‘Do not lie’: Tigers in ‘dangerous’ territory’ over as ‘slippery’ ANZAC jersey claims caught out

The Wests Tigers ANZAC jersey saga has taken another turn, with the hapless club caught out in a lie about the jersey.

The Wests Tigers were caught out.

The Wests Tigers have been caught out for lying about collaborating with the Australian Defence Force for a commemorative ANZAC jersey, in the latest chapter of the saga.

The hapless Tigers, who are the reigning wooden spooners and are sitting in 17th place without a win in 2023, this week unveiled their jersey for the ANZAC round clash later this month.

The jersey was designed to be worn during the Tigers’ Round 8 clash against the Sea Eagles — but was met with heavy criticism.

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The jersey was revealed on Monday evening and the Tigers posted an explanation of the jersey, revealing it was “paying tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their loyal service animals.”

The statement added the club had “worked closely with the Holsworthy Army Barracks”.

The front features two servicemen walking away from a helicopter in “a Middle Eastern landscape, reminding us of the incredible bravery and sacrifice of our troops”.

On the back, it features a serviceman with his service dog, but it was the front fans had an issue with.

But the stock image features American soldiers walking away from the USS Lassen helicopter, which is used by the US military.

To make matters worse, Englishman John Bateman was bizarrely chosen as one of the players who had to model the jersey.

The Tigers have been trashed over this jersey detail.

In response to the backlash, the Tigers announced they will be redesigning the commemorative jersey, which News Corp reports will cost around $50,000.

In a statement, the Tigers said they had “collaborated with Holsworthy Army Barracks, who have sighted and approved all collateral relating to the release of this jersey”.

“The soldiers on the jersey simply depict the modern-day soldier serving in a desert environment,” the statement read.

“The image in question, which is a stock image, has been purchased under license by our official apparel partner.

“The final design was approved by NRL Licensing.

“The military camouflage pattern above the chevron on the jersey is an authentic replica of the Australian Army camouflage that has been digitalised and grey-scaled.”

But on Wednesday night, NRL 360 host Paul Kent said he had contacted the Defence Force and no one from Holsworthy Barracks had spoken to the Tigers.

“So the Tigers gave us a statement and the important bits to pick out of it are, that they claim they collaborated with Holsworthy Army Barracks, who sighted and approved all collateral relating to the release of this jersey,” Kent said.

“They were very generic around their talking around that. The soldiers on the jersey simply depict the modern-day soldier serving in a desert environment.

The jersey has sparked a furore. Photo: Wests Tigers

“They backed well away from the ANZAC reference. In previous years it has always been called the ANZAC jersey. This year even before this was discovered it was called the commemorative jersey.

“That indicated to me yesterday when we started to chase this that they had already become aware that it wasn’t a genuine ANZAC image and they couldn’t call it an ANZAC jersey.

“I’ve spoken to the Defence Force, who said to us they were not consulted by the Tigers as opposed to what the Tigers said yesterday.

“They did not supply any images to the Tigers. They do have images available if they are sought after.

“The Tigers simply went and got a stock image off the internet, designed the image themselves and sent it off to Steeden, who printed the jersey up.

“There’s also a suggestion in the statement yesterday that it was purchased under licence by our official apparel partner. That’s not true. The fact is it was actually sent to apparel partner Steeden by the Tigers.

“They’re a little bit slippery with their version of events today.”

The image has sparked a furore. Photo: Wests Tigers

Fox League’s Dan Ginnane said: “We originally thought it was incompetence, but you do not lie when it comes to this part of society.

“When you are dealing with the Army and Diggers and people that have served. This is very dangerous territory where this is going.”

Kent added: “It is dangerous and I think it is symbolic of a lot of things that are happening at the club as far as their attention to detail and what they believe people should know.

“Their version of events, I think they initially got caught out where they realised they had the wrong image on the jersey. They have tried to move away from that and not link it to ANZAC day.

“The Diggers are in outrage because it is an ANZAC jersey. It is not Remembrance Day. It is not remembrance of all soldiers. It is the ANZAC legend. It is the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.

The front of the jersey. Photo: Wests Tigers

The back of the jersey. Photo: Wests Tigers

“The image they found was online and put together by somebody in Iran of all places.

“The Tigers are still not being forthcoming with what happened. I think they have tried to massage and minimise the damage around this and unfortunately for them because of the delay in getting things confirmed it has come back to bite them.

“The Defence Force has shot down what was basically their last straw of hope that they had collaborated with Holsworthy Army Barracks, which the Defence Force said they clearly did not.”

The blunder has made the Tigers even more of a laughing stock after a 0-5 start to the season, and many believe their off-field dramas are emblematic of their on-field woes.

“No matter which way they try to massage it or spin it, it is an ANZAC insult,” James Hooper said.

“To me what it underlines is the fact that the Tigers are as bad off the field and in the front office as they are on the field which is a very sad state of affairs.”