Tigers finally on the rise

With a pocket of serious negativity engulfing the club this past weekend, you'd be excused for thinking the Wests Tigers were on struggle street. Fans are whinging, some in feisty discontent as a divide in the club's fan base rears its ugly head once more. Only the Tigers are not struggling. Far from it! The Tigers sit 3rd on the competition table and face a showdown with fellow early pacesetters the Parramatta Eels this long weekend.

In a week where the club has begun to nominate its top 15 moments in order to celebrate our 15th season as a joint venture club, i thought i'd take the opportunity to compile my own list of sorts. The idea being to crush the negativity that has surrounded the club in recent days. In recent days i've adopted the hashtag #thepositiveWTfan in the hope it will encourage fans to be exactly that. Positive. From where i sit, there's a lot to be positive about.

So without further delay here is a list of reasons to be positive about our club.

1. Creating a new identity

Nearly all in the NRL community wrote us off this season, branding the club a near certain wooden spoon candidate. They said without Benji, we'd be on struggle street. I'm also pretty certain though that most fans probably felt we could give the edge of the top 8 a good run. I'm also pretty certain that no one had us sitting 3rd on the table after 6 weeks with wins against Souths, Manly the Cowboys and a win over the Titans on the Gold Coast.

We have definitely punched above our weight to start the season. But it's also fair to suggest that this is a different Wests Tigers team than the one expected. At the start of the season i talked about how the club needed to find a new identity. With the turnover of players we've had in the past 2 seasons its not been possible to keep that same identity.

What we've found is that the brash, sometimes off the cup, exciting brand of football we were known for doesn't really exist in the same form now. It used to be the way we won football games. In 2014 it is our forward pack leading the way to great effect. Aaron Woods and Keith Galloway may be top of props at the Tigers but the support cast has been as good as you could hope for. Martin Taupau and James Gavet get a special mention here too. They've been enormous!

A new identity has definitely been formed!

2. The new kids on the block

There's been a noticeable shift in focus from the Wests Tigers in the last 4-5 years and you can bet your life it started even earlier than that. Howerver only in recent seasons have we begun to see the rewards of focusing on junior development. At least 16 players from our top 25 in 2014 come from junior clubs under the Wests Tigers banner. A further 3 come via the partnership with Keebra Park High School. Those are staggering numbers and a great example of the focus of the club.

In the past 2-3 years the program has definitely found a purple patch. The quality of youngsters coming through the ranks has improved enormously and credit must go to the club for identifying and nurturing talent. Without question the likes of Aaron Woods, James Tedesco, David Nofoaluma, Tim Simona,  Luke Brooks, Aaron Woods, Curtis Sironen and Sauaso Sue are the most exciting bunch of juniors to ever come through the club in the same period.

3. Wests Tigers administration

If we're honest the Wests Tigers administration has been the laughing stock of the club for so long. With the benefit of hindsight, their ability to transform the Wests Tigers into one club was and still is a complete failure. However there are signs of this changing. The changes may've only come as a result of Balmain's financial woes but an agreement with the NRL to facilitate governance changes for the Wests Tigers is a massive step in the right direction. In particular the decision to involve independent identities on the Wests Tigers board..

Credit must also go to CEO Grant Mayer and the team he leads. The club is not shirking from the task at hand and is only looking at things for the betterment of Wests Tigers. Mayer himself has played a commendable role in trying to turn the club around. His open dialogue with fans and his ability to listen to fans is a huge vote of confidence in his leadership. Sure, there have and will continue to be some hard decisions for Mayer and the club to make. I say it honestly though, that i have faith that the club is beginning to make decisions that only better Wests Tigers.

4.  The spine of the side

With a forward pack doing good things, it's the spine of the side which will hope to cash in on the forward momentum provided. In James Tedesco and Luke Brooks  we have a fullback and halfback who will hopefully be long term players for the club. They are also players who ooze rep football potential. Robbie Farah is an obvious gun hooker and whilst Braith Anasta will retire at season's end, Blake Austin and Mitchell Moses offer plenty of talent as replacements. 

5. Mick Potter

Mick Potter was in an unfortunate spot last season. His first year at the club came amid a myriad of drama and misfortune. Front and centre was an injury toll akin to a medical centre waiting room on Sunday afternoon. He then had to deal with the team's talisman, Benji Marshall, slumping into the abyss as his form seemed to lurch from one disaster to another. Potter though did keep his head and whilst he did make some tough but fair decisions in 2013, he only just survived the axe.

2014 has fared a lot better for him. It's easy to see the improvement in the quality of play the side is producing. It's also easy to see that he's got them playing the style he wants them playing too. Changing the fortunes and culture of a club is never an easy task but Potter appears to be stepping out of the darkness with his head held high. He's also had great support this season from David Kidwell and Todd Payten.