eels don't need this kind of support

[Eelementary]

Mediocrity rules-I'm going on a Tiger hunt
By Christian Nicolussi
Daily Telegraph Friday October 7 2005

The sooner Wests Tigers bandwagon rolls out of town the better.
Slap a big fine on the wagon when it double parks in one of Balmain or Leichhardt's tight one way streets. Or roll the wagon down the M5, dump it in a creek bed and torch it.

Round the pathetic lot up with their black and orange streamers and make them watch re-runs of the 1989 grand final, when Balmain were belted by Canberra in extra time. That same year the mighty Western Suburbs Magpies started contemplating expanding their junior base to Johannesburg after finishing at the wrong end of the ladder yet again.

Sydney has sadly embraced the Tigers in a whirlwind week that smacked of mediocrity.

Maybe sports fans were in need of a pick-me-up after Ricky Ponting's men failed to return with the Ashes. Maybe Sydneysiders wanted to keep the party going after the Swannies took out the AFL title a week earlier.

Once the real Grand Final contenders, Parramatta and St George-Illawarra, bowed out of the race, footy fans were desperate. A state of confusion swept across the Harbor City. How were people going to spend their Sunday night watching a grand final with two teams nobody liked? What happened to the Eels and Dragons? Should we or shouldn't we have a barbecue? Should we tune into Australian Idol?

Enter Benji Marshall, Scott Prince, Brett Hodgson and the rest of the Tigers players nobody will remember this time next year. Their win captured the imagination. Sports journalists described the Grand Final victory as a "fairytale ending". "The Unlikely Premiers". A better headline would have been "Never Again" or "Thank God We Didn't Play Parra".

They spoke about a ticker-tape parade. Then came the special-edition postage stamps. All this for a side that finished fourth at the end of the season. The same side that beat a team in the Grand Final that finished even worse on the ladder. The same side that was backed at an outrageous 150-1 midway through the year. The same side that gave me nightmares at the back end of the season when they kept winning and, as a result, ruined my chances of winning the office tipping competition. I'm now stuck with a set of golf clubs I bought with the money I thought I'd eventually pocket when at one stage six games clear with four rounds to go.

For the sake of the argument, I'm a Parramatta fan. I've been waiting for a premiership since 1986. I'm sick of the Tigers. I'm sick of the blow-ins.
Will a Tigers victory do wonders for the NRL? No. Will the Tigers defend their title next year? No. They say a leopard never changes its spots. If only the same applied to Tigers supporters. Get lost.

He makes very valid points though.

 

[Utey]

I wish some ppl just kept to themselves sometimes.

 

[half]

most of us here are guilty of putting our silly opinions into print far too often

 

[Parra Guru]

wtf???
i like the tigers ever since the finals started i was wishing for an eels/tigers grand final all the threads i have seen from parra fans have been full of congratulations for the tigers and their supporters

seeing the eels collapse one step away from glory was a very bitter pill to swallow and knowing the anti-smith brigade are already sharpening their knives for 2006 when just making it to the grand final would have shut them up makes it even worse but please don't hate the tigers for winning 'our' premiership there are no guarantees in finals this year proved that

once you look beyond the disappointment of that last game we have had a very good year if anything we overachieved with a 20 year old rookie in one of the most critical positions in a team we should have struggled to win games and with the broncos six points clear at one stage and needing just one win from their last 5 games to wrap up the minor premiership it is a miracle we got to compete for it let alone win

p.s. whenever you feel down just remember this: tim smith will be better next year!

I didn't say anything against the Eels.

I'm sick of the Tigers and all the hype, and I have come across a lot of supporters who feel the same.

I just think, publishing it was stupid.

 

[Parra Guru]

Hollywood you are as much a goose as that Christian guy. Maybe you both live under the same rock.

How do you justify saying the "Tigers fans are mostly bandwaggoners"???

If you lived in Sydney, you might understand.

I agree with HJ.

 

[Gemini_Princess]

I agree with the article, but not in such a vicious way. My view is that the Tigers' fans are mostly bandwagoners.

Judging by the local retail sales in my area of Tigers gear in the week leading up to the Grand Final makes me think there are a lot of BANDWAGONERS.Also, media reports had figures of approximately 12000 ppl having attended the special team "show" at their grounds after the win. A LONG way from the numbers decked in gear at the Grand Final .

Three cheers for freedom of speech!!!!!!...... especially MINE ha ha ha

 

[Eelementary]

Where were the huge crowds last year?

Where were the old people saying, "I love Balmain," last year?

Now all of a sudden they win a few games leading to the GF, win the GF and all of a sudden Wests are hugely popular.

I know of at least 4 of my close friends who love footy but never followed it because the Tigers sucked.

Now, though, they rub in how my team choked and how good the Tigers are.

I'm sick of their bandwagonning ways.

 

[Stagger eel]

Where were the huge crowds last year?

Where were the old people saying, "I love Balmain," last year?

Now all of a sudden they win a few games leading to the GF, win the GF and all of a sudden Wests are hugely popular.

I know of at least 4 of my close friends who love footy but never followed it because the Tigers sucked.

Now, though, they rub in how my team choked and how good the Tigers are.

I'm sick of their bandwagonning ways.

you can do one of 2 things!

1] ignore them

2] tell them that you'd much rather support a club than a franchise!!

easy.

 

[Eelementary]

you can do one of 2 things!

1] ignore them

2] tell them that you'd much rather support a club than a franchise!!

easy.

I told them that at least my club didn't have to merge to survive - and won't have to in another 5 years, like theirs will.

 

[Stagger eel]

I told them that at least my club didn't have to merge to survive - and won't have to in another 5 years, like theirs will.

and they'd be like...well we don't care as long as we have Benji, Scott and Brett in the team.

 

[Redback71]

yeah but in a way its still true and it still sucks how in the nrl system not 1 of the top 2 sides is guaranted a grandfinal birth.........but i supose it was great 4 the game!

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

I know plenty of people that were Tigers "fans" but have not actually followed the Tigers in recent times. All of a sudden (like, since halfway through this year) they are the biggest Tigers fans ever!

They are, quite simply, bandwagoners.

This is because there are actually those fans out there who have supported the merged franchise since its inception. These are the real fans, I have seen them at games over the years. I have regularly chatted with them over the years, and I have played touch footy with them during the offseason over the last 3 years, and I have chatted to them as they tried to get a fans' group going well before this year. THEY are the real fans, not the fools who have suddenly come out of the woodwork over the past 4 months.

 

[Eddie.]

Sorry but there are bandwagon fans everywhere

There were 43000 to watch parramatta in the prelim final

Where are these fans every week??

Why were parramatta getting sellouts at parra stadium in 2005 when in 2004 they weregettting very ordinary crowds??

seriously, its the same at every club.

 

[The Colonel]

It is the same at every club.

There is a girl here at work who was proudly decorating her office the other day before the grand final, black, white and orange, and showing off her new jerseys - the Magpies retro, the Balmain retro and off course the Wests Tigers jersey.

Damn shame last year she was a Roosters supporter and the year before she was following Penrith because she didn't like the Roosters......

 

[Stagger eel]

It is the same at every club.

There is a girl here at work who was proudly decorating her office the other day before the grand final, black, white and orange, and showing off her new jerseys - the Magpies retro, the Balmain retro and off course the Wests Tigers jersey.

Damn shame last year she was a Roosters supporter and the year before she was following Penrith because she didn't like the Roosters......

loyalty is a wonderful thing isn't it??

 

[NorthShoreEel]

I just happened to be in the TAB on the monday and knock into a guy I know who supported the Roosters (he used to be a Manly supporter, but, they didnt win often enough) he had a new T-Shirt on - Tigers Premiers 2005.

I told him - i thought you were a Roosters supporter, his reply, " I have always been a Tigers supporter, I was just supporting the Roosters because the Tigers were not doing any good". Ok, I thought you supported Manly before that. " I supported Manly when I moved into the area, but, when they started to lose, I supported the Tigers, because I supported the Tigers all the time before that."

At this point I told Anthony he was a wanker, and moved onto the next race.

(Bandwagoners exist in every team - especially Syndey Swans!!! Makes me want to puke)

 

[Stagger eel]

TAB hey??? it's a pity that you can't place your bet after the race is run!!...phucken wanker.

 

[Avenger]

I love it when eela fires up. Anyway I must admit the Tigers in my opinion will have little hope of reclaiming their title especially with the distractions of player mmovements etc.

 

[Haynzy]

who gives a toss who supports Balmain/Wests.

The idiot that wrote the article was hard up for something to write about and now people think we actually care about another team :roll:

 

[Freak]

Unfortunately not all Rugby League lovers are as loyal as all of us!!

But at the end of the day it is these people that live on the fringes of this great game that it needs to bring into the same loyal circle as all of us for the game to grow!!

I'd love to see the Tigers getting bigger crowds next year due to the success they had this year!!

Will it happen???? I doubt it, maybe, for the first couple of rounds at least and then reality and kick in and these "fringe supporters" will go away again until Souths or Cronulla come from nowhere to win a comp!!

I know one thing!! Having a Nth Qld Vs Tigers GF will do plenty more for the game than having a Roosters Vs Bulldogs GF will ever do!!