recognition that the future lies elsewhere?
Mind you, I don't think they're that smart to think as strategically as that.
it is literally the old Magpies song and the old balmain song, the old Magpies and balmain fans would remember the songs no doubt
fair enough.i remember the balmain song from back in the day
It's pretty obviously the old Magpies and Tigers songs - the club has had several people say as much publicly.
The kids coming through the pathways still sing them as far as I know.
It's pretty obviously the old Magpies and Tigers songs - the club has had several people say as much publicly.
The kids coming through the pathways still sing them as far as I know.
Yeah it’s a combo of the two songs.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
From Adrian Proszenko at SMH
Wests Tigers have unveiled their ambition to become a top-four club in the NRL and overtake Penrith as the greatest junior nursery in the world.
The Tigers on Wednesday released their bold strategic plan, a road map for the next two years, which includes a greater focus on the south-western corridor, including the opening of a new office in the region. However, there is not yet a definitive policy on where games will be staged beyond this season, while “no ceiling” were the only words used to sum up the on-field ambitions.
The club finished with the wooden spoon in the past two seasons and hasn’t played finals since 2011, but chief executive Shane Richardson is bullish about the future.
“We think we are a top-four club in the game and everything is benchmarked towards that,” Richardson said.
“Obviously, at the moment, we are not, we are at the bottom, as we are on a whole range of things commercially as well. We want to be a bigger club than that.
“The bottom line is you can’t guarantee a premiership, but you can’t win a premiership unless you are in the top four. That’s a historically proven fact. You might be able to, but it hasn’t been done before.
“I have said we want to be a top-four club. I don’t know if we’re going to finish top or eighth or 10th or wherever. That’s up to [coach] Benji [Marshall] and what they do on the field.
“I don’t know where we will finish this year, but wherever we finish this year, we will finish better next year. And the year after we will finish better again.”
The Panthers are the gold standard in junior development, with much of their success attributable to their ability to identify and nurture talent in their catchment areas. The Tigers have 9285 registered juniors, but believe they will overtake three-time champions Penrith should they hit the 10,000 mark by the end of 2025.
“If you look at the secrets of Penrith’s success, it’s how many juniors they have playing first grade,” Richardson said.
“Look at us, we have one at the moment. We have a lot in reserve grade, a lot beneath that, and we have a champion under-17s side. We need to create more kids coming into the NRL.
“We will be very specific and targeted in what we do with recruitment. We don’t need a lot, we don’t need to revamp and change the whole squad. We need two or three players and then bring our young kids through. That’s our recruitment policy.
“We’re going to spend a lot on our young kids and develop them right.”
The club has been liaising with key stakeholders – the NRL, Venues NSW and Leichhardt and Campbelltown councils – with a view to finalising a three-year stadium plan.
“We will be basing our tickets around three venues, a two-plus-one sort of thing,” Richardson said.
“My point about Leichhardt is not that we don’t want to play there; the point is we can’t play that number of games while those [outdated] facilities are there.
“At this stage, there is no likelihood of upgrading those facilities, while at Campbelltown there is a likelihood of upgrading the facilities.”
Richardson was initially appointed on an interim basis, but wants to remain in the role to ensure the plan comes to fruition.
“What I’m trying to do is to create some stability,” he said.
“Benji, [chairman] Barry [O’Farrell], [skipper] Api [Koroisau] and I all have a great relationship. So going forward you have to do it for a period of time where you can cement that all into place, including his coaching staff.
“We have a plan going forward and we’re working towards it. How long it takes, I can’t say. It took two years [in my previous role] at Penrith, 10 years at Souths, three years at Cronulla and two years at Hull in England.
“You can never tell. But if you have a plan and everyone is working towards it, it’s a huge step forward for the club.
Having read the strategic plan I think it is ambitious however I feel they have broken down how they feel they can move towards achieving the outcomes well. I like it and feel it is what we should have done 15 years ago
To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
No. It took the initiative of the leaders on this forum to make "the absolute failure of prior owners and managers" such a public and obvious issue that WT now have the likes of Richardson strutting his stuff. That's how the slate was cleaned. We should all be forever grateful. How it all turns out .....who knows?? But it's looking a hell of a lot more promising than the last few years.To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
No. It took the initiative of the leaders on this forum to make "the absolute failure of prior owners and managers" such a public and obvious issue that WT now have the likes of Richardson strutting his stuff. That's how the slate was cleaned. We should all be forever grateful. How it all turns out .....who knows?? But it's looking a hell of a lot more promising than the last few years.To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
well said
To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
we just needed strong leaders who were prepared to do what was right for the club and not worry about pleasing everyone. There was no need for the club to be almost driven into the ground in the process.
To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
we just needed strong leaders who were prepared to do what was right for the club and not worry about pleasing everyone. There was no need for the club to be almost driven into the ground in the process.
in some respects it would be like St Merge deciding to not play anymore games at Kogarah and playing all games at Wollongong.
Richo has done some good things, time will tell if he gets this move from LO right, at least 3 - 5 years to judge. Will be interesting to see if more games at CSS corelates to more members...
@tigertownsfs as someone who has worked in the same organisation as Julie I believe the business/commercial aspect of her profile is highly exaggerated.
in some respects it would be like St Merge deciding to not play anymore games at Kogarah and playing all games at Wollongong.
Richo has done some good things, time will tell if he gets this move from LO right, at least 3 - 5 years to judge. Will be interesting to see if more games at CSS corelates to more members...
Not sure that's how I would describe it.
Firstly, we don't yet know what the policy will be, but assuming it's a mix of a big stadium (say Combank) and CSS.
That's not moving all games to CSS. Or in your example Dragons moving all games to Wollongong.
It's more like if Dragons did a mix of Allianz and Wollongong and dumped Kograh (which is exactly what Dragons should do).
Dragons have gone from a big club to a small and underperforming club, I think partly due to holding onto Kograh and not going to a big stadium mixed with the gong.
LO at 16k isn't sustainable.
Top 8 2023
To be honest I’m doubtful we could have achieved this 15 years ago. We needed Balmain to default and WA to admit management defeat before you could do things like loudly say you want to focus all attention on the south west or stop playing at LO. It’s been the absolute failure of prior owners and managers which has allowed the clean slate.
we just needed strong leaders who were prepared to do what was right for the club and not worry about pleasing everyone. There was no need for the club to be almost driven into the ground in the process.
in some respects it would be like St Merge deciding to not play anymore games at Kogarah and playing all games at Wollongong.
Richo has done some good things, time will tell if he gets this move from LO right, at least 3 - 5 years to judge. Will be interesting to see if more games at CSS corelates to more members...
I don’t think we’ll go to more games at CSS. He has already outlined you don’t need to play games somewhere to have a presence. It’s going to be most of the games at one of the bigger stadiums with 1 or 2 at LO and CSS (if any).
