THIS year's rugby league season marks the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Wests Tigers NRL team, a joint venture of the foundation clubs Western Suburbs and Balmain.
During this period the Western Suburbs Magpies have provided the Wests Tigers joint venture with the bulk of local home-grown talent a trend Wests Magpies and Wests Tigers chairman Kevin Hammond is extremely proud of and expects to continue.
He said: ``The Western Suburbs rugby league area which encompasses Liverpool, Campbelltown and Macarthur Region, will be the largest growth area in NSW and possibly the country over the next 10 to 20 years with developments at Edmondson Park, Bringelly, Oran Park and Harrington Park in the South Western corridor set to come on line.
``The potential for Western Suburbs and the game of rugby league to grow is enormous.''
To enable the Magpies to take full advantage of this and to be able to provide the opportunities for local juniors to develop through the ranks of the Magpies to the point where they can progress on to Wests Tigers in the NRL, the challenge is to provide a training environment which is adequately resourced and presents a professional image for the players equal to that at neighbouring clubs, such as Parramatta and Canterbury.
Hammond said: ``The Magpies are driven by a desire to provide our players and support staff with the best possible environment in which they can develop their potential and realise their dreams and aspirations of playing rugby league at elite level.
``We strive to provide every opportunity and a professional culture which encourages others to excel in everything they do, however, all of this requires a considerable investment of time and money and while we've always got the time, having sufficient money is a challenge, especially today.''
For the Magpies to achieve its objectives Hammond said ``we must provide an environment which is adequately resourced in terms of equipment levels and presents as a professional facility staffed by suitably qualified and experienced personnel''.
``It's essential in raising the self-esteem and confidence of our youth that they're able to compete on equal terms with their contemporaries and, unfortunately, in the past some of our players have suffered from a belief which tends to breed mediocrity when comparing themselves to their friends or associates who play for more affluent clubs which can provide more substantive facilities.''
In recent years the Magpies have provided Wests Tigers with home-grown local stars such as Brett Hodgson, John Skandalis, Bryce Gibbs, Liam Fulton, Shannon McDonnell, Chris Lawrence, Dean Collis, Shannon Gallant, Rocky Trimachi, Chris Patterson and Stuart Flanagan and the list goes on.
When you add the names of Isaac deGois, Luke Covell, Ryan Hoffman, Israel Folau, Jarryd Hayne, Eric Grothe Junior, Krisnan Inu and Anthony Laffranchi all of whom are former Magpies playing with other NRL clubs only then can one gain a real appreciation of the depth and strength of the Magpies nursery.
The Magpies understand times are tough currently for businesses and people in general and therefore are mindful of the pressures that many are facing at present a situation not foreign to the Magpies.
Hammond said: ``Due to the current financial climate corporate investment in the club is down this season from what's been the case in the past and we fully appreciate the reasons for this.
``We understand the ability to invest in sponsorship is difficult at present even though there are business groups and individuals out there in our communities who would love to assist the Magpies in developing the local youth of the area.
``For this reason we've established an annual fund-raising function the proceeds from which will be invested solely to support the development of our local juniors to assist the Magpies to provide its players with the best possible environment in which to develop their skills and talent.''
The Magpies would like to invite everyone to attend the function to join in the spirit and fun of the occasion.
It presents an opportunity for individuals, groups and businesses that may not have been able to invest or commit as a sponsor to get behind the local club and contribute to local youth in a meaningful way.
To reinforce the wealth of junior talent among the young magpie ranks, two players from this year's Wests Magpies Harold Matthews District Junior Representative Squad which reached the semi-finals, front-row forward Jake Townsend and centre David Nofoaluma, were picked for the NSW Under16s representative team which will take on their Queensland counterparts in Melbourne on Wednesday night as the curtain-raiser to the NSW versus Queensland State of Origin clash.
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