Wasn't sure where to put this so Mods can move it as required.
Dean Ritchie
August 18, 2023 - 7:37AM
The high-profile lawyer who established Wests Tigers 24 years ago has expressed “grave fears” that his club could be forced to relocate.
“It would absolutely break my heart and break the hearts of many, many fans,” said Jim Marsden, the former Western Suburbs chairman, who founded the joint venture along with Balmain counterpart, John Chalk.
While Marsden desperately hopes his former club can formulate a “properly developed” plan for success, he cannot shake an uneasy angst that Wests Tigers could be targeted if the NRL calls for clubs to be relocated. Ironically, it was rationalisation which pushed Wests Magpies and Balmain Tigers together after the NRL was formed in 1998.
Wests Tigers have been rocked yet again with coach Tim Sheens announcing he would quit the club after this season, catapulting Benji Marshall into the coaching hot seat a year ahead of schedule. A second successive wooden spoon this season – the club has won just three games – has only heightened Marsden’s fears.
“From someone who was one the founders of the club, I have grave fears moving forward – something has to give,” Marsden said. “If you’re on the bottom of the ladder forever, you’re going to lose your fan base. The league (NRL) is always looking to expand and if they have to expand at the expense of another club, they’re more likely to do it with a club down the bottom. If a club has to be sacrificed in the interests of expansion, a club on the bottom of the ladder and losing popularity, is the easiest one to sacrifice."
“It would absolutely break my heart, no doubt about it, as well breaking the hearts of many, many fans. I don’t think it’s an actual threat at the moment but unless something is done, it could get to that level. It is a reality. From my point of view, it is extremely disappointing. When you look at it at the moment, you think: ‘There is nowhere to go.’ Disappointed is an understatement. You’ve got to go up but how do you go up?"
“When you have radical changes, and constant changes of coaches, it’s not good for the fans, it’s not good for the players, not good for morale. It just doesn’t work. You can’t turn somebody from bottom of the ladder to top of the ladder overnight. You have to have a well-developed plan to do it and that plan must (include) consistency, get it right and stick to it. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do but you can’t allow little hiccups to change the plan. That plan may well be that you make the top eight in three years, five years, whatever it is.”
Marsden and Chalk spent “hundreds of hours” discussing the possible merger before the joint venture was formally announced on July 27, 1999, the new NRL team starting in 2000. Chalk was inaugural chairman, Marsden his deputy.
Since 2012, Wests Tigers have been coached by Sheens, Mick Potter, Jason Taylor, Andrew Webster, Ivan Cleary, Michael Maguire, Brett Kimmorley, Sheens again, and now Marshall. Ben Gardiner was a caretaker in 2022.
The prospect of a second straight wooden spoon has done little to alleviate Marsden’s fears.
“I’m not closely associated with the club anymore, I’m a mere observer looking in from the outside, but still a Wests Tigers fan,” said Marsden, a senior partner in Marsden Law Group. “I don’t sit in the boardroom and I don’t sit in the management room but from my experience, you’ve got to have a plan, and that plan has to be properly developed and then properly executed. In other words, you’ve got to stick to it."
“So in doing that you then start to develop a level of constancy, I distinguish that from consistency. That makes for a better organisation."
“In this case, you’ve got three factors – sport, business and people. That doesn’t mean they’re in three rankings because they are all equally important. You’ve got to meld the sport, the business and people so you get the best out of every aspect."
“In my business, and we have a very successful and highly-respected legal business in southwest Sydney, we work on plans five years out and we stick to our plans unless something absolutely exceptional comes up to change it. I’m not going to criticise anyone but I can see from the outside that nothing is constant.”
Dean Ritchie
August 18, 2023 - 7:37AM
Wests Tigers co-founder Jim Marsden fears for club’s future, relocation
As the club approaches a second straight wooden spoon, Wests Tigers co-founder Jim Marsden has expressed “grave fears” that his club could be forced to relocate.The high-profile lawyer who established Wests Tigers 24 years ago has expressed “grave fears” that his club could be forced to relocate.
“It would absolutely break my heart and break the hearts of many, many fans,” said Jim Marsden, the former Western Suburbs chairman, who founded the joint venture along with Balmain counterpart, John Chalk.
While Marsden desperately hopes his former club can formulate a “properly developed” plan for success, he cannot shake an uneasy angst that Wests Tigers could be targeted if the NRL calls for clubs to be relocated. Ironically, it was rationalisation which pushed Wests Magpies and Balmain Tigers together after the NRL was formed in 1998.
Wests Tigers have been rocked yet again with coach Tim Sheens announcing he would quit the club after this season, catapulting Benji Marshall into the coaching hot seat a year ahead of schedule. A second successive wooden spoon this season – the club has won just three games – has only heightened Marsden’s fears.
“From someone who was one the founders of the club, I have grave fears moving forward – something has to give,” Marsden said. “If you’re on the bottom of the ladder forever, you’re going to lose your fan base. The league (NRL) is always looking to expand and if they have to expand at the expense of another club, they’re more likely to do it with a club down the bottom. If a club has to be sacrificed in the interests of expansion, a club on the bottom of the ladder and losing popularity, is the easiest one to sacrifice."
“It would absolutely break my heart, no doubt about it, as well breaking the hearts of many, many fans. I don’t think it’s an actual threat at the moment but unless something is done, it could get to that level. It is a reality. From my point of view, it is extremely disappointing. When you look at it at the moment, you think: ‘There is nowhere to go.’ Disappointed is an understatement. You’ve got to go up but how do you go up?"
“When you have radical changes, and constant changes of coaches, it’s not good for the fans, it’s not good for the players, not good for morale. It just doesn’t work. You can’t turn somebody from bottom of the ladder to top of the ladder overnight. You have to have a well-developed plan to do it and that plan must (include) consistency, get it right and stick to it. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do but you can’t allow little hiccups to change the plan. That plan may well be that you make the top eight in three years, five years, whatever it is.”
Marsden and Chalk spent “hundreds of hours” discussing the possible merger before the joint venture was formally announced on July 27, 1999, the new NRL team starting in 2000. Chalk was inaugural chairman, Marsden his deputy.
Since 2012, Wests Tigers have been coached by Sheens, Mick Potter, Jason Taylor, Andrew Webster, Ivan Cleary, Michael Maguire, Brett Kimmorley, Sheens again, and now Marshall. Ben Gardiner was a caretaker in 2022.
The prospect of a second straight wooden spoon has done little to alleviate Marsden’s fears.
“I’m not closely associated with the club anymore, I’m a mere observer looking in from the outside, but still a Wests Tigers fan,” said Marsden, a senior partner in Marsden Law Group. “I don’t sit in the boardroom and I don’t sit in the management room but from my experience, you’ve got to have a plan, and that plan has to be properly developed and then properly executed. In other words, you’ve got to stick to it."
“So in doing that you then start to develop a level of constancy, I distinguish that from consistency. That makes for a better organisation."
“In this case, you’ve got three factors – sport, business and people. That doesn’t mean they’re in three rankings because they are all equally important. You’ve got to meld the sport, the business and people so you get the best out of every aspect."
“In my business, and we have a very successful and highly-respected legal business in southwest Sydney, we work on plans five years out and we stick to our plans unless something absolutely exceptional comes up to change it. I’m not going to criticise anyone but I can see from the outside that nothing is constant.”
