Time to hold season launch with the fans, Wests Tigers

Can someone from Wests Tigers please explain to the fans why the club is again holding its season launch on Sydney Harbour?

This is a club which represents Macarthur and parts of the south west region of the city, as well as the Balmain and Leichhardt area.

The major sponsor, Brydens Lawyers, are building swanky headquarters in the heart of Liverpool.

It’s the same on the player front, with stars like Tedesco hailing from Camden and so on.

So why did the club decide to launch its 2017 season at the Museum of Contemporary Art at The Rocks on Sunday, February 19?

I don’t know, maybe the Opera House or the Sydney Zoo were unavailable.

Either way the venue could not be more removed from the people who support the club through thick and thin.

Obviously those running the club want it to be seen in the big end of town.

This is nothing new.

So long has it been happening you’d think it would have become obvious Wests Tigers are wasting their time trying to compete on that level with the powerhouse clubs such as the Roosters.

Who are all the big end of town sponsors of Wests Tigers who signed on after attending a season launch?

I can’t think of one.

So where should the season launch be?

The first point to make is that the season launch does not have to be about another marketing event to attract sponsors.

Having a fatuous cocktail party on the harbour is such a cliché, but for whatever reason it is now the default option of the club.

Why not make the fans and the members the focus on such a day and hold it at Leichhardt Oval one year and Campbelltown Sports Stadium the next year.

Compared with wasting their time hobnobbing with business CEOs on the Sydney Harbour foreshore, the Wests Tigers could set an example to other NRL clubs of how to look after loyal fans.

Hell, potential sponsors may be more impressed with a democratic season launch than the usual, boring, cocktail party on the harbour.

I know, I know, this is banging your head against a brick wall, but it’s fuelled by the hope that the people who run our footy club will one day see the light.

Then again, I won’t hold my breath.