Wests Tigers: the perpetual wooden spooners
It takes a special type of team to win three wooden spoons. Ladies and gentlemen, your Wests Tigers!
The 2000 joint venture between proud old clubs Balmain and Wests has been a curious club. Constantly in the headlines, constantly attracting good crowds, big name players. And almost constantly being rubbish.
Just three finals appearances in their history. A glorious and unlikely 2005 Premiership, and a pair of heartbreaking finals defeats with a really good team in 2010 and 2011. Since then? Nothing. Nadda. Doughnuts. For a while the Tiges had a mortgage on 9th spot. A good team, but not quite good enough. Talisman came and went and came again (Hi Benji, Robbie and Sheensy!). Big money was spent. Some of it wisely. Most of it terribly. Hope often rests on the shoulders of the bright young things -- Teddy, Brooks, Moses, Bula. Or the big name signings -- Anasta, Blair, Koroisau and soon Luai. Let they drift away, to achieve success elsewhere, or into a content and happy retirement.
Coaches have revolved. The Sheens magic wore off. Mick Potter and Jason Taylor came and went. Ivan Cleary took us all on the bus! Then drove it back to Penrith. Madge came in. Swore a lot. Lost 65% of his games. And now we're on Benji. The prodigal son. But one with the lowest winning ratio for a full time coach in the club's history.
There's been as much action in the boardroom as on the field. The split ownership model is fractious at best. As Wests and Balmain have argued over most things. The club also has more leaks than a watering can. They are the darling of the media, as there's always, always "Trouble at the Tigers".
And yet come Sunday afternoon, in the sunlight at Leichhardt, 15,000 will pack the old place, shoulder to shoulder on the hill, and you think, there's nowhere I'd rather be. Now, can we just get a win now and then?
-- Stuart Randall
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
