They've been the Wests Tigers for 15 years. They've been through the process of merging their fan bases together to support a new identity and the long hard yards of trying to regain lost members and get new ones.
Remember, a kid who was 6 or 7 back in 2000 would be 21 or 22 today. They would never have even seen the Magpies or Balmain in action or have negligible physical memory of them.
Heck, I'd argue that it even takes people into their teen years before they really start to understand and appreciate their relationship with their club - so now you're looking at most under 30s Wests Tigers fans.
Plus the older fans who didn't adopt the club until after they became the Wests Tigers identity & had no association with the former brands -- plus the older fans who remember the Super League/Merger days and had to overcome bitter resentment to eventually accept the new identity.
So basically by splitting apart their club, relocating half to Perth where they can't attend matches and reverting half to a club that many have little affiliation let alone memory of, you pretty much risk alienating most existing under 35/40 fans. You'd be killing off the majority who financially support the club and create the next generation of supporters.
The merger teams shouldn't be touched. The future for the Tigers is in the South-West of Sydney and the facilities move to Liverpool is a good start.
If you accept that there are too many teams in Sydney, then we need to piss off one of the fans bases at some point. Relocation at least allows fans to follow from afar...
At least in dividing Magpies and Balmain, the ARLC can justify relocating the club "WT is dead, but fear not, we're bringing back two dead teams. But we can only do so in these new locations". We drop a Sydney team and get 2 expansion location with already well known brands.
As for your point of WT fans that neve followed Balmain,
- their "Tigers" will still exist in Perth
- the name would probably "West Coast" ()
- They arent losing an iconic jersey as theirs changes every 3 years. Whereas a Balmain reincarnation would have the classic jersey.
All of the current Tigers fans would be as happy as fans of relocated teams could possibly be....
The merger teams shouldn't be touched.
This is a ridiculous thing to say...
The Tigers are potentially on the brink of death (the ARLC could push them if they wanted to). They are in turmoil, the BEST time for dramatic change. You cant exclude a team from potential relocation BECAUSe they are struggling.
You dont wait for a club to be healthy and stable to pull the rug out from under them...
