Magpie Memoir Magazine - November 2021 edition

MAGPIE MEMOIR November 2020: 2021 January July 2020: Volume 2 Issue 9 Volume Volume11Issue 1 Issue 4

MAGAZINE MAGAZINE One Fans Tribute to the Western Suburbs DRLFC

FOREVER TRAPPED ISSN:2652-4406

ON THE

WRONG SIDE OF HISTOR Y

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

The photographer as a boy in the backyard at Strathfield, captured discussing team selections with his shadow.

Below: Aiming his cap gun at imaginary Sea Eagles, Roosters, Rabbits and low hanging Berries Left:

Photos – Hugh Stark

Andrew Stark grew up just a hefty punt kick from Strathfield Park in Sydney’s inner west, during the heady days of the 1970s. He was quickly to become a passionate supporter of his local rugby league team, the Western Suburbs Magpies. Stark began snapping photographs at the occasional game during the early 1980s and later became chief photographer for Terry Williams’ Sydney League News publication, covering grassroots footy from the mid 1990s on.

Stark has captured a myriad of Magpie-centric images over the past three and a half decades, concentrating on the junior representative level, with an occasional foray into the senior grades.

This quarterly fanzine series, aims to combine current events with a look back through the photographers vast collection. It is one man’s humble celebration of the mighty Western Suburbs D.R.L.F.C

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE November 2021: Volume 2 Edition 9

Welcome to this special, chip-on-the-shoulder, post lockdown edition of MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE - a bumper 24 page instalment which provides the author ample opportunity to, whinge and whine about the dodgy hand fate has dealt his favourite footy club.

A rough chronological structure underpins the issue, however it does often veer into stream of consciousness territory, so please be warned (insert Lifeline number here).

If the history of Wests were a Shakespearean play, it would surely be classified alongside The Bard’s greatest tragedies. Flourishing acts imbued with great inspiration, noble characters and any number of brave men. Yet ultimately, despite their collective and heroic endeavour - it all turns to mud. Wests were up against it from the get go ... and the struggle really only intensified from there. rk - Andrew Sta rk

Photo – Andrew Stark Above:

Wests 2021 Jersey Flegg coach, Wayne ‘Chops’ Lambkin dives on a loose ball for the Magpies against Manly at Brookvale during 1988. -- Photo: Andrew Stark --

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE is Written, Photographed, Designed & Published by Andrew Stark.

All photographs were taken by Andrew Stark, unless otherwise credited.

© Andrew Stark 2021 email: 10dollarjpegs@gmx.com ISSN: 2652-4406 front cover top:

Lunch Hour (1944) a lithograph by acclaimed US artist Joseph Hirsch. front cover bottom: Uncredited photo found on the internet

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE

© Andrew Stark

WESTS

FOREVER TRAPPED ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY

Born in Sydney’s south-west during the mid 1960s, my family moved to the inner west when I was still an infant. I was quick to adopt the local footy team, an association which would both, shape me and scar me for life.

The 1970s was a great time to cheer for the Magpies as Tom Terrific, Joe Cool, the Snake, Boydie, Dallas, the Sloth and co, took it up to all comers. Supporters of glamour clubs such as Manly, Saints, Easts or Canterbury often scoff at my use of the adjective ‘great’, as no grand final appearances, let alone premierships, were forthcoming. Yet the Don Parish coached 1974 finals run, Yappy Holman’s 1977 team winning the Amco Cup, and the Roy Masters Fibro era that followed, they were all the stuff of inspiration for this young lad from Stratty.

By the mid 1980s, the vultures were well and truly circling overhead and Wests was under siege. A look back over the history of the black & white club reveals a horrid run of ‘bad fortune’. When this unlucky streak is mixed-in with the Magpies perennial outsider status, it’s somewhat surprising they got as far as they did.

It all began in the Ashfield Town Hall back on the Tuesday evening of February 4th, 1908, when the Western Suburbs Rugby League Club was formed. Sadly the first season boasted just the one win, after a hefty number of potential Wests players banded together to form the rival Central Cumberland club. By seasons end, Wests had narrowly escaped finishing last. The following year provided the club with the first of what would become a pantry full of wooden spoons and it took Wests a number of seasons to climb off the bottom of the competition ladder.

Nineteen eleven saw the Black & Whites finally manage to offload the spoon to Balmain, a club to whom they would later become so awkwardly coupled.

It was during this opening decade of Sydney rugby league history that Western Suburbs assumed their battler status. Souths and Easts dominated. Both clubs were flush with high profile recruits, blessed with a large population base and were impeccably well connected within the games decision making halls of power. Wests on the other hand were bereft of on field talent and duly struggled. The games governing body, the NSWRFL collected all the gate receipts during these earliest of winters and at seasons end, they would reimburse the clubs via a grant. Records surviving from this period reveal that of the gate receipt grants from 1910 to 1916, Wests were afforded a fraction of the income paid to glamour clubs; Souths, Easts and Balmain. In the eight team divvy up, the struggling Wests received just 4.5% of the grants revenue across these seven seasons. This compares starkly to the 21% paid out to Souths, 17% to Easts, and 14% that went to Balmain. The second lowest recipient was Annandale who received just shy of 6% of the total gate revenue.

While the formula used to determine the size of each club’s grant remains a mystery, it must have reflected each clubs individual crowd numbers. Yet overseeing an area with a relatively small population base, and having run dead last in four of the first six seasons, Wests were on a hiding to nothing in attempting to stay competitive.

Even from the earliest days of the code, the game was structured to allow the rich to become richer, while the stragglers were left to make up the numbers.

Wests battled hard however, and by 1917 the club was beginning to climb the rugby league totem pole. Four top four finishes in as many seasons pre-empted the admission into the competition of St George. This decision cut hard into Wests territory and like a pin into a black & white balloon, Magpie momentum went ‘pop’ and they slumped back down the ladder. During the game’s first half dozen or so decades, players were required to have resided for at least 12 months within their chosen club’s official boundaries to be deemed residentially qualified to play for that club. So when Wests lost a portion of their territory, it was a sizable obstacle to overcome. Beyond that opening 1908 season which included Central Cumberland, Wests territory took in a huge geographical area. During these pioneering days however, it was somewhat akin to footy club swamp land as very few people lived out there. Yet as Sydney’s population grew, the League took an interest, and they exponentially grew their competition. This expansion was always at Wests expense.

As previously noted, the Magpies had been consistent top four finishers for a handful of years prior to St George’s entry. In 1935 a further wad of territory was taken from Wests when Canterbury were admitted into the competition. The Black & Whites went from premiers in 1934, to also-rans two seasons later. The next incursion into Wests heartland came with Parramatta’s entry in 1947. A move which prompted the Magpies forthright secretary Lou Moses, at a committee meeting of the NSWRFL to cynically retort; MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE “Thanks for letting us keep Rookwood”. © Andrew Stark

Following through on the history of Wests sub division, the next caustic chapter arrived in 1983. By then, the NSWRL had decided to stop mucking around with incrementally slicing off the clubs limbs, they simply kicked Wests out of the competition altogether. Having been minor premiers in 1978 and playing semi final footy in 1979, 1980 & 1982, the games powerbrokers decided to cull both the Magpies and the Newtown Jets. Wests duly fought tooth and nail through the courts and after a number of doomsday seasons, both on and of the field, they found a compromise position which largely placated their Phillip Street abusers. Move along Wests and we’ll stop trying to kill you off … for now!

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Wests half George Mason, is pictured above scooping up the ball during the Magpies 18-2 victory over St George at Pratten Park during 1929. Mason was a Bankstown City junior who had progressed into Wests top grade side two seasons earlier. Having headed to the bush and played in both the Riverina and for Central Newcastle during the early to mid 1930s, the talented half returned to Sydney in 1936 and linked with his new home club, Canterbury. Having played his final season in 1936, Mason coached the Blue & Whites in 1937 (inset photo shows Mason as a Berry in 1936).

When St George entered the competition in 1921, Wests lost five top grade players in one residential qualification swoop. At the end of 1920, Herb Gilbert, Frank Gray, James Redmond, Clarrie Tye & John Wall were all required to depart Pratten Park. Fifteen years later and a further loss of territory was coupled with the loss of; Jack Hartnell, Jack Connell, Bob Lindfield, Frank Sponberg & Alan Brady to the Berries.

The 1947 entry of Parramatta saw a further savage loss of Wests country. It also expedited the departure of Neville Spence and Bob Andrews. Andrews became Parra’s first captain while the side was coached by former Wests star fullback, Frank McMillan.

In 1987 Wests relocated from their eighty year Ashfield – Lidcombe home, out to Sydney’s burgeoning south-west region. It was a huge undertaking the likes of which had never been attempted by any NSWRL club before. The heart wrenching loss of revered junior clubs such as the Enfield Federals, Burwood United, Berala Bears, etc was particularly galling as rivals Balmain and Canterbury picked up Wests traditional heartland. Star Magpie SG Ball Cup players and future internationals, Tim Brasher and Jim Serdaris were also lost as it was considered unreasonable to expect innerwest based schoolboys to continually travel to and from Campbelltown.

Upon their arrival in the south-west, the Magpies were received with a suspicious, if not openly hostile reception. The area had heard it all before. A few years earlier, the Newtown-Campbelltown and the Campbelltown-Liverpool projects had made similar noises before ultimately coming to nothing. Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra also made 1980s overtures. The local council, business houses and the people of the Macarthur were understandably wary of Wests move. The Magpies secretary Gordon Allen described the task at hand as, pushing the proverbial uphill.

“It’s starting to grow. You’ve got to remember we’re the only club which has ever relocated. How would Balmain go under the same circumstances?”

- Gordon Allen (April 1988)

The mention of Balmain, leads us to the great cull of 1999. While the forced marriage wasn’t technically a loss of territory, it most certainly entailed a crippling loss of identity. Vlad-the-Impaler style rationalization of the game in the immediate post Super League era saw Souths kicked out (temporarily), Norths pushed together with arch rivals Manly (before being kicked out totally), while the most vulnerable club, Wests, jumped into bed with Balmain. The resultant Wests Tigers, sporting their distinctive orange hue was perceived from day one as little more than the Balmain Tigers rebranded. In one loaded swipe, the Tigers were able to swamp 88 years of Western Suburbs history. We are now twenty two seasons on from that fateful decision and the name of the old black & white club has largely been omitted from the rugby league lexicon. Journalists and fans of the game alike, have no issue with referring to; Souths, Manly, Penrith, Cronulla, or Brisbane etc, using the first, or place name of these clubs. Yet despite the Wests Tigers being a politically sensitive amalgam, the singular use of ‘Wests’ is as rare today as a toe-poke for goal. Newspaper articles invariably begin with a seemingly obligatory ‘Wests Tigers’ reference in the opening paragraph before blanket use of ‘the Tigers’ forms the guts of each and every story.

On one miserable Sunday afternoon during 2021, I sat and counted the first half references during a Channel Nine telecast from Campbelltown (I was too depressed to continue after half time). The commentators divvied up the descriptors by using; ‘Wests’ on its own zero times, ‘Wests Tigers’ three times, while ‘the tigers’ was uttered a mind numbingly 57 times. Apart from being insufferably triggering for any old Magpie trying desperately to feel apart of this hybrid club, it’s just hopelessly repetitive.

Fifty seven times in 40 minutes: I mean seriously!

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

So history has again intervened, this time placing Wests on the wrong side of a joint venture. Despite the Leagues Club at Ashfield owning 90% of the franchise, it’s the Balmain heritage that is fostered and continues to be recognized by rugby league’s mainstream. Tigers history is invariably allowed to flow into the present day Tigers, yet for some reason Wests history isn’t allowed to flow into a modern day Wests.

The Magpie heritage is shown little respect by the rugby league culture of the day and most disturbingly, it’s shown little respect by the club itself.

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Even during the good times, history did invariably conspire against the Magpies.

During the 1950s; St George (1953), Wests & Norths (1955), Balmain (1957), Parramatta & Souths (1959) all opened licensed clubs. The Western Suburbs Leagues Club opened its doors in June of 1955 and the football club went on a spending spree soon after. A daring splash of cash for players saw the Magpies tagged, The Millionaires. Yet unlike the vulture-like behaviour shown by Manly two decades later, with the exception of Dick Poole (Newtown), Ian Moir (Souths) & Denis Meaney (Manly), Wests shopping trolley was only ever filled with players from outside the Sydney competition. Internationals; Harry Wells (Wollongong), Kel O’Shea (Ayr, Queensland), Darcy Henry (Forbes) & Ian Johnstone (Coonamble) were enticed to Pratten Park as Wests made a genuine run toward upsetting the dominant clubs, Souths & St George, for a taste of premiership glory. History had clearly taken its eye off the ball back in 1952 when Wests scored a hugely contentious 22-12 grand final victory over Souths. Beyond that however, it was the Rabbitohs and then the Dragons who hogged all of the 1950s glory.

There’s an old adage in rugby league that when it comes to grand finals, a team needs to lose one to win one. Well during the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, Wests lost four grand finals in six seasons. The “win one” half of the equation never arrived. The last of these, the shattering 1963 loss, was described

by Magpies skipper Arthur Summons as, the biggest rort in grand final history.

Referee Darcy Lawler, officiating in his last game, is said to have placed a bet on the Saints and stood to win 600 quid if the Kogarah team prevailed. The fortunes of the game duly followed this fiscal objective and minor premiers Wests were given no chance by the whistleblower. It was undoubtedly one of the darkest days in the codes history.

Sixty years on and this dubious decider is ironically symbolized as everything that’s good about rugby league, in the form of the Provan-Summons trophy. Nineteen sixty three would prove to be Wests last ever grand final appearance (sans orange).

Gary Lester in Clouds of Dust wrote; The Western Suburbs dream was over … three grand finals without success was just about all any club could take.

Wests went from their momentary millionaire status in the late 1950s, to abject poverty a quarter of a century later.

The Magpies won the 1978 minor premiership only to be Hartley’d during a gut wrenching semi final series. The club finished in the coveted top five in 1978, 1979, 1980 & 1982 and yet on a dark evening in September of 1983, the NSWRL’s general committee decided to boot Western Suburbs out of the Above: John O’Gready’s iconic competition. Money had become so tight photograph of Arthur Summons & Norm Provan captured at the conclusion of the during 1982 that even the club’s annual controversial 1963 grand final. picnic, reunion and the player’s end of season trip were all forced to be cancelled.

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

Wests one-year coach Terry Fearnley left for Cronulla at season’s end, taking seven players with him. Others were snapped up by Canterbury and Easts as the Lidcombe Oval battlers struggled to match the offers of opportunistic rivals. Wests were left with Dallas Donnelly, Wayne Smith, Warren Boland and a bunch of kids for the 1983 season. Major sponsor Victa departed, the side ran last and to make matters worse, it poured with rain during every home game. It was the most miserable of winters.

Dallas Donnelly, Arthur Mountier & Brett Gale, with little to smile about during 1983

(Uncredited Photo: found on internet)

By July, reports began to emerge that a number of clubs were experiencing financial difficulty and that up to half a dozen were requesting emergency grants from the NSWRL. Wests, Parramatta, Cronulla, Souths, Illawarra and Canterbury were all struggling, with only the Steelers and Bulldogs ultimately not needing to head down to Phillip Street with beggar bowls outstretched. Two of these clubs were the premiers Parramatta, who reportedly had their hands out for $400000, while Cronulla’s position was considered so dire that the NSWRL stepped in to administer the club as the Sharks feared being omitted from the 1984 competition. A Chris Masters expose on Four Corners during May of 1983 revealed the corruption of NSWRL president Kevin Humphries who had misappropriated $50000 from the Balmain Leagues Club. This bombshell program became the catalyst for changes with regard the structure of the games governing body. Former referee Tom Bellew took over as NSWRL president while the nine man board included Dennis Fitzgerald (Parramatta), Monty Porter (Cronulla), as well as former Parramatta & Easts back rower John Quayle. Wests and Newtown had no representative on the executive.

Not even a lazy bloodline curled out of the games halls of power toward Lidcombe.* MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark * NSWRL board member Monty Porter did play four games for Wests back in 1955. When he found himself stuck in reserve grade at the start of the following season, he decided the Magpies weren’t for him. Porter linked with Thirroul on the South Coast before famously playing in grand finals for St George against Wests in 1958,61,62 & 63. It’s fair to surmise Monty Porter had no great affinity to the Western Suburbs Magpies.

It’s a fact that over 60 years Wests have seen themselves as losers at League headquarters, the more so in recent years when the club has been almost paranoiac about the contention that Phillip Street was stacked against them. – Ian Heads (Dec 1983) Having already borrowed $200000, Wests were struggling to honour the contracts of its players. Things really started to hit the fan when in August, the NSWRL refused to loan the club money when it attempted to make up the shortfall. Wests did manage to pay the players 75% of their contract money by the end of October with a promise to honour the difference as soon as was humanly possible (they were fully paid by March 1985). Yet on September 26th, 1983, the general committee of the league voted 2912 to support a recommendation of the executive. The motion was to punt the Pies and to jettison the Jets. Foundation clubs with a combined 150 year history!

When Wests complained having lost large slabs of territory in 1921, 1935 and again in 1947, the self interest of rival clubs kicked in. The League is simply - growing the game - or - take one for the common good - being common retorts. Fast forward to September 1983, and an open vote was held as club delegates ganged up to execute two rivals. Forty one hands to decide the fate of the proud Black & White club. This, after the League’s auditors had given the Magpies the green light just days earlier with regard their financial viability heading into 1984. It’s not clear which clubs voted in favour of Wests and Newtown being ejected. Given that the vote was held to either ratify or reject what the executive had called for, and that it was an open show of hands, lashings of self interest and not wanting to be seen to rock the boat came heavily into play. I might also surmise that neighbouring clubs, especially Balmain and Canterbury stood to gain considerably with regards claiming new territory if Wests and Newtown were shown the door*. Another factor is that with many clubs struggling to meet their financial obligations, it could well have been seen as a - better them than us - scenario. One memory I have during the club’s ensuing Wests 1983 legal action provided the club with a stay of execution. The demise of Newtown however saw a dramatic reconfiguration of Sydney’s inner west junior league boundaries.

Right:

fight to survive was a mid week meeting of fans huddled in the Lidcombe Oval grandstand. Rick Wayde addressed the hundred or so in attendance and toward the end of proceedings he read out letters and donations received in support of the club’s fight to survive. One that sticks clearly in my mind came from the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark * Wests and Balmain were previously coupled in relation to juniors within the 13 import rule, however Wests demise would have given Balmain open slather on the area. They would then have probably been coupled in a similar deal with Canterbury, who were previously coupled with Newtown.

Wests famously fought the decision through the courts and having won in 1983, were further thwarted when the NSWRL decided to move the goalposts. Kicked out again after the 1984 season, the Magpies spent a handful of years never knowing how many tomorrows remained. While all other clubs were focused with a steely determination on winning the premiership, Wests were wholly fixated on catching their next breath.

I must admit to shaking my head in dismay when I recently heard criticism coming from former Balmain fans on each of the Wests Tigers podcasts. They were bemoaning Wests history as the cause for the joint ventures current ills. The gentleman in question threw up the Magpies poor showing during the eighties as typical of Wests on going failure. While Balmain during this period was building toward two unsuccessful grand final appearances: Wests were in court, Wests were moving house, Wests were fully consumed with warding off the vultures.

It’s no crime to be poor – Wests Secretary Ray Bernasconi (July 1983) By the early 1990s, the subsequent 1987 move to Campbelltown looked to be heralding in a bright new era for the Magpies. A team filled with highly talented local juniors was coupled with a handful of seasoned recruits from Canterbury and a premiership winning coach. Suddenly, Wests looked to be a club moving toward a genuine shot at the title. Youngsters such as; Jason Taylor, Jamie Ainscough, Russell Wyer, Shaun Devine and Darren Britt were joined by David Gillespie, Paul Langmack, Joe Thomas and Andrew Farrar. Former Wests lower grade coach and winner at the Bulldogs, Warren Ryan was brought in to hopefully add the Magpies to his long list of qualifying sides for the big dance. Ryan had previously led the Wests under 23s to the grand final in 1978 before orchestrating similar, top grade runs at Newtown, Canterbury and Balmain. Unfortunately for Wests, the Wok can be a prickly character. A rift between he and young half Jason Taylor did ultimately split the club asunder, providing a vital fork in the road with regard Wests late 1990s slide toward oblivion. Sadly the club backed Ryan, not Taylor. Finances were again so low that insolvency lurked just a hairs breathe away. Roy Masters reported in mid 1993 that the club had pulled its annual grant to the junior league. Magpies chief executive Steve Noyce conceding, “The Wests Group is finding it difficult in these recessed times”. Wests future, yet again looked in danger.

Having re-signed Warren Ryan for a further two years in April of 1993, the club sacked him a little over 12 months later. Wests were just shy of one million dollars in debt and an administrator was appointed to help restructure the club’s finances. A lack of sponsors combined with payroll and fringe benefits tax requirements, along with the on going payout to axed coach Ryan, contributed most of the red ink.

Tommy Raudonikis’ team battled hard to compete during these dirt poor, latter years of the decade. Having surprised everyone in 1996 with a typical Magpie-backs-tothe-wall campaign that spawned a finals berth, the first grade team sunk hard toward the tail of the field.

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

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Above: Happy Magpies; Ian Schubert, Lee Crooks and Alan Fallah enjoy a win during Wests troublesome mid 1980s era. (Uncredited Photo – found on the internet)

I actually said to them at one stage, why do you bother to stay in the league if you can’t compete? What are you doing in there? – Warren Ryan to Wests club officials (1994) If rugby league history were to be presented as an ongoing game of musical chairs, then Wests dramatic dive came at the worst possible time. As the DJ hovered over the kill switch, the Magpies were so far removed from a chair they weren’t even in the room. Had this caustic rationalization of the game arrived in 1989 and not 1999, then Wests would probably have been safe. Had it come in 1979, they definitely would have survived. But alas, it arrived in 1999. Wests team that year was arguably the least competitive first grade side in the history of the competition. With finances remaining a problem and the League’s long running Wests vendetta there for all to see … the Magpies were sitting ducks to be axed.

A Las Vegas styled marriage was hastily formalized with the Balmain Tigers.

Sadly, 1999s crude stapling together of two under threat entities has been an abject failure. The Wests Tigers have played semi final football on just three occasions across 22 winters. Beleaguered fans cling to the club’s 2005 ‘My Sharona’ moment.

Yet beyond those two months of Benji brilliance, the club has totally lost the knack.

For over two decades they’ve been consigned to one-hit-wonder status.

For Wests fans the failure is more deep seated . Language and its use, whether it be deliberately constructed, casually offered, or cynically contrived, remains important. I would suggest that Wests lost the battle for hearts and minds from day one of the joint venture. It’s been a 22 year Tiger-thon since the kick off to that tumultuous 2000 season. In what has become one of the great unspoken injustices of Australian sporting history*, a fulsome flock of former Magpie fans has been allowed to drift away as their club is consumed by an omnipresent wave of garish orange.

Whenever one points out the lack of Wests representation in the joint venture club, a charge of living in the past is invariably hurled. The Wests Tigers are of course here to stay and I’m not trying to unnecessarily stoke Wests v Balmain enmity. But the balance has never been right. The vast majority of fair minded, former Magpies are simply after a genuine 50/50 split when it comes to the way the club is portrayed and ultimately, how it's perceived. I would suggest that for former Balmain fans, following Wests Tigers has been a far easier proposition. The club wears orange, the club is referred to as ‘the Tigers’ by almost everyone, Leichhardt Oval is gushed upon every time a football is kicked in her direction and old legends; Roach, Jack, Elias etc … are never far from the news cycle. Whether by design, or pure fluke, that’s the way it’s panned out. Good luck to Balmain. The fact that the new club remains pitifully unsuccessful and old divisions continue to bubble below the surface however, might suggest it be better for everyone if something was done about it?

Within this ramshackle marriage, one partner has deep seated concerns. The other partner, along with the couple’s gaggle of snotty nosed children, all consider the matter to be trivial. For the overall well being of the family unit however, surely they sit down, unite and decide to address the concerns? This isn’t happening at the Wests Tigers, and rather unsurprisingly, the club continues to fail.

As mentioned earlier, language is important. Cricket recently changed the term ‘batsman’ to the more gender friendly ‘batter’, in an effort to be wholly inclusive.

This was a concerted effort to fully engage both halves of the population within the construct of the sport. I suggest the Wests Tigers do something similar. Spend a season or two resetting the narrative. Make an effort to use ‘Wests’ as the prime descriptor in press releases, marketing, interviews, etc, to help redress the balance.

Lighten the use of ‘the tigers’, which for over two decades now has swamped the lexicon. Find a balance and heal the division.

To continue to shout down former Magpies and say this stuff isn’t important is to hugely disrespect one of the games proudest foundation clubs. It also guarantees more misery for the Wests Tigers. Change is required and it needs to come via a unity ticket. The club’s emblem is a tiger. The club’s official name is Wests Tigers.

Yet if Manly Warringah can be called Manly, Canterbury Bankstown referred to as Canterbury and Cronulla Sutherland shortened to Cronulla – surely Wests Tigers are allowed to be known singularly as, “Wests”. . *alongside the North Sydney Bears

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

If this blanket tigerization continues as is, there is nothing for old Western Suburbs supporters to cling on to. Wests have battled for 114 years on the wrong side of history. The past 22 years have been some of the most challenging as the club’s identity has been all but consumed. Time is fast running out to address the imbalance … it’s time to put the Wests back into Wests Tigers.

It’s time to start again!

The Sloth Isn't Happy!

Above:

The expression on the face of powerhouse Wests prop of the 1970s, Bruce Gibbs, perfectly sums up the mood of many Wests supporters, circa right now!

(Photo-still taken from 1970s Channel Seven coverage )

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

Above: Rugby League Week’s take on the 1974 Preliminary Final. I was 10 years old at the time.

Wests magnificent run that year was the spark that ignited a lifetime of support for my local club.

The Roosters would ultimately prove to be too good that year yet the charge of Don Parish’s young Magpies remains to this day, my fondest of black & white memories.

History and her kissing cousins; Fate and Destiny, stood to one side during 1974 and allowed Wests fans a glorious few months. The minor semi final victory over premiers Manly ranks as one of the club’s finest moments and it was certainly an afternoon I will never forget.

Wests officials who oversaw the club’s 1934 premiership - from left to right: H.Moxham, R.Liston, W.Finegan, J.Rubinson, E.McFayden, J.White, W.Knight, C.Prentice.

Right:

Wests had just won their second competition in 27 years. Yet the following season the League decided to handicap the club by introducing Canterbury. The move sliced away a large chunk of Wests territory.

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Strangest thing happened on the way home from the alter! Pre joint venture, the media was happy to use the ‘W’ word. Yet post the coupling, its been all, Tigers Tigers Tigers! The blanket use of ‘Tigers’ has subsequently fed into a Balmain Tigers-are-Wests Tigers narrative, as can be seen illustrated below in the Benny Elias story. Similar ambiguity and aversion to the Wests Magpies side of the equation occurred in a Sydney Morning Herald piece during late August. The headline offered, The Tigers Have Lost The Plot. The opening paragraph added, The Wests Tigers have no idea who they are. My earliest memory of the Tigers is a grand final party and my dad screaming out “why?”. Benny had just hit the crossbar in 1989…” Balmain Tigers flowing seamlessly into Wests Tigers with Orwellian efficiency. So unbalanced has the battle for identity become, that fans who dare to use the ‘W’ word in isolation, are often chided as troublemakers.

ABC radio’s excellent broadcaster, Andrew Moore is one of the few people working in the media to occasionally use the ’W’ word on its own. Yet in doing so, he receives complaints. Moore’s response to this barrage back in 2020 was, “Why wouldn’t I call them Wests – that’s their name”

Circa 2021, I would conservatively suggest that the joint venture club is referred to as, ‘the tigers’ in over 80% of cases. ‘Wests’ on its own would receive less than one percentage point with the difference being made up by the club’s official name, ‘Wests Tigers’. One wonders why tigers are so enthusiastically allowed to flow into the tigers, and yet Wests are met with great resistance when it comes to attempting the same. Since 2000, I would argue that Wests have never been permitted to flow into Wests.

When this is pointed out, a typical response is, why is it important? (see above) It’s a respect thing people. Its about being wholly inclusive, about truly honouring the clubs heritage. It’s about fairness, about healing the wounds of division. Do these same people question the importance of acknowledging the traditional owners at modern day Australian gatherings ? Do they query marriage equality? Do they argue against the use of gender neutral language? When earlier this year, the Prime Minister changed the words of our national anthem from, “we are young and free” to “we are one and free”, did these same people arc up?

While Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, our country’s story is ancient. As are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship we rightly acknowledge and respect. In the spirit of unity, it is only right that we ensure our National Anthem reflects this truth and shared appreciation. Changing “young and free” to “one and free” takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much.

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- Prime Minister Scott Morrison (January 2021)

While I'm in no way attempting to claim here that a footy club’s identity imbalance is on a par with the tragic history of Aboriginal Australians, I am tapping into the general principal of striving for unity. If the Wests Tigers, with its unique coupling of two heritage clubs is to grow successfully into the future, then the use of language is an important tool. A tool which must be used with great skill to ensure that no group is inadvertently chipped away and left behind. Isn't it in everyone’s interests to make an effort to address any imbalance? Isn't inclusivity a good thing?

I’m an old Magpie who aches for the old black & white days. I understand however, that that is all in the past now. For twenty two years I have desperately wanted to embrace the Wests Tigers yet like so many former Western Suburbs fans, have felt totally othered by the way the joint venture club is presented.

A concerted effort to dilute the use of Tigers with more use of Wests would help address this. Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all and is sensitive to difference. It allows an organization or person to reach a larger audience simply by being transparently impartial.

In politics, repetition is how you get your point across

- Terry Barnes (2GB 2021)

I raised this imbalance of terminology on the Wests Tigers Forum recently and it was picked up and discussed on the podcast. The general consensus among the panellists fell into two main responses; firstly - its been 22 years, get over it, and secondly – call them what you like mate. While the podcast fellas seem like decent blokes, all but one of them barracked previously for Balmain. The odd one out is too young to remember the pre-merger days. So with respect, none of them can ever truly know. Their heritage is in the vanguard and they don’t see that as a problem.

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1975: The Luibinskas Affair - A Pertinent Case Study One of my fondest memories as a kid was sitting with my dad on the packed hill at the old Sports Ground, watching the knock out semi final against Souths when young back rower Mick Luibinskas ran the length from a kick off. The year was 1974 and little did anyone know at the time, but the following winter, lanky Mick would become embroiled in a controversy that ultimately cost Wests their season. It took place during round 15 when Wests battled hard to scrape a 7 all draw against the grand finalists of the previous season, Canterbury.

Luibinskas was called into the first grade game after 34 minutes when Jim Murphy was forced off injured. Mick had earlier completed the reserve grade clash, however importantly, he hadn't started in the 1.30pm game. The rules circa 1975 were soon to be shown up as horribly ambiguous. The relevant paragraph stated that a player was eligible to replace another just so long as that player had completed one of the afternoon’s earlier fixtures. Wests took the word ‘completed’ to mean finished. The letter of law rather savagely slapped the Magpies down. The ruling was that the word ‘completed’, in this instance, meant Luibinskas had to have played the full Reserve Grade game before he was eligible to take the field in the top grade. To make matters worse for Wests, Mick had scored the teams only try during the hard fought draw. Canterbury secretary Peter Moore fired in an immediate protest.

The following evening Wests pleaded their case during a dramatic meeting of the NSWRL. Magpies secretary Dudley Beger informed the committee that the club had not attempted to cheat, that it was done in all innocence. League vice-president Alec Mackie (St George) accepted that Wests had made an honest mistake however reinforced his belief that rules needed to be abided to. He duly moved that Canterbury’s protest be upheld and that the Magpies be docked their competition point. Balmain secretary Keith Gittoes chimed in, moving an amendment that Wests be fined $100 MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

instead. This suggestion was ridiculed by NSWRL President Kevin Humphries and Mackie’s motion was passed. Wests lost their competition point and by season’s end it would prove to be a horribly decisive deduction.

I was one of 14300 fans at Lidcombe on the following Sunday when Wests took it up to the high flying Roosters. Premiers Easts were in the middle of a record breaking winning streak, yet on this particular afternoon, they had to rely on six John Brass penalty goals to pip the Magpies 12-11. Wests cult hero Russell Mullins scored the games only try yet the home side were ultimately penalized out of the game.

By season’s end, Wests finished equal fifth on the ladder, alongside Balmain and the fast finishing Parramatta. League policy during this era embraced a mid week playoff to decide which team should advance. When this law was written however, no one seriously considered a three-way scenario. Pushing to one side Wests loss of a competition point back in July, the Magpies finished the year with an infinitely better for-and-against differential than either the Eels or Tigers.

The League in their wisdom, ignored the stats and simply put the names of the three clubs into a hat. Balmain’s ticket was drawn and they progressed straight through to the second tier of the playoff series. Wests would play Parramatta on the Tuesday for a right to play Balmain on the Thursday, with the winner to progress to play Canterbury in the minor preliminary final on the Sunday. It appeared to be a hopeless task for all three sides.

Above:

Mick Luibinskas dives over for Wests try during the controversial 7 all draw at Belmore.

(Photo - Sydney Morning Herald )

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Any fair minded footy fan might have expected Wests better for-and-against differential to count for something. Shouldn’t the hat have been dispensed with in preference to Wests automatically progressing to Thursdays play off. Wouldn’t that have been the fairest response? As it played out, Balmain with a negative 69 points differential were afforded the rails run, while Wests +76, and Parramatta +18 lined up for a Tuesday showdown. Both sides went into the rain effected clash with key members missing. Tellingly, the Magpies went into the game without powerhouse young prop John Donnelly who’d fractured his arm during the final round win over Cronulla. They were further handicapped when John Dorahy was forced off early in the game.

I remember racing home from school to listen to the game on the radio. Wests were behind throughout and while never out of the game, we simply couldn't peg the Eels back. Parramatta won the day 18-13. Referee Greg Hartley was embroiled in controversy when in the shadows of halftime he disallowed what would have been a vital a Wests try. The Eels led 13-5 when Phil Mann spilt a Johnny Heyward up-andunder. Magpie centre Tim Murphy followed through and dived on the ball for what seemed a fair try. Yet Hartley was too quick on his whistle, later claiming he had to make a split decision. Quite bizarrely the cocky referee decided to award Wests a penalty instead. In the following morning's Sydney Morning Herald, respected League journalist Alan Clarkson described the key decision as being, “wrong”.

Hartley would further earn the ire of Wests three seasons later when he controlled the 1978 preliminary final loss to Manly. Two Wests tries were disallowed on that afternoon. A game in which Hartley is claimed to have taunted the Magpies with, “I’ll get you black bastards under the posts”.

Parramatta would kick on to defeat both Balmain and Canterbury before the week was out. Wests luckless 1975 season ended at the SCG on that wet and miserable Tuesday afternoon.

The Luibinskas Affair, the ignoring of a stark points differential and finally, Greg Hartley. It was an unholy trinity of events which ensured Wests were once again, on the wrong side of history !

There was a view that there was entrenched privilege at certain clubs; that there was in fact a cartel that ran the game, that principally included clubs such as the Bulldogs under Peter Moore, Manly under Ken Arthurson, South Sydney with Terry Parker and even Balmain with Kevin Humphries, who was the chair of the league at the time.

– Roy Masters (Inside Sport 2018) MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark

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Andrew Stark

“Thanks for letting us keep Rookwood” - Wests secretary Lou Moses 1946

Photo: Jason Hahn (Photofocus)

MAGPIE MEMOIR MAGAZINE © Andrew Stark