‘Give power back to the fans’: Hundreds rally against Wests Tigers owners

At their home in Perth last week, Bruce King called out to his wife Lydia to ask how she’d feel about a trip to Sydney. Not for a holiday, but to join a rally for Wests Tigers fans at Ashfield’s Pratten Park on Saturday.

“I was sitting at home reading about this whole kerfuffle with the board, being sacked and everything,” the 74-year-old said. “I said, ‘Lydia, how do you feel about going to Sydney?’ And she goes, ‘What for?’ I said, ‘We gotta go to this bloody rally. They’re having a rally in Pratten Park and we gotta be there. Scream for the team’.”

The Kings were just two among hundreds of fans who gathered on the lawn of the Pratten Park Bowling Club on Saturday to call for better governance at their beleaguered NRL club.

Wests Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson resigned last week following the sacking of four independent board members, including chair Barry O’Farrell, by the club’s majority owner, the Holman Barnes Group. After an intervention by Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys, the ousted board members were reinstated on Thursday.

Saturday’s rally was organised by Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne, who used his speech to announce the formation of a new fan group which, he said, would hold the Holman Barnes Group to account.

“Today I announce that we will form Wests Tigers Unite, a new grassroots organisation to give fans a real say at Wests Tigers,” Byrne said. “We will draw from the successful examples around the world of fans associations at different sports that have been set up when this sort of situation occurs.”

The new association has a high-profile member in Fox Sports commentator and former Balmain Tigers forward Steve Roach, who was in attendance on Saturday.

“I’m a fan. I’m a Tigers supporter, so I’m just like everyone else,” Roach said. “I want the power to go back to the fans and get them to have a say. They’re the people that pay their hard-earned week in and week out to go and watch the team play, so they should have a voice.”

Hannah Nicols, 28, was among the fans lining up to meet Roach after the speakers and rally cries had finished. She wore Wests Tigers earrings and held signs that read, “Wests Tigers. Not Magpies. Not Balmain.” And, “It’s our club. Not yours.”

“I’m here because I love this club,” Nicols said. “This club means everything to me, it gives me a purpose.”

A planned march from Pratten Park to the Wests Ashfield Leagues Club was abandoned. Byrne said this was partly attributable to the difficulty of crossing Liverpool Road and because the Holman Barnes Group had expressed concern over the safety of staff at the club.

Although there was a police presence at Ashfield Station and on the streets approaching the park, as well as drive-bys from the public order and riot squad, the rally passed off without incident.

One young fan in attendance was Benjamin, named after Tigers star-turned-coach Benji Marshall.

“I’ve been a supporter from before I was born,” the seven-year-old said. “I’m here because I am a true Tigers supporter and I want to help the Tigers stay up and get their jerseys back.”

Although the rally was winding up by midday, 38-year-old Liam Burgess had plans to stay until the end. He had been the first to arrive, rolling up two hours early at 8.30am.

“I woke up at sparrow’s fart in the morning just bursting with excitement,” he said. “We need to save our club, mate.”