The Wests Tigers are currently sitting dead last on the competition table and staring down the barrel of back-to-back wooden spoons with their CEO Justin Pascoe and chairman Lee Hagipantelis both in the firing line.
Fans are circling and the pitchforks are in hand.
But Tim Sheens and his men may need the pitchforks for an upcoming run of three matches that may well end up being the chilliest series of games ever played in the National Rugby League.
In the next two weeks, Wests Tigers play winnable matches against Newcastle and St George Illawarra – both games away – before firing up the old campervan for three weeks of freezing hell.
Ironically, two of the games are classified as Wests Tigers games but it just so happens one is in Tamworth and the other is in Hamilton, New Zealand.
In round 22, Wests Tigers play the South Sydney Rabbitohs at 6pm on a Friday night at Scully Park.
According to bom.gov.au, it will get as low as -2 in Tamworth in the coming seven-day forecast.
It will be South Sydney’s first ever match at the venue while Wests Tigers hold a 1-3 record.
The following week, Wests Tigers travel to Canberra to play the Raiders on a Sunday afternoon in shades of their infamous “snow game” way back in 2000.
What some may not remember was, that match happened in late May rather than in the dead middle of winter.
Canberra held on for a 24-22 win in front of 7000 gutsy fans which also saw the beginning of the end for Wests Tigers in 2000 who’d eventually slide out of the top 8 and finals contention.
In round 24, Wests Tigers then fly over to Hamilton to face the resurgent Warriors at FMG Stadium in Waikato for a Saturday 5.30pm kick-off.
Bulldogs great Josh Reynolds retires
“The nil-presence of large-bodied water always mean that Hamilton is colder during the night than places like Auckland, Tauranga, Raglan and even Rotorua at times – despite it’s elevation,” it reads on hamiltonweather.co.nz.
“FACT: No other New Zealand city has recorded a temperature below Hamilton’s record of -9.9°C!”
It has already been another season to forget for Wests Tigers and their long-suffering fan base.
But there’s still of plenty of time for things to get a whole lot worse.
A three-week tour of Tamworth, Canberra and New Zealand in the middle of winter might be the hell that finally freezes over and instigates some real change at the cellar-dwelling club.
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