Wests Tigers take over bid

[AlwaysGreen]

The male model policeman Mensa member has spoken. Teams should embrace their geographic heartland like SOUTH SYDNEY have by playing at a stadium in WESTERN SYDNEY

 

[Mr Spock!]

Penrith Sydney panthers
Cronulla Sydney shark
Canterbury Sydney bulldog
Manly Sydney seagulls
Parramatta Sydney eels

Need to add Sydney to the rest , how will other countries know where the above teams a from

That was tried prior to superleague

Canterbury rebranded as Sydney Bulldogs
Easts became Sydney Roosters

Balmain - Sydney Tigers

It was stupid.

 

[kdalymc]

Easts became Sydney Roosters

Sydney City.
Which is actually better than Sydney.

 

[big hit!]

I'm not well-informed on the situation, but can someone of knowledge advise - if Balmain still had their Leagues club in Rozelle, would they have been in a much-better/stronger position than they are in now? Or was that venue going down the gurgler due to gentrification, etc? Because as I understand it, it was Benny who basically closed it down for a high-rise development that hasn't happened, and essentially gave financial control of the merger to Western Suburbs.

Thank f**k for Balmain that the Tiger brand was their contribution to the merger, because it's the only thing keeping them in the NRL

 

[big hit!]

Interesting to see how this plays out..

Elias is a pretty shrewd, astute, and successful businessman.., which is very rare for an ex rugby league player. I always thought that’s why he was hired in to front he Perth bid... to get attention because of his league profile but also coz he could actually talk some business... otherwise it’d be fronted by some no-name suit or a league boofhead .. I thought it was smart from the Perth bid although it didn’t reap the rewards..,apart from some publicity to get Perth in the conversation..

I don’t know the ins n outs of the tigers but they do need an overhaul, I don’t think Elias is out to get them moved at all.... I’m sure it’s to sort them out and keep them viable in Sydney to ensure they don’t get moved out.... When relocation pops up in the news, the Tigers are usually one of the first clubs mentioned.

They have an enormous growth area in Campbelltown yet only play 3 games a year there... that needs more attention and cultivation of juniors... They also need sponsors - absolutely - but you don’t need to be in the big smoke to get good sponsorship $$. Just look at Penrith...

I remember not too long ago, their “leagues club” was a bowling club in five dock... absolutely embarrassing...... yes they have Wests Ashfield too so that helps... but...

Like the Dragons, they are now 20+ years old but still haven’t seemed to become truly one club.... something has to change..

Let’s see how this pans out..

You seem to miss the fact that they're a merger of two clubs - Western Suburbs Magpies & Balmain Tigers. The Wests side don't have anything to do with the Five Dock Bowlo. Likewise, the Balmain end doesn't have input with the casinos at Ashfield and Leumeah

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

You seem to miss the fact that they're a merger of two clubs - Western Suburbs Magpies & Balmain Tigers. The Wests side don't have anything to do with the Five Dock Bowlo. Likewise, the Balmain end doesn't have input with the casinos at Ashfield and Leumeah

Not missing that at all... unsure what you’re point is...

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

The male model policeman Mensa member has spoken. Teams should embrace their geographic heartland like SOUTH SYDNEY have by playing at a stadium in WESTERN SYDNEY

Souths often boast that there catchment is from Coogee to Cottesloe so doesn’t matter what stadium they play in, it’s always going to be in their area. Which is why they should be the first to relocate. No matter where they move, there’s already a home crowd waiting for them.

 

[Tiger5150]

Considering Souths were already tenants of the SFS and didn't have News Limited sugaring their palms or a wealthy leagues club to buy the kind of players clubs like Parra and Norths could, what would you have liked to see Souths do in just 1998 and '99 to qualify for admission?

The irony is, had Balmain not voted to merge with Wests, they would've finished 14th in the criteria and Penrith would've been cut.

You have missed the point, this was 3 years before Superleague. The ARL was doing exactly what the Superleague War ended up doing. Souffs were in exactly the same boat as Balmain, Canterbury and did nothing.

 

[Tiger5150]

And most changed bank when they realised they were losing their identity and there was no flood of sponsors for the 4th generic version of Sydney.

You say these things with such confidence and authority, its almost like YOU believe that you know what you are talking about......

Sydney Tigers and Sydney Bulldogs changed their names back to Balmain and Canterbury (dropped poor old Bankstown) when Super League hit and the ARL criteria no longer mattered and it was just about survival.

Biggest brands in Sydney now are us, Dragons, Eels. All clubs that still make note of their georgraphic heritage. The only club that stayed "Sydney" was the Roosters and despite all their premierships they still can't grow to a A grade fanbase.

LOL...there you go again, almost like you believe yourself. Biggest drawing Sydney club us Parra, second biggest is the mighty WESTS Tigers. Souffs are a distant 4th and are closer to Roosters "B Grade" crowds than the mighty Wests Tigers. That is even after the benefit of playing against us, the second biggest Sydney club to inflate your numbers...

https://afltables.com/rl/crowds/2021.html

And still, as bad as having a thousand "Sydneys" what is an even more amateurish brand is "Wests" nobody who is not intimately aware of rugby league knows where the hell Wests Tigers come from.

The crowds at Leichhardt and Campbelltown never seem to be confused about where they are. How do the crowds go at Redfern? Are the crowds ever geographically discombobulated when they attend the capital of Souff Sydney, Homebush?

From Collingwood to Richmond in the AFL, South Sydney to St George in the NRL, Chelsea to Manchester United in the EPL, clubs build brands around their heartland. They don't throw it away to become more generic. It would be like Nike and Adidas changing their name to "shoes".

Yeah Souffs would never throw away their soul, heritage and culcha by selling out to two rich fairy godfathers. Better to die on your feet than to bend at the waist and all that......

 

[Tiger5150]

Considering Souths were already tenants of the SFS and didn't have News Limited sugaring their palms or a wealthy leagues club to buy the kind of players clubs like Parra and Norths could, what would you have liked to see Souths do in just 1998 and '99 to qualify for admission?

The irony is, had Balmain not voted to merge with Wests, they would've finished 14th in the criteria and Penrith would've been cut.

I know I've already responded to this post pointing out that what I was talking about was 3 years earlier, but to answer your question, you have actually answered itself. Balmain (and Wests) were in exactly the same boat as Souffs. What did they do? Souffs did nothing except scream "pride of the league", lost the court case but News let them back anyway and then they went broke anyway. If it wasnt for the two fairy godfathers they would be a memory like Newtown.

 

[Tiger5150]

That was tried prior to superleague

Canterbury rebranded as Sydney Bulldogs
Easts became Sydney Roosters

Balmain - Sydney Tigers

It was stupid.

There were serious actual reasons behind the scenes. The ARL had told the clubs that they were going to reduce numbers in Sydney based on criteria. The clubs were then busily trying to entice international sponsors as well as establish themselves as THE Sydney club. It seems ridiculous now, but in 93, based on the Criteria that ARL were looking at using, the Roosters were in serious trouble.

 

[Bulldog2020]

You seem to miss the fact that they're a merger of two clubs - Western Suburbs Magpies & Balmain Tigers. The Wests side don't have anything to do with the Five Dock Bowlo. Likewise, the Balmain end doesn't have input with the casinos at Ashfield and Leumeah

I do not think this is the case now.

Both Balmain Leagues clubs have merged in with Wests Ashfield. All the Balmain side has now is a token 10% share in the NRL side, Wests Ashfield gave them as part of the bail out.

 

[Tiger5150]

Souths often boast that there catchment is from Coogee to Cottesloe so doesn’t matter what stadium they play in, it’s always going to be in their area. Which is why they should be the first to relocate. No matter where they move, there’s already a home crowd waiting for them.

Seems there may be a small exception north of the Spit Bridge..

Manly v Souffs 21/03/2021 - 3218 crowd.
https://afltables.com/rl/crowds/2021.html#ven

 

[Tiger5150]

I'm not well-informed on the situation, but can someone of knowledge advise - if Balmain still had their Leagues club in Rozelle, would they have been in a much-better/stronger position than they are in now? Or was that venue going down the gurgler due to gentrification, etc? Because as I understand it, it was Benny who basically closed it down for a high-rise development that hasn't happened, and essentially gave financial control of the merger to Western Suburbs.

Thank f**k for Balmain that the Tiger brand was their contribution to the merger, because it's the only thing keeping them in the NRL

Balmain Leagues was struggling and so decided to look into redeveloping their real estate into Residential, commercial and a new Leagues Club to produce ongoing revenue (like Sharks did). To do this they went into debt buying the adjacent properties and had an agreement with the then Labor NSW Govt for the development which was going to incorporate a metro station underneath it.

Balmain had to move out to enable the Metro to start and struggled to service the debt, in strides Benny as a white night who paid off the debt and bought the club for $1. NSW Govt pulls out of the Metro and then subsequently knocks back the development. Various subsequent DA's fail due to required height and Benny sells the development for a profit.

The NRL lent Balmain $8M and Wests Ashfield bailed out Balmain and therefore took up the Balmain ownership of WT. I come from the Balmain side but have been encourage by the generosity of Wests Ashfield who have been good and could have just wiped Balmain.

 

[typicalfan]

There were serious actual reasons behind the scenes. The ARL had told the clubs that they were going to reduce numbers in Sydney based on criteria. The clubs were then busily trying to entice international sponsors as well as establish themselves as THE Sydney club. It seems ridiculous now, but in 93, based on the Criteria that ARL were looking at using, the Roosters were in serious trouble.

I thought it was to take advantage of the profile in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics. Well in part at least.

 

[Tiger5150]

I thought it was to take advantage of the profile in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics. Well in part at least.

I was at the meetings where it was decided and it was decided in 1994, a long way out from the Olympics. It was entirely to try to meet the ARL criteria to remain in the ARL. From memory the criteria was $10M turnover, average home crowds of 10K, basic minimum for corporates, minimum juniors etc. Balmain at the time was turning over $8M and averaging about 8K at Leichhardt.

The purpose of Sydney Tigers was to try to attract international sponsors (it makes sense in the lead up to Olympics) and also to try to position themselves as THE Sydney club (particularly if Roosters left).

 

[Mr Spock!]

There were serious actual reasons behind the scenes. The ARL had told the clubs that they were going to reduce numbers in Sydney based on criteria. The clubs were then busily trying to entice international sponsors as well as establish themselves as THE Sydney club. It seems ridiculous now, but in 93, based on the Criteria that ARL were looking at using, the Roosters were in serious trouble.

It was ridiculous then as well.

 

[Tiger5150]

It was ridiculous then as well.

Roosters were the weakest link on the ARL criteria. Included juniors.

EDIT: Who knows if the ARL would have had the wheels to actually follow through, we will never know.

 

[Mr Spock!]

Yeah Souffs would never throw away their soul, heritage and culcha by selling out to two rich fairy godfathers. Better to die on your feet than to bend at the waist and all that......

What heritage is that?

Tigers have none....

A soulless club foisted on to the public as an appeasement to the Murdochracy.

You have no heritage. You sold it.

If you ceased to exist, your fans have shown they'll be quick to support some other club.

 

[Mr Spock!]

Roosters were the weakest link on the ARL criteria. Included juniors.

It was still ridiculous.