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Balmain Tigers
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The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995-96) were one of the founding rugby league football clubs of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership and one of the most successful in the history of that competition with eleven premierships. Only South Sydney and St George had won more by the time the tigers merged with neighbouring club Western Suburbs Magpies to form the Wests Tigers in 1999.
The club's home ground was Leichhardt Oval, in Sydney's inner west. They were also known as The Watersiders in their earlier days.
HistoryFoundation ClubIn 1908 Australia's first season of rugby league began in Sydney and Balmain were one of nine foundation clubs to compete. Balmain reached their first Grand Final in only the second year in the competition but would protest as the match was scheduled as a warm up for a Kangaroos vs. Wallabies game. South Sydney Rabbitohs were officially awarded the Premiership when at they kicked off to an empty half of the field.
Image:Balmain home jersey 1908.svg|1908-1939
Image:Balmain home jersey 1940.svg|1940-1962
Image:Balmain home jersey 1963.svg?|1963-1999
Image:Balmain heritage jersey 2008.svg?|Current heritage used by Wests Tigers
After a string of poor years the Tigers managed a strong turn-around to become a dominant force in the Australian Rugby League with the club's first, second and third Premierships coming in successive years dominating the 1915, 1916 and 1917 seasons. Tigers dominance continued winning the 1919 & 1920 seasons comfortably. When they won the 1924 premiership this would be the last success for Balmain for over a decade to come.
Golden EraIt wouldn't be until 1939 the Tigers won back the Premiership smashing Souths 33-4. The weekend of the Final will also be remembered for the invasion of Poland by Germany which led to England and Australia going to War.
Post-WWII marked a golden era for Balmain with the Tigers reaching five consecutive Grand Finals winning three of them. In the 1944 Grand Final the Tigers beat the strong favourites Newtown 19-16. Balmain reached the Grand Final again in 1945 but fell at the last hurdle against Easts 22-18. The loss was not long remembered as the Tigers went on to take out the next two seasons, beating St George 14-12 in 1946, and Canterbury 13-9 in 1947. On the hunt for a third successive title, they lost to Wests in 1948.
1960s-70sThe Tigers would appear in several Grand Final matches throughout the 1950s & 1960s but were just another victim to the mighty St. George Dragons eleven year streak of Premiership wins in this period, losing in 1956, 1964 and 1966. When the Tigers did take out the competition in 1969 it was a classy 11-2 defeat of favourites Souths who boasted 11 internationals, this would signal the last time Balmain would ever win a Grand Final. The side was captained by Peter Provan, brother of Norm, and coached by Leo Nosworthy.
The 70s weren’t a great era for the Tigers. The wooden spoon had not been in Balmain since 1911, but it returned for the second time in club history when the Tigers won only 4 games and had 2 draws in 1974 following a number of poor years. In 1976 things looked more hopeful Balmain began the year with an undefeated run through the pre-season "Wills Cup" competition. The side also won the 1976 Amco Cup knockout tournament in front of a then-record crowd of 21,600, beating North Sydney. The Tigers won eight straight games and led the competition, but a mid season slump left the Tigers in the same position as in 1975 and they failed to make the finals.
1980s-90sThe Tigers consistently made the finals series in the 1980s reaching the play-offs in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989. In 1986, one of Balmain's players, Great Britain captain Garry Schofield topped the try-scorers list for the season. The Tigers wouldn’t reach the Grand Final until 1988, the first time since the 1969 success, winning a lot of fans along the way with a number of ‘backs to the wall’ performances winning four consecutive sudden death matches in just 3 weeks. In 1988 the Tigers were deemed certain to miss the finals with 8 games left in the regular season. The Tigers remarkably only lost a single game from that point onwards reaching the Grand Final against Canterbury, only to be denied the trophy in a controversial 24-12 loss. Canterbury player, Terry Lamb, is still considered by most fans to have 'stolen' the title from the Tigers by knocking out the legendary Ellery Hanley with a high shot in back play midway through the first half. The Tigers were leading the game at the time.
The side would again make the Grand Final in 1989 but this time were the obvious favourites. The ’89 Final is regarded by many as one of the best ever in the history of Rugby League. In a controversial affair the side lost in extra time against the Canberra Raiders after being ahead 12-2 at half time.
After the heartbreak of the 1989 Grand Final, the Tigers never regained their dominating form (although they did make the finals again in 1990) and went through a rebuilding phase following the retirement of star players Wayne Pearce, Garry Jack, Steve Roach and David Brooks who had all played over 100 games for the club over a period of 10 years or more. The stars were missed as Balmain finished second-last in 1993 and got the wooden spoon in 1994.
In truth, it was the departure of coach Warren Ryan at the end of 1990 that was the key turning point for the club. Balmain took a risk on hiring the famous former Wallabies coach-cum-radio announcer Alan Jones as coach in 1991. As Paul Sironen admitted years later in his autobiography, the 'running rugby' style of Jones was too simplistic for the structured defensive patterns which had developed in Rugby League during the 80s. Jones also began a controversial clear-out of some of the other Tigers stars who had not retired, notably the Kiwi international Gary Freeman, and often replaced them with inexperienced juniors who were not yet really ready for first grade football. By the time Jones was sacked as coach at the end of 1993, incoming coach Wayne Pearce inherited a massive problem which was only getting worse.
In drastic action Balmain released 31 players at the end of 1994 and moved to Parramatta Stadium as the Sydney Tigers. The Tigers stayed at Parramatta Stadium for 2 seasons before heading back to Leichhardt Oval. The Tigers only averaged 6,565 people attending home games at Parramatta Stadium in what was regarded as a failed experiment.
The MergerAlthough things picked up for the club in following years, the Australian Rugby League/Super League war would spell trouble for the club. 1999 was a tumultuous year for the Balmain Tigers. The season began with a dark cloud hanging over the 17 clubs. The Super League/ARL compromise had left 1999 as the last season before the 14 team NRL competition began and with it came the much talked about criteria. On-field Balmain was struggling with a savage injury toll that forced the Tigers to use over 40 players throughout the season.
In July the option of forming a joint venture with fellow foundation club, the Western Suburbs Magpies was put to the Football Club members. The members ultimately voted in favour of a joint venture. As it turned out Balmain was in the top 14 clubs under the criteria (ahead of current NRL teams Penrith and South Sydney) but would have continued to struggle to be financially competitive with bigger clubs. The decision to enter a joint venture saw a crowd of 15,240 turn out in atrocious conditions to watch the Tigers play their last home game in first grade at Leichhardt Oval as the Balmain Tigers.
1999 was not the end of an era. Instead it was the dawn of a new era in the evolution of the Tigers. In 2000, the Tigers were still there in the black and gold as Wests Tigers whilst the NSWRL First Division and junior grades carry on the fine tradition that is the heart and soul of Balmain and the Mighty Balmain Tigers.
Although now known as Wests Tigers, the side made it to the 2005 Grand Final and defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 30 -16. Many old Balmain supporters have stuck with the club through the merger and regard the Tigers Grand Final win as one for Balmain also.
Balmain Tigers District Junior Rugby LeagueThe Balmain Tigers District Junior Rugby League is one of the oldest Junior Rugby League Competitions in Australia. It administers an affiliation of junior rugby league clubs in the inner west and inner north west of Sydney.
The league caters for age groups from under 6's to A Grade (opens). The Senior competition (Under 13's - A Grade) is a combined competition with the St. George District Junior Rugby League. The Under 6's to Under 8's is a non-competitive competition. The Under 9's to Under 12's play in a modified competition.
As of 2007 there were ten clubs in the Balmain Tigers Junior Rugby League, with over 120 teams. These clubs are;
- Balmain PCYC (formerly known as Balmain Police Boys)
- Carlingford Cougars (formerly known as St Gerards Carlingford)
- Concord-Burwood United Wolves (merger of Burwood Utd & Concord Utd in 1990's)
- Dundas Shamrocks Junior Rugby League Football Club (formerly known as St Patricks Dundas)
- Five Dock RSL Dockers
- Holy Cross Rhinos (Ryde)
- Leichhardt Juniors
- Leichhardt Wanderers (known as Leichhardt Gladstone until 1930's)
- North Ryde Hawks
- Strathfield Raiders
Some extinct clubs that once played in the Balmain District junior competition include;
- West Ryde-Denistone Stones (until 2005)
- Drummoyne Sports (until 1980's)
- Balmain Waratahs (until 1990's)
- Ermington-Rydalmere (until 1980's)
- Ryde RSL
- Glebe Police Boys (until 1990's)
- West Ryde-Dundas
- Balmain United (until 1990's)
- Pyrmont Colts (until 1970's)
- Cricketers Arms
- Glebe Shamrocks (unil 1970s's)
- Birchgrove Scorpions (until 1980's)
- Balmain Iona (aka Rozelle Iona)
- Ryde CYO (unil 1970s's)
- Carlingford CYO (unil 1970s's)
- Balmain Arlines (until 1970's)
- Drummoyne Rovers (1920's)
- Rozelle Fernleigh (1920's)
Some notable Balmain juniors include;
The Club NowThe club currently competes in all of the New South Wales Rugby League competitions. In the Premier League they are merged with the Ryde-Eastwood Hawks. They still enjoy their rival match against the Western Suburbs Magpies - although nowadays it can be said that these matches are becoming less interesting as the Magpies lack a team good enough become a formidable challenge for the Tigers.
Players of note
Major Sponsors
- Saxonvale Wines (1983-1985)
- Alpha Micro Computers (1986-1987)
- Meriton Apartments (1997-1999)
See also
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