Not a yo-yo club: Tigers lock in Campbelltown as home
Scott Bailey |
Wests Tigers will play their most home games at Campbelltown in 25 years next season, with club bosses adamant it can help them build the NRL’s best pathways system.
The Tigers will play at least six matches at Campbelltown Stadium in 2027, their most at the venue since the early days of the joint venture in 2002.
CommBank Stadium will host four with Leichhardt Oval being redeveloped, while the Tigers will be a home team at Magic Round in Brisbane.
The club’s final home game is yet to be confirmed.
Campbelltown will be unavailable for its own redevelopment in 2028, before hosting at least seven games a year from 2029 and Leichhardt holding four.
The Tigers had the option to play the bulk of their home games at Parramatta’s home ground next season, which earns the club close to an extra $400,000 per game when full.
But they believe the move to make Campbelltown their long-term major home ground can have benefits both on and off the field.
There are close to as many registered junior players in the Macarthur region as there are in Penrith, with the Panthers’ dynasty having been somewhat built on that advantage.
“If we get this right, we will have the best rugby league pathway in the world. I have no doubt about that,” Tigers chief executive Shaun Mielekamp told AAP.
“I was out at Penrith as they were really building it. It is about genuine engagement. The advantage we have is our region and our area is the fastest growing in NSW.
“When we have our own local talent playing in our stadium winning football games, that is better than any marquee player you can sign from any other club or region.
“That is really a key part of the mission because everybody sees that journey coming through from under-sixes all the way through.”
Part of the Tigers’ drive into Campbelltown has been a deliberate increase in clubs and schools, with players spending more than 1000 hours there this year.
But also crucial will be legitimately turning Campbelltown Stadium into a home-ground advantage.
They have won just three of their past 20 matches at the venue, having played as few as few as three games a year in Campbelltown between 2018 and 2023.
More games will mean the NRL side will train out of there more often, while the ground’s change rooms are now identical to those at the club’s Concord base.
“It’s important that we’re not a yo-yo club,” Mielekamp said.
“It’s about it becoming consistent, so it’s part of the natural habit for players and feels like home.
“They know where to park, they know where to walk, they know the fans in the stands, they see the same faces, they’ve got the same community.
“The same energy, they start to know the patches of grass, the camber of the field, the way the wind blows, all those things all keep coming through consistency.”
AAP