I completely agree and understand with everything you have said Noah. And as Impellitteri said, this isn't a Balmain Vs. Western Suburbs thing, its an expression of heartache and pain that all supporters both Tigers and Magpies must have felt and the ones who are fair dinkum still do feel these emotions!
Hell, i feel them everyday...you wouldn't be normal if you didn't.
Our memories, that is all we have left really, and we must teasure them for as long as we are still breathing. It is quite fair to say that yes...both Football clubs did sell out due to the propaganda used by the NRL. Balmain and Western Suburbs in football terms "fell for the dummy" and let News Ltd. run straight through the gap!
Both clubs had the option of standing alone and fighting, like South Sydney did. Damn it, the Rabbitoh's even pleaded with both clubs to join them, but both clubs turned their back on Souths, crumbled and jumped in the sack together. (We now know that the Magic No. of 14 teams and the Criteria was a load of crap, and was illegal thanks the Souths court case, which made both Football club administrations look like faaarken idiots! :roll: )
But sadly, this is the life both the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies decided to take Together, brothers in arms, and so be it. What's done is done. Sure it might not be the best, sure it might not compare to the good old glory days of Balmain and the Magpies, but there's one thing i will always be grateful for, still having a Western Suburbs Magpies presence still alive in Rugby League through the Joint-Venture.
When i think of Newtown and North Sydney, i feel for them and their long suffering supporters, who sadly have no club to follow in the Elite Rugby League competition. At least with the Joint-Venture both Balmain and the Magpies will forever live on through the partnership that has seen the establishment of Wests Tigers.
Yes i know, its not the same...And i of all people, would sell my first born son to get my Magpies back (Hmmm ok, maybe i wouldn't go that far :lol: :lol: :lol: ) But you get the picture. Change is Inevitable, unavoidable, it can not be stopped. Sadly Balmain and Western Suburbs became a victim of such change and took the path of changing for the long-term future. Maybe it was unexpected, but so many things in life are.
Just say, after the '99 season, 5 years down the track, both Balmain and the Magpies hit a financial crisis, and unfortunately there was no way both clubs could survive another season. The only way both could remain apart of Rugby League was to form a Joint-Venture or disappear from the game forever? Would we be saying the same thing now? Probably not, due to different circumstances. The NRL fooled both clubs and they won. There's not much we as fans can do about it now. Simple...its a war that could never be won.
But just look at the dynamics of Rugby League now. News Ltd has a stake in 4 NRL clubs. the Warriors no longer have a history since being bought by Mick and Eric Watson at the end of the 2000 season. And now Manly has sold 50% of its football club to a sport Management-Marketing firm for $10 million. To me as a supporter looking at all that, that's not something to be proud of. All clubs have sold their soul in my honest opinion. All clubs that joined Super League are a disgrace in my eyes and always will be...
The above represents the ever changing dynamics of not just Rugby League but the sporting world in general. Yes it is business orientated, but that's the way it NOW operates. Joint-Ventures are going to prominent in sport for a long time to come. I'm just grateful, i'm supporting one that's equal, fair and works. And more importantly a Joint-Venture that will forever continue to represent my beloved Western Suburbs Magpies for as long as it shall exist.
