Round 9: Wests Tigers v St.George Illawarra BITCH FEST: Pre Game

[colonel_123]

again - i can only forward the impression i got from the media hype. plenty of former balmain players were interviewed & only raudonikus seemed to be the token magpie thrown in for "balance". it seemed & still seems weighted heavily in the balmain flavour. no doubt former steelers feel the same about our current setup.

While I do agree that the media does seem to focus on the "Tigers" aspect more then the "Wests" side of things, I can understand it in the sense of the former players, mostly because the former Balmain players that got all the attention in the lead up to the 2005 premiership were the players from the 1988 and 1989 sides.

And as a fan from the Wests side I didn't really mind this, in fact I liked having that bit of history associated with the club, the idea of exorcising some of the club's demons.

well you'd know more than i so far as the breakdown of fans is concerned, but how "homely" is stadium australia?

I don't mind seeing games there.

I guess when your club is associated with some good victories at the venue a bit of history starts to rub off and maybe it feels a bit like home. I still love games at the traditional venues but I goto all three grounds to watch my team.

well it will be interesting to see how it pans out if campbelltown & leichardt continue to only get 3 games each a season.

Well the deal with Telstra will be expiring soon so we'll see what new arrangement they work out. Telstra now has three clubs using the ground so they may be unwilling to throw the same sort of money at Wests as they were the last time they negotiated a deal. Also Campbelltown and Leichhardt have/are getting lighting upgrades which will eliminate the need to hire lighting for night fixtures which should make it a bit cheaper to play there.

I wouldn't be surprised if they return a few more games to the traditional venues.

But to be honest, I think one of the best things to happen for the traditional grounds has been the move to Telstra. Every time I goto a match at Leichhardt or Campbelltown it feels like a big event, a bit of a carnival. Since the Telstra deal Wests have usually managed to draw decent crowds at both grounds, irrespective of where they are on the ladder.

It also allows the opportunity for Wests to draw 20 000+ crowds during the season, since you can't cram that many people in at Leichhardt or Campbelltown.

I think ideally I'd like to see something like a 5, 5, 2 split with two block buster matches kept at Telstra, sort of like the Titans have done this season with Lang Park.

 

[brooksy19]

LOL, when i started this thread with some harmless ribbing (barrett crying) I didn't think both sides would carry on this much, from a fans point of view this is a real grudge match, from a players view its just another game.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

You guys should have seen the caterwauling at WORL from a few Saints fans, these guys are positively benign. I had a ball there for a month or two after the GF.

I wonder if we have shaken their "worst premiers ever" tag since the Broncos now are the premiers with the lowest ever wining percentage in a season.

 

[aids]

You guys should have seen the caterwauling at WORL from a few Saints fans, these guys are positively benign. I had a ball there for a month or two after the GF.

I wonder if we have shaken their "worst premiers ever" tag since the Broncos now are the premiers with the lowest ever wining percentage in a season.

and got smacked by kid finishing his HSC trials

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

'twas fun to rub it in, but I picked my marks carefully there. There are some good blokes there amongst the Saints supporters and a few are making their way here finally.

Just keep an eye out for a pretentious wanker with the nickname fortae, he's worth a 3 month argument.

 

[gregstar]

You guys should have seen the caterwauling at WORL from a few Saints fans, these guys are positively benign. I had a ball there for a month or two after the GF.

I wonder if we have shaken their "worst premiers ever" tag since the Broncos now are the premiers with the lowest ever wining percentage in a season.

LOL! @ worst premiers.

anyone who holds that view....

1) insults their own club.

2) needs to explain why the tigers comfortably won each of their finals clashes including victories against 2 sides who finished higher.

3) needs to explain how one season can be better or worse than others.

i was as upset as the next dragon fan at the loss. but in reality we'd run out of puff by the newcastle game in the final round. we were very ordinary in the first final against the sharks indicating that we had lost momentum. it was the form of the previous month & a half that raised expectations. but in reality, it's near impossible to be "up" for over 2 months.

we lost to the better side who hit form at the right time & had generated irresistable momentum.

i've never had a problem with losing. only sore losers.

 

[Nook]

Greg,

yep & yet the league chose to throw money at non rugby league areas such as adelaide & melbourne.

And rightly so to my mind. We were sitting ducks without a bit of expansion - it has done and will do wonders for the game. If clubs in NSW can't get their act together then they'll have to settle for second best - mergers. Happened to my team, and yours, and others besides. A better fate than Norths.

well i can only venture my impression. plenty was made of balmain & wests were an afterthought.

I disagree but there you go. Again, seemed pretty even to me.

again - i can only forward the impression i got from the media hype. plenty of former balmain players were interviewed & only raudonikus seemed to be the token magpie thrown in for "balance". it seemed & still seems weighted heavily in the balmain flavour. no doubt former steelers feel the same about our current setup.

You talking about the coverage by the media or the merger itself? Because the merger is (/was) 50:50 - in name and in practice (contrast St George Illawarra Dragons). Former Wests players see their team playing as often at Cambpelltown as at Leichhardt, with a training base in old Wests country (I think, a touch before my time), and with a steady stream of Western suburbs kids rising up through the ranks. If they don't like the "Tigers" part, fair enough, but it is the nature of the beast innit? I'm sure plenty of old Balmain guys aren't to excited about 'Wests.' Point is, the vast majority of us have moved on - we all support the same club. If it looks different from the outside looking in so be it.

well you'd know more than i so far as the breakdown of fans is concerned, but how "homely" is stadium australia?

Stadium Australia is fine as far as I'm concerned. It gave us something we needed to move forward as one club - some financial security. Along the way we've managed to boost attendances significantly at our 'home' grounds. The club has had more money, more fans through the games and more success since moving half our games to Telstra, it is hard to be too peeved about it.

Both the home grounds need work and without decent crowds (which flow from good performances, which flow in part from money) we'd eventually go broke playing soley at our old grounds.

I agree with you about needing to maintain the connection with local areas and I'd hate to see the Tigers lose that but I don't think they have and the signs are that even with 6 games at Telstra they won't. Goal in the short term is to sort things out and get back to 6:6.

well it will be interesting to see how it pans out if campbelltown & leichardt continue to only get 3 games each a season.

I think if that happens for the next few years (and we go alright on the field) you'll see what you are seeing now: packed houses a few times a year at Campbo and Leichhardt and some bumper crowds at Telstra. Playing out of Telstra has made people go to more trouble to see our games at the 'local' venues, rather than driving them away. Don't see that changing in the medium term.

 

[The Preacher]

I liked that idea of 5 at Campbelltown, 5 at Leichhardt and 2 blockbusters at Telstra.
I'd hate to see Telstra used like the MCG, where all but Geelong and Carlton, I think, use either it or the Dome as their home ground.(Vic teams only, of course)
As far as I'm concerned, suburban grounds keep "tribalism" alive. I saw what happened to The Dragons at the SCG, it just WASN'T home.

 

[phonetic]

EA, you don't hold a candle to fortae.

 

[The Fruit Pickers]

An important change in the JV took place in 2005, though it was only cosmetic (and many probably didn’t even notice) was the change of the logo so that both names were of equal size, though a small change it was an important step forward.

As for Telstra, Leichhardt and Campbelltown, I have no problem with it, Telstra is very close to the Magpies former home of Lidcombe Oval and can accommodate possible 20,000+ crowds for big games and I think boosts the crowds attending Leichhardt and Campbelltown, I am very happy with the use of all 3 grounds.

As each year passes more and more of the old Balmain Tigers and Wests Magpies fans grow to accept things as they are, it took me a couple of years to really get accustomed to it, but now I’m a very satisfied Wests Tigers fan, and as the years roll on there will be a whole new generation of fans who have grown up following only the Wests Tigers …

I try to steer away from using only the name Wests when referring to the club and use their proper name Wests Tigers but occasionally slip (as I also always try to refer to the Dragons as St George Illawarra), old habits do take time...

 

[Rocco]

hard game to choose...

:-k

its a battle of 2 sh*t teams but i chose the tigpies to get over them 2 points

Tigpies 12
dragqueens 10

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

EA, you don't hold a candle to fortae.

Fortae is a pussy. Happy to argue in the sanctity of that forum and nowhere else.

He has his head so far up his own arse when it comes to footy, he can tell you what his own spleen looks like.

Nice bloke apart from that...

 

[hrundi99]

So it was the actions of a couple dozen cocky idiots that made it "enjoyable" for you to see tens of thousands of people disappointed and upset? That's absolutely ridiculous.

Go look up sportsmanship in the dictionary, it's obviously a term you're not familiar with

There are so many holes in your "argument" in this thread you should have given up a long time ago...

You put on the aggressive tone about WT and their supporters and now you want a hanky?

 

[phonetic]

Fortae is a pussy. Happy to argue in the sanctity of that forum and nowhere else.

He has his head so far up his own arse when it comes to footy, he can tell you what his own spleen looks like.

Nice bloke apart from that...

Different wavelengths I guess.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Yep.

And you are a Saints supporter.... ;-)

 

[phonetic]

Not one who infiltrates Wests Tigers message boards.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Not one who infiltrates Wests Tigers message boards.

Don't get carried away.

I was a member there 6 years ago when it wasn't just a Saints board.

Back when it was, well, interesting.

 

[phonetic]

Don't get carried away.

I was a member there 6 years ago when it wasn't just a Saints board.

Back when it was, well, interesting.

For a Saints fan it's the best message board by the length of the straight. No stupid banners, avatars, frills, just rugby league talk and the odd off topic thread.

So chuffed you had a 'ball' in such an uninteresting forum.

 

[simon says]

I just love smashing Saints......by plenty.

That is all.

 

[Timmah]

:lol:

Why does the thread title say "possible spoilers"??? brooksy, do you own a time machine?