Wests Tigers adamant they are on track for top four NRL finish in 2017
Adrian Proszenko
Published: July 25, 2015 - 2:57PM
Wests Tigers chair Marina Go is adamant the club can still achieve their lofty goal of becoming entrenched in the top four within three years despite the latest loss all but consigning the joint venture to its first wooden spoon.
The merged outfit recently released its three-year strategic plan for the period to 2017, with a raft of targets for performance on and off the field. Those included the ambition of making the top four and having 12 local juniors in the current squad, although the 16-page document went public before the Tigers discovered the full extent of its salary cap dramas. The club is over the limit for next year after years of rostering mismanagement, although the release of Keith Galloway to take up a three-year deal with Leeds in the Super League will provide some relief.
A string of losses, the latest to the Roosters on Friday night, have left the Tigers on the bottom rung of the ladder and will make their commercial goals of boosting membership and attendance even more difficult to achieve. However, Go is confident the club can emerge from a difficult period to fulfil all of its publicly stated objectives, including playing finals football in 2017.
"Yes, we believe we can still get there," Go said.
"We believe we have some of the best young talent in the game, everyone tells us that, we believe it and we are committed to that. We have great faith in our players. I know it's challenging because of where we sit on the ladder it is difficult for our members. Of course we want to go out there every week and win. We're also taking the long game with this.
"That's why [coach] Jason [Taylor] is committed to sticking with the team he's got because, if not, we won't have that winning team in three years, which is when we expect to have it.
"We are not wavering, we're not moving from our position of believing where we can get to. We believe in the group, we believe in our coach and we believe in where the business is heading.
"We always knew the first year was going to be tough and it has been. We were up for it and we're not afraid of [the challenge].
"We honestly believe in the future of these young guys. We want to make the finals in 2017, absolutely."
Complicating the cap issue is the fact that boom halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses are effectively free agents from November 1. The pair are signed until the end of 2017 but the final year of their contract is an option in their favour. They are entitled to $600,000 each in their final season should they exercise the option, with the big salaries an indication of the size of the gamble the Tigers have taken on them maturing into established playmakers.
While the political infighting between joint-venture partners Balmain and Western Suburbs is a thing of the past, there is still a leadership void at Wests Tigers. The club is yet to settle on a chief executive officer to replace Grant Mayer, with a shortlist of candidates expected to be prepared by the end of the week.
"The candidates have been amazing, it's really encouraging to see the quality of people who want to run our club," Go said.
"It's clearly a good brand and an opportunity a lot of people want and it's testament to the brand, the club and everyone who went before us."
Taylor said he was hopeful of negotiating releases for more players in coming weeks to alleviate salary cap pressures.
"[Galloway's departure] does help us with our salary cap issues," Taylor told Triple M. "Hopefully a bit more of that can happen between now and the end of the year."
This story was found at:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-four-nrl-finish-in-2017-20150725-gikd52.html
