Wests Tigers

|- | colspan=" 2" style=" text-align: center; padding: 0.5em; " bgcolor=" white" | |- | Club founded in | bgcolor=#EEEEEE| 2000 |- | Colors | bgcolor=#EEEEEE| black, white and gold |- | Stages | bgcolor=#EEEEEE| Campbelltown Stadium (21 000)
Leichhardt Oval (23 000)
Telstra Stadium (83 500) |}

The Wests Tigers are a club Australia N of Rugby to XIII based with Campbelltown and Leichhardt in News-Wales of the South. The club was founded in 2000, it is resulting from the fusion of two clubs of Sydney: the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs Magpies. Since its creation, the club evolves/moves in NRL.

Tigers gained their first championship in 2005, in what much described as true " Fairy tale " , indeed of many specialists predicted one disastrous season for the club, the indicator already in the depths of the classification to the beginning of the season. Until at the time the club had taken down one trophy, the World Club Sevens in 2004. By combining the results of the two clubs founders and while including championnant it of 2005, Wests Tigers are the second today equips the most titrated in the history with the Rugby to XIII Australian, with a total of 16 championships, with four lengths of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

History of the club

The club is resulting from the fusion of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers. The two clubs founders were members of the New South Wales Rugby League. At the beginning of 1999, they were activated to find new sponsors and new funding sources for the season 2000. Balmain were to engage with Parramatta, Magpies with Canterbury, finally at the last moment, they noted that they had many common points and decided to amalgamate. The year following the NRL opened its doors with the new team. Magpies and Balmain Tigers were two clubs of the area of Sydney, they were members of the NSWRL, precursor of ARL, now called NRL.

The general headquarter of the club is based with Concord in News-Wales of the South, its groups of supporters are based with Balmain, Ashfield and Campbelltown. In order to satisfy her supporters as well as possible, the team chooses to have two stages, the Campbelltown Sports Stadium, to 50 km in the south-west of Sydney and the Leichhardt Oval, located at 6 km in the west of Sydney, respectively the old stages of the Western Suburbs Magpies and Balmain Tigers. During the season 2005, Wests Tigers played 6 home matches with the Telstra Stadium (old the Stadium Australia) and a match with the Jade Stadium with Christchurch in New Zealand.

The name and the logo of the club come from the combination from the names and logos of the two clubs founders. In the same way, the colors of the team are a combination of the black and white of the Western Suburbs Magpies and black and gold of Balmain Tigers. To make sure that the emblem of Magpies does not fall into the lapse of memory, it was decided to place it on the shirt.

The official group of supporters bears the name of Wests Tigers Fanatics.

Season 2005

2005 were the best season of Wests Tigers, they reached not only the finales for the first time but also entered signal 4 of the Round Robin. The multitude with the matches beat new records: Campbelltown Stadium (20,527), Telstra Stadium (29,542) and Leichhardt Oval (22,877).

The club endorsed the role of favorite after its victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons. In agreement with the forecasts they beat the North Queensland Cowboys (30-16) in the Final Grand. The captain of the team, Scott Prince, received the medal Cleaves Churchill which devoted its season. Several large players carried the shirt of Tigers, such Ben Galea, John Skandalis or Benji Marshall. During the Large Final, one of the most beautiful tests was marked by the winger Pat Richards. The race was engaged by Benji Marshall, which accepted the balloon after a transversal of 98 meters Brett Hodgson. Benji Marshall erased two adversaries of the Cowboys and started a race of 60 meters, brutally stopped by the pillar of the cowboys Matt Bowen. It passed the balloon to Pat Richards which pushed back Rod Jensen and applatit in in-goal.

This first championship, gained after a first participation in the finales, offered to the club a choice place in annals of the history of Rugby to XIII Australian. Only two other teams had made a success of similar prowess: the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1908 and the Newtown Jets in 1910.

In 2006, West Tigers lost the World Club Challenge against Bradford 30-10.

Prize list

Champion of NRL in 2005

Current professional manpower (2006)

Trainers

2000 : Wayne Pearce
2001 - 2002: Terry Lamb
Since 2003: Tim Sheens

Players emblematic of the club

External bond

Official site of the club

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