DT, a number of your points are quite prudent. But by your own admission, every club has those volunteers performing the duties and many others that you point out. So that is not what gives a club its soul IMO.
I am referring to the fact that they are a VERY rich club ($100K profit in 2010 alone), have an awesome government provided facility (that no other club can compete with) and an excellent playing roster (both this year and in previous years), yet they constantly under perform. The question has to be asked.....why?
Yes , every club does have those volunteers , & others , as I said above .
That's my point.
But you are wrong , because you don't understand that they are what gives each club it's soul & keeps each club & therefore the competition in existence.
As for being a "very rich club " , if you look at the financial reports of all the
clubs you will find that Wests operating budget is certainly not as great as
several other clubs.
The fact that they made an operating profit of $100K last year suggests to me
that they are prudent regarding their finances , & don't spend all their
money buying players .
As far as underachieving goes , no doubt they have been disappointed in their results in 1st grade in recent years , but how many clubs haven't been.
In terms of their "excellent roster" , most followers of the Shute Shield , would
say that making the top 6 is just about the best result that they could realistically expect in recent years.
Certainly this year , few people would back them to make the semis , after they
lost a large number of player from their 1st. & 2nd grade teams from last year.
And I know for an absolute fact , that some of those players went to other
clubs , because they were being offered more money elsewhere, & the Wests club was not willing to match the offers.
This no doubt , partially explains why they were able to make a profit last year.
You also seem to equate "soul" with the number of games & competitions won by a club , so using that criteria it would seem that there are a lot of clubs in the competition without "soul".
Would you say the Two Blues are "soul less" , because they haven't won too many games in recent years ?
Finally , in reference to the Government funded oval , how does that relate to the presence or absence of soul in Wests club ?
Concord oval is crown land , but is maintained by the local council .
And as a past "official " of the club it is surprising that you are not familiar with the history of Concord oval development , which received money from the State government , Rugby's governing bodies , but also a significant amount from the club itself, when at the time it was felt that Rugby should try to develop the
code in the Western Suburbs of Sydney .
Each club in the competition has had varying degrees of success in terms of games won during their respective histories , but suggesting that equates to the
presence or absence of soul in each club is simply not true.
