Interim Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson has revealed his club’s plans to continue to expand the brand in the southwest region of Sydney as they fight a seemingly losing battle with the NSW Government over Leichhardt Oval.
Leichhardt Oval, one of the two spiritual homes of the merger club, has faced heavy criticism as the run-down and unsafe facilities at the venue look set to force the Tigers out of the ground from 2025 and beyond.
The Tigers and Inner West Council urged the NSW Government to help fund some re-development of the ground, but the calls were rejected, leaving the 89-year-old stadium in a dire state.
With a potential full-time move to Campbelltown Stadium firming as the likely outcome for the 2025 season, Richardson shed plenty of light on the Tigers’ strategic plan to grow revenue and brand exposure in Sydney’s southwest.
“The financial side of going to Leichhardt… it’s better than Campbelltown but we’ve always taken the crap games to Campbelltown,” Richardson told SEN 1170 Sportsday.
“With all due respect and I’m not having a go at the Titans but they’re not going to draw a lot of people at Campbelltown but this year we’re taking Souths, we’re taking St. George, we’re taking Brisbane (to Campbelltown Stadium), so we’ll get a chance to see how (well) that Campbelltown district does.”
The Campbelltown-Narellan area is forecasted to see a 54 per cent population growth over the next 20 years, making it one of the more lucrative areas across the greater Sydney region.
“It is the biggest growth area in Australia, the population is going to go up by half a million people in the next ten years, it’s a magnificent industrial area (and) we’re opening an office there, which is part of the strategic plan, which we’ve never done before,” Richardson added.
“Certainly, it’s a strategic plan to grow, we’ve got 9,286 juniors, (only) Penrith have the same, we’ll go to ten thousand juniors next year, that’s our aim, we’ll have more juniors than anyone else.
“It’s a licence to print money and it’s a licence to grow a club and hopefully we’ll work with the council, but they’ve got to step up too and improve facilities as well.
“But their facilities are certainly far better and far safer than the ones at Leichhardt.”
When discussing the future of the Tigers staying at Leichhardt Oval beyond the end of this season, Richardson boldly claimed: “We pushed the barrel on Leichhardt, (the NSW government) said no, that’s their decision, it’s not ours, so we’ll have to go somewhere else.”