Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers is an Australian rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs Magpies.
The Wests Tigers started playing in the 2000 NRL season and they won their maiden premiership in 2005. The club also won the final edition of the World Sevens in 2004. The club has only qualified for three finals series since their inception.
The Wests Tigers play home games at two grounds: Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Stadium. They are currently coached by Benji Marshall.
The interim CEO is currently Shaun Mielekamp.
History
Background
In Australia, the game of rugby league began in 1908; the New South Wales Rugby League premiership had nine teams from the Sydney area. Two of those teams were clubs based in Balmain and the Western Suburbs who happened to meet each other in round 1 of 1908. Balmain won, 24 to 0. The Balmain club, who later adopted a Tiger as their emblem, in their tenure in the NSWRL won eleven premierships in twenty grand finals and was one of the forces in the NSWRL competition. However their last premiership success was in 1969 and in the 1990s with many new clubs being established, there was pressure on clubs to perform to survive in the first grade competition in Australia. The name Wests Tigers is derived from the nickname of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the mascot, a tiger, which was also the mascot of Balmain.The Western Suburbs club won four premierships in twelve grand finals over the tenure of the NSWRL competition. The Western Suburbs Magpies, like the Balmain Tigers, had a dismal 1990s winning rate, and again there was pressure on the foundation clubs to perform. The NSWRL competition was replaced by the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 due to the expansion of rugby league within Australia.
With a media-driven rival competition being set up, the pressure was for clubs to survive and preserve their short-term future. Both the Magpies and the Tigers signed with the ARL, whereas eight clubs of the 1995 ARL competition signed with the rival Super League competition for 1997. In 1998, the ARL and Super League were unified into a National Rugby League competition. As part of the deal with the ARL and Super League, the NRL competition reduced to fourteen teams in 2000 from the twenty two that had competition in both competitions in 1997. With the addition of a team in 1998, this meant that nine teams would be forced out before the 2000 season.
Foundation
With the NRL offering guaranteed entrance into the 2000 competition and A$6 million funding for clubs that merged, many clubs that were struggling to compete negotiated to merge. Balmain had garnered interest to merge with the Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Chargers while Western Suburbs had talked with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Penrith Panthers. Both Balmain and Western Suburbs felt that those offers were seen more as takeovers of their clubs rather than mergers. By June 1999, both clubs' boards had unanimously voted to form a joint-venture partnership with each other to make a competitive entity.One hundred shares were issued to Balmain Tigers Rugby League Football Club and 100 shares were issued to Western Suburbs Rugby League Football Group Pty Limited as a 50/50-owned joint venture. Due to Western Suburbs's record-breaking dismal season in 1999, they supplied just six of the twenty-five players to the new joint venture. A board of directors was appointed with five sourced from Balmain, five sourced from Western Suburbs, with a rotating chairman serving a one-year appointment. The inaugural chairman of the joint venture was John Chalk, who was previously involved with Balmain Tigers, and Steve Noyce was appointed CEO.
Playing seasons
Coach Wayne Pearce 2000
Balmain coach Wayne Pearce was the initial coach of the Wests Tigers and new recruit Jarrod McCracken was named captain. Before the first round, the Tigers were denied a place in the double header at Stadium Australia. The debut match for the team was therefore held at Campbelltown, against eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos, where after leading 18–6 the team snatched a 24-all draw after falling behind late in the game. John Skandalis scored the Tigers' first ever try.The Tigers surprised many by maintaining a high place on the ladder for most of the year. Losses to the Penrith Panthers and in the snow against the Canberra Raiders combined with injuries to key players saw the Tigers slide out of the top eight.
The loss of captain Jarrod McCracken from a spear tackle against Melbourne was a crucial blow.
A highlight of their first season is that Wests' Joel Caine claimed the 2000 NRL season's top point-scorer spot.
Coach Terry Lamb 2001–2002
2001 was a tough season 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.Early in the season, key players Craig Field and Kevin McGuinness tested positive to prohibited drugs and both received a one-year suspension. Field was the team's halfback and playmaker while McGuinness was a leading try scorer for the club.
Later in the season another big name player was suspended: John Hopoate earned worldwide notoriety when he was charged with inserting his finger into the anus 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 team 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 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.
Coach Tim Sheens 2003–2012
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 with provided help by 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.
Premiership success
2005 was arguably the Wests Tigers' best season as of their foundation, 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, Telstra Stadium and Leichhardt Oval.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 eight in a row before finishing fourth. The team developed a reputation as a flamboyant attacking team 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 Cowboys. 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 North Queensland.
Based on their winning form 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 was ranked the second best try of all time in the NRL's Centenary of Rugby League 100 Hot Tries survey. 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. Marshall then ran 60 metres, only to be caught by Cowboys fullback Matt Bowen. He made a flick pass to Pat Richards behind his back, who then fended off Rod Jensen to score.
In the second 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 awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for 2005.
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.
At the end of the 2005 season, Wests also signed Malaysian car manufacturer Proton as its major new sponsor on a contract estimated to be worth more than $1 million.
Post grand final failure
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, Keith Galloway and Ryan O'Hara.As defending premiers, the Wests Tigers began the season by travelling to England to play English Super League 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 matches in controversial circumstances.
The Wests 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 New South Wales team in the interstate State of Origin series in all three games. Another highlight was an upset win over eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium where a second-string Tigers team missing Hodgson, Marshall, Whatuira and Gibbs beat the more experienced Broncos 20–6.
Joining the club for the 2007 season was John Morris 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 Wests Tigers had a bad start to the season losing their opening four games by narrow margins. They then had a six-game winning streak to move into the top four. The Tigers' five-eighth Benji Marshall and full-back Brett Hodgson missed the majority of the season with injuries.
The Wests Tigers ended their attempt at a finals berth and finished the season on a loss to the Newcastle Knights, 26–24, at the then-Telstra Stadium.
The following two seasons ended in the same fashion with the Tigers missing out on the finals narrowly in 2008 and 2009 finishing 10th and 9th.
In February 2008, the Wests Tigers announced the extension of Benji Marshall's contract by one year, to the end of 2009. They also announced the signing of Gareth Ellis, the Leeds Rhinos second-rower and international representative, to a three-year deal commencing in 2009.
On an administrative level, in April 2008, CEO Steve Noyce announced he was standing down from his role and was eventually replaced by Scott Longmuir at the end of the 2008 season.