Tigers change stripes, billionaire back
Fresh ... Beau Ryan and Chris Heighington model the Tigers' new jersey. Picture: Gary Graham
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Fresh ... Beau Ryan and Chris Heighington model the Tigers' new jersey. Picture: Gary Graham
Source: The Daily Telegraph
THE Wests Tigers will today unveil a new playing strip for 2011 along with welcoming billionaire property tycoon Harry Triguboff back into the fold as a major sponsor.
Sitting comfortably in the top five Australian earners on BRW's rich list for 2010 with a personal fortune of $4.2 billion, the return of Triguboff is a major power play by the Tigers.
Triguboff famously severed ties with Wests Tigers after the club's ill-fated inaugural season a decade ago but thanks to some skilful negotiating from CEO Stephen Humphreys, big Harry is back.
The Tigers have also slightly altered their stripes for next season, as seen in this new strip modelled by Beau Ryan and Chris Heighington at the club's Concord headquarters.
"The jerseys are awesome. Believe it or not the players actually had a fair bit of input into the design of them and we couldn't be happier with how they've come out," Ryan said.
"There's a Lycra strip down either side to allow the material plenty of breathing space and the collars are designed so you can't try and take blokes' heads off.
"They're a good fit and a good feel. As a matter of fact Chris and I wanted to take them home but the club wouldn't let us."
The new-look jerseys are another predominantly Humphreys initiative, with the club wanting to continue to recognise its Western Suburbs and Balmain heritage but also continue to grow as a merged entity.
"One of the issues has been that the black jumper was seen as a throwback to Western Suburbs and the orange one was seen as a throwback to Balmain," Humphreys said.
"We kind of want to get a bit beyond that now and create something that is a Wests Tigers identity rather than a throwback."
On the acquisition of Triguboff, Humphreys said: "Harry doesn't back losers so we're taking that as a compliment and we'll make sure he gets a good return on that investment."
