Tigers supporters are venting their anger over the pre-season game at Leichhardt Oval.
Angry Wests Tigers fans have taken to social media to express their outrage over the cost of tickets for the club’s NRL Pre-season Challenge match against the Parramatta Eels at Leichhardt Oval next year. The February 21 showdown at the Tigers’ spiritual home ground is part of a double header that also includes a curtain-raiser game between four-time reigning premiers Penrith and the Manly Sea Eagles – a fact some supporters may have missed.
However, fans have been left unimpressed by the hefty cost of tickets to watch their side play in the pre-season, with adult tickets ranging from $42 to $92 and the cheapest tickets for kids/juniors (aged between 5-15 yrs) starting at around $29 (slightly cheaper if you’re a member of the club). The cheapest tickets for a family of four (two adults and two juniors) to attend the games at Leichhardt Oval start at $114 and go all the way up to $257 for pre-purchase.
In comparison, Manly’s pre-season game against South Sydney one week earlier at Industree Group Stadium in Gosford has tickets starting at $10 for kids and the most expensive reserved seating options for adults only setting supporters back $30. Family tickets for two adults and two juniors are also at the much more affordable price of $75 for the showdown between the Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs on February 15.
Officials could point to the fact that Leichhardt Oval is hosting two games in a row as a way of justifying why tickets are significantly more expensive. But even so, asking families to fork out almost $120 to take two kids to watch their team play in pre-season seems excessive, particularly in the midst of a cost of living crisis for many Aussie households. The fact the Tigers didn’t make it immediately clear that it’s a double-header certainly hasn’t helped either.
Wests Tigers have trumpeted the pre-season clash against the Eels at their spiritual home ground as an opportunity for supporters to see Benji Marshall’s exciting new signings in action for the first time. That could include marquee man and four-time premiership winner Jarome Luai and his former Panthers teammate Sunia Turuva, alongside fellow recruits Terrell May, Jack Bird, Jeral Skelton and Royce Hunt.
Wests Tigers fans slam ticket prices for pre-season clash
“Not only will Friday, 21st February showcase the Tigers’ marquee signings, but spectators will get two games for the price of one, with the Sea Eagles tackling the Panthers in the first match of the Leichhardt double-header,” the Tigers wrote on their official website. The club is also offering members a 10% discount for tickets to the double-header but many angry supporters still believe the prices are way too expensive. Yahoo Sport Australia has contacted the club for a response to the backlash.
Jarome Luai opens on motivation around Wests Tigers move
The Tigers will be hoping their $6 million marque signing Luai can help Marshall’s side avoid a fourth straight wooden spoon in 2025. The four-time NRL premiership winner commenced pre-season training with his new teammates earlier than expected and revealed this week that his love of a challenge, the influence of Marshall and determination to step out of Nathan Cleary’s shadow at the Panthers were key factors behind his move.
Luai says he’s in it for the long haul at the Tigers and dismissed concerns he could take up the player options in his lucrative contract and walk away from the club after just two seasons, despite signing a five-year deal. Speaking this week, Luai said he’s excited by the enormous challenge that lies ahead at the reigning wooden spooners and is looking forward to being the club’s main man after playing “second fiddle” to Cleary at the Panthers.
“To sort of knock it on the head everyone just saw it (the Tigers offer) as a great deal to take, for me I love a challenge, I am a competitive dude,” Luai said on the ‘Behind the Roar’ podcast. “My wife will tell you at home I don’t let my kids win anything when we’re mucking around out the back. I’m a really competitive guy and if someone tells me I can’t do something that makes me want to push for it even more in a way.
“So yeah… I love a challenge and for me as a footy player I want to see how good I can be. There (at the Panthers) I was always the second fiddle guy, I was never going to be that guy. When this opportunity came up, this was a way to show people how good I can be, and what better way to do it than come here and show what I’m made of.”
