is a professional
Rugby League Football club in the
National Rugby League (NRL), the premier
Rugby League competition in Australasia. The Tigers are currently coached by
Tim Sheens and captained by
Brett Hodgson .
The Tigers are based at Concord Oval for training and administrative purposes but are historically linked to the inner-west of Sydney and the and the
Western Suburbs Magpies .
The Tigers won their maiden premiership in 2005. This win was called by some a '
Fairy Tale ' story, as at the start of the season several sport pundits had claimed they would finish close to or at the bottom of the table.
Though this is the Wests Tigers' only NRL premiership to date, the club has a heritage of eleven premierships won by Balmain and four by
Wests . The club also won the World Club Sevens in 2004. However, when the clubs' individual histories are considered, the Wests Tigers have the second most successful history. They have a combined tally of 16 premierships.
The Wests Tigers is one of only two joint venture football clubs that still exist in the current NRL competition. The Wests Tigers were formed in mid 1999 as a joint venture club between two of the and the
Balmain Tigers . This merger was in preparation for the 14 team NRL premiership of 2000.
Both clubs had appeared to be headed for mergers with other more financially secure partners — Balmain with Parramatta, and the Magpies with Canterbury. However, they later decided to merge with each other resulting in the Wests Tigers being admitted to the NRL in 2000. David Trodden has been the chairman of the club in 2004 and 2006.
The joint venture draws supporters from the historic bases of Balmain and Western Suburbs. Because they are a joint venture the basic structure of the former teams remains in place including their respective leagues clubs. The Balmain Leagues Club is based in
Rozelle . The Western Suburbs Magpies have two leagues clubs, one representing their former inner-city base
Ashfield , and the other established when they relocated to the outer west in the 1980s
Campbelltown .
The club's official fanatical supporters group is the
Wests Tigers Fanatics . The group had its origins in the 2004 World Sevens tournament and now are active at all Tigers games with banners and flags.
The Tigers do not have a single home but play at a number of grounds each year. Home games are split between traditional games played at the former home grounds of Balmain and Western Suburbs and financial games played at grounds that offer incentives to play there.
Traditional home games are played at
Campbelltown Sports Stadium and
Leichhardt Oval , the former home grounds of Wests and Balmain respectively. The grounds are around 50km away and attract different supporter bases.
Financial home games are mostly played at
Telstra Stadium the former Olympic Stadium used for the 2000 games. For the past three years a "home game" was played in
Christchurch against the
Auckland based
New Zealand Warriors . This agreement has now expired and in 2007 a game was played in
Gosford against
Melbourne Storm . As Gosford is located near Sydney this will allow far more Tigers supporters to attend.
The club's name and logo are a combination of the two partners. The uniform colours are a combination of the black and white of the Western Suburbs Magpies uniform and the black and gold from the Balmain Tigers uniform.
- Meriton Apartments (2000)
- Don Smallgoods (2001)
- New-Loan Home Loans (2002)
- Radisson Maine Financial Group (2003)
- Herbal World Therapeutic Soft Drinks (2004)
- JFTA Petrochemical Services (2005)
- Proton Cars (2006-)
Balmain coach Wayne Pearce was the initial coach of the Wests Tigers and new recruit Jarrod McCracken was named captain. A large crowd attended the first trial match played by the team.
Before the first round the Tigers were controversially denied a place in the double header at Stadium Australia. It was rumoured that the NRL did not believe the side would be competitive against their opening round opponents and competition heavyweights Brisbane. The debut match for the side was therefore held at Campelltown where after leading 18-6 the side snatched a 24-all draw after falling behind late.
The Tigers surprised many by maintaining a high place on the ladder for most of the year (often in second place). Heartbreaking losses to Penrith (after leading 31-8) and in the snow against Canberra combined with injuries to key players saw the Tigers slide out of the 8. The loss of inspirational captain Jarrod McCracken from a spear tackle against Melbourne was a crucial blow.
2002 was a bitter year for the joint venture club, including off-field incidents. After Wayne Pearce announced he would no longer coach the team,
Terry Lamb was appointed to the position. This was a controversial selection because of animosity from Balmain supporters due to an incident involving
Ellery Hanley in the 1988 Grand Final (see Terry Lamb entry for more information).
Early in the season key players
Craig Field and
Kevin McGuinness tested positive to cocaine and received long suspensions. Field was the team's halfback and playmaker whilst McGuinness was a leading try scorer for the club.
Later in the season another big name player was suspended:
John Hopoate earned world wide notoriety when he was charged with inserting his finger into the anus (pushing the players' shorts) of opposition players. Hopoate quit the club and received a long suspension. Lamb was criticised for seeming to condone the activity.
During the season the club announced Terry Lamb would not have his contract renewed. The side struggled near the foot of the ladder and only a large victory over Souths moved them clear of the wooden spoon position.
The coaching job for 2003 was offered to (and rejected by) both
Craig Bellamy and Ian Millward before
Tim Sheens was selected. The selection was by no means seen as a positive move by the media as Sheens most recent coaching stint had seen him sacked by the
North Queensland Cowboys .
The 2003 season was notable for the emergence of new young players through the team as the club moved away from the era of big names and big money signings and focused on developing junior talent. Most notably Benji Marshall, then a schoolboy prodigy with no senior league experience, made his debut against the
Newcastle Knights .
The Tigers improved greatly in 2004 aided by astute signings of players such as
Brett Hodgson and
Pat Richards who began to blend well with the younger players emerging as talents.
The Tigers narrowly missed the playoffs after losing their final three games when a single victory would have guaranteed finals football for the first time. Key injuries to play makers played a large part as did a long list of errors and tough calls by officials during the year.
2005 was the Wests Tigers best season yet, as they not only made it to the finals for the first time, but also reached the top four in the round robin part of the competition, setting crowd attendance records at three different grounds: Campbelltown Stadium (20,527), Telstra Stadium (29,542) and Leichhardt Oval (22,877).
After a slow start, bookmakers rated the Tigers a 150-1 chance to win the premiership. However the club emerged from the bottom half of the table to win a club record 8 in a row before finishing 4th. The team developed a reputation as a flamboyant attacking side who played at a rapid pace to compensate a lack of forward size.
The Tigers played their first ever final as a joint venture club at Telstra Stadium against North Queensland. Backed by a passionate crowd the team won 50-6. They then beat the
Brisbane Broncos 34-6 and premiership favourites
St George Illawarra Dragons 20-12 to book a spot against the
North Queensland Cowboys .
Based on their winning form (they had won 11 of their last 13) and their big win over the Cowboys in the opening finals game, the Wests Tigers were rated favourites to win the 2005 grand final. After a slow start, Bryce Gibbs and Pat Richards scored tries to give the Tigers a 12-6 lead. The Richards try has been called one of the all time great Grand Final tries. The try was started by five-eighth
Benji Marshall , who received the ball from
Brett Hodgson 98 metres from the opposition tryline. He beat Cowboys five-eighth
Johnathan Thurston and
Matt Sing . He then ran 60 metres, only to be caught by Cowboys fullback
Matt Bowen . He made a flick pass to Pat Richards, who then fended off
Rod Jensen to score.
In the 2nd half the Tigers gained control with tries to Anthony Laffranchi and Daniel Fitzhenry. After withstanding a Cowboys fightback, a Todd Payten try on full time sealed a 30-16 win.
Captain Scott Prince was then awarded the Clive Churchill medal for 2005. Prince joins football great Peter Sterling who was the original recipient of the medal. Ben Galea, John Skandalis, Benji Marshall among others starred for the Tigers.
The premiership victory meant that the club joined an exclusive group that won premierships in their first finals appearance, which had not been achieved in almost 100 years. The group also includes
Souths in
1908 and
Newtown in 1910.
Following the premiership win several key players left the club. From the grand final team,
Mark O'Neill , and
Pat Richards signed with English clubs. New signings included
Jamaal Lolesi (Bulldogs),
Keith Galloway (Cronulla Sharks) and
Ryan O'Hara (Canberra Raiders).
As defending premiers, the Tigers began the season by travelling to England to play ESL champions the
Bradford Bulls . Missing many of their star players the Tigers tried hard but were eventually beaten 10-30. After a come from behind win over competition heavyweights St George-Illawarra, the team struggled with injuries to key players. Most notably Benji Marshall and Brett Hodgson missed large portions of the season. The team suffered a number of narrow losses late in games and also two golden point (extra time) matches in controversial circumstances.
The Tigers narrowly missed the finals and the chance to defend their title. One highlight of the season was the debut of several players including
Chris Lawrence and the emergence of up and coming players such as
Dean Collis . Brett Hodgson played for the NSW State of Origin team in all three games.
Joining the club for the 2007 season was
John Morris (ex
Parramatta Eels ) to replace
Scott Prince who signed with the
Gold Coast Titans . Other players to leave at the end of the 2006 season were
John Skandalis ,
Anthony Laffranchi and
Shane Elford all members of the 2005 grand final team.
The Tigers had a bad start to the season losing their opening 4 games by narrow margins. Since then they had a six game winning streak to move into the top 4. The Tigers' five-eighth
Benji Marshall and full-back
Brett Hodgson have missed the majority of the season with injuries.
The Wests Tigers' ended their attempt at a finals berth and finished the season on a disappointing loss to the
Newcastle Knights , 26–28 at
Telstra Stadium .
''As at
22 July ,
2007 '':
''As at 31 August 2007''
- ) player still active in the Wests Tigers team.
''As at 31 August 2007'':
- ) player still active in the Wests Tigers team.
