The Wests Tigers have confirmed they will play more games at traditional home grounds Campbelltown Sports Stadium and Leichhardt Oval in 2024, and they are confident it can be the catalyst for a long-term turnaround.
After years where they have split their Sydney-based home games between Campbelltown, Leichhardt, Homebush and Parramatta, a new agreement will see fans in their two local catchment areas and the future development of the club prioritised.
The club recently announced that they will play five games at Campbelltown and five games at Leichhardt in 2024, with one in Brisbane for magic round and another still to be determined.
That one to be determined could yet be played in a regional area, with the club holding a strong relationship with the Tamworth area in recent times.
But whichever way you split it, the joint-venture's return on a more permanent basis to Leichhardt and Campbelltown is as good of a news story surrounding the perrenial NRL cellar-dwellers as there has been in a decade.
It presents a fresh image for the club which has been at times criticised for a lack of identity at a time when on-field changes will also paint a chance for a fresh start in Tiger Town.
Gone is Tim Sheens, and in is former premiership winner and club favourite son Benji Marshall to control the coaching. He is joined by another former premiership winner in Robbie Farah, while they are joined by experienced assistant coach John Morris who himself is a favourite of Tigers fans, playing 72 games between 2007 and 2009.
A fresh image for the club will also be presented in the halves after Luke Brooks moved on to the Manly Sea Eagles in a call that seemed best for both parties.
In is Jayden Sullivan and Aidan Sezer, who will undoubedly have plenty to learn from Benji Marshall, and the Fainu brothers who are both excitement machines. The double signing is and will be a major coup for the Tigers from their rivals on the Northern Beaches.
But it's the chance to play more games at their spiritual homes which has the potential to turn the club around, both from the perspective of fans, and on-field, as well as into the future.
The Tigers have desperately been attempting to establish themselves as a development club. It hasn't shone through yet, but could well do with a talented crop of youngsters currently there.
The decision to return home comes with contractual obligations to various venues complete, and the club are hoping it will help their future pathways.
The Tigers' general manager of women's and pathways Matthew Betsey told Zero Tackle that playing home games at Leichhardt and Campbelltown is crucial.
โPlaying home games in our catchment areas is vitally important to our pathways' programs," Betsey said.
โWe have several local juniors in our top-30 now who not so long ago were coming to Campbelltown and Leichhardt to watch their heroes play.
โIt's about continuing to build upon and strengthen our community attachment, so more home games at our two spiritual home grounds works hand in hand with our plans in pathways and development.โ
With the likes of Tallyn Da Silva, Josh Feledy, Lachlan Galvin, Kit Laulilii, Brandon Mansfield and Brandon Tumeth representing the future of the club, as well as the slightly more established Justin Matamua and Fonua Pole already breaking through, there is real hope that the future can be one driven by their local talent.
The Tigers also recently confirmed prop Jordan Miller enters the top 30 for 2024, while Chris Faagutu, Solomone Saukuru and Tony Sukkar all pick up development contracts.
โWe have said many times that we are a development club, and to that end we must continue to invest heavily in pathways programs," the club's CEO Justin Pascoe said at the time of the contract announcements.
โWe have seen this year alone several players who have come through our system, play NRL.
There will be more on the rise next season and in the years to come. That's what it's all about."
While the Tigers may be in something of a rebuild, they may finally be starting to do it correctly, and if the group just mentioned all kick on under Benji Marshall, then the return home to unite a fan base who have been in pain for more than a decade couldn't have come at a better time.
That's not to say there won't be tough moments, but they may reduce.
One thing clear is the Tigers perform better in front of their home fans, at their home grounds.
There are few better sights than a packed hill at Leichhardt on a Sunday afternoon. Even through the years of struggle, that has still been a trend of the Tigers - well-supported day time games at the venue where extra funding has been demaned for upgrades.
In their three games there last year, the Tigers had crowds of 12,247, 13,214 and 14,667. That is, to put it bluntly, mighty impressive for a side on their way to a second straight wooden spoon.
They say fans vote with their feet, and the way games are attended at Leichhardt and Campbelltown prove what fans of the club want.
The Tigers in 2010 and 2011, that is the last time they were truly successful, won seven out of eight across the period at Leichhardt, and six out of eight at Campbelltown.
Even through the last decade, there have been times where the club have found success at their home grounds.
You only need to remember the emphatic beatdown they handed the North Queensland Cowboys at Leichhardt last year to know what it does for the side.
The Tigers labelled the decision one that is "part of a strategic priority for Wests Tigers, to recapture our identity and give back to our loyal fans."
โWe are Wests Tigers, and Wests Tigers' two spiritual homes and historical homes, are Leichhardt and Campbelltown,โ Pascoe said at the time of the announcement.
โWe are very proud to represent Sydney's Inner West and South West, and this is where we should be playing most of our home games."
Between on-field success and pathways programs, it's a no-brainer for the Tigers to be playing at their spiritual homes, and while there is no guarantee Leichhardt will receive the funding it needs, it's a strategy which has the potential to be the bridge for the Tigers to start a new future.
