The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They 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. It is one of only two clubs that has never lost a Grand Final in which it has participated. The club also won the World Sevens in 2004.
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles. In 1999 they formed a joint venture club with the Western Suburbs Magpies club to form the Wests Tigers for competition in the National Rugby League (NRL). They no longer field any senior teams in the lower divisions. At the time of the joint venture only South Sydney Rabbitohs and the St George Dragons had won more titles than the Tigers.
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia. The club, as a sole entity, departed the top-flight competition in 1999 after forming a 50–50 joint venture with Balmain Tigers to form the Wests Tigers. The club currently fields sides in the NSW State Cup, Ron Massey Cup (Opens), S.G. Ball Cup and Harold Matthews Cup competitions.
Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney Stadium. Prior to its merger with the Western Suburbs Magpies, it was the longtime home of the Balmain Tigers, who used the ground from 1934–1994 and 1997–1999. It was named after Ludwig Leichhardt.
The Ron Massey Cup is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and the Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL). The competition is run concurrently with the National Rugby League (NRL). It currently comprises 13 teams drawn from the Sydney metropolitan area. The competition is named after Ron Massey, a former rugby league coach. Ron Massey died 19 September 2016.
The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve grade competition, and is now the premier open age competition in the state. The NSW Cup was the Reserve Grade/Presidents Cup/First Division from 1908 until 2002, and the NSWRL Premier League from 2003 to 2007, the NSW Cup from 2008 to 2015, the Intrust Super Premiership NSW from 2016 to 2018, the Canterbury Cup NSW from 2019 to 2020. The New South Wales Cup, along with the Queensland Cup, acts as a feeder competition to the National Rugby League premiership.
Ray Cashmere is an Australian former rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Wests Tigers and North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and the Salford City Reds in the Super League.
Lewis Brown, also known by the nickname of "Sharky", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s, who played for the New Zealand Warriors, Penrith Panthers and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. He primarily played at second-row, but could also fill in at centre or hooker.
Daniel Mortimer is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a hooker, scrum-half or stand-off for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Championship. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Titans, Sydney Roosters and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Mortimer was a Prime Minister's XIII representative and won the 2013 NRL Grand Final with the Roosters.
Sione Na'a Pangai Tovo is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Mascot Juniors RLFC in the A Grade South Sydney Juniors Rugby League. He previously played for the Thirlmere Roosters in the Grade 6 competition, Auburn Warriors in the Bundaberg Red Cup and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
David Neil Gower is a former professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop, second-row and lock for the Hills District Bulls in the Ron Massey Cup competition.
Sean Meaney is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Manly Sea Eagles in the NSW Cup. He primarily played at fullback but could also play at five-eighth or on the wing.
Tom Humble is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers in the NRL. He was able to cover a number of positions in the backs.
Patrick Politoni is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for the Wests Tigers, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL.
Avagalu Seumanufagai is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer.
Jarred Farlow is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2010s for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. He primarily played at second-row and lock, but could also fill in at five-eighth and he previously played for the Lézignan Sangliers in the Elite One Championship. Farlow is currently the head coach of the Ryde-Eastwood Hawks in the Ron Massey Cup Competition which is the 2nd tier New South Wales Rugby League state based competition.
Eloni Vunakece is a former Fiji international rugby league footballer who played as a prop for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He also played for Toulouse Olympique in the French Elite One Championship.
David Fifita is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for The Entrance Tigers in the Central Coast Division Rugby League, after leaving Wakefield Trinity in 2022.
Jack Littlejohn is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He previously played for the Wests Tigers and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. He plays as a halfback and five-eighth.
Darren Nicholls is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback for the Brisbane Tigers in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.
