The Balmain Tigers District Junior Rugby League is one of the oldest Junior

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

Competitions in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It administers an affiliation of junior rugby league clubs in the

inner west The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

and inner north west of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The league caters for age groups from under 6's to under 12's. Senior teams (Under 13's - A Grade) play in the neighbouring

Manly-Warringah/North Sydney District Rugby League The Manly-Warringah District Junior Rugby League (MWDJRL) and North Sydney District Junior Rugby League (NSDJRL) is an amateur rugby league competition for senior and junior rugby league clubs in Sydney's Northern Suburbs. History All District c ...

. 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.

Clubs

As of 2023 there were eleven clubs in the Balmain Tigers Junior Rugby League, with over 120 teams. These clubs are: * Carlingford Cougars (formerly known as St Gerards Carlingford) *

Concord-Burwood-Glebe Wolves The Glebe-Burwood Wolves are a rugby league club based in Concord, New South Wales. They compete in the Ron Massey Cup and also field junior sides from Under 6 to Under 17 age groups in the Balmain District Junior Rugby League. In the Ron Massey ...

(merger of Burwood Utd & Concord Utd in the 1990s, former Western Suburbs junior clubs, as well as Glebe) * Dundas Shamrocks Junior Rugby League Football Club (formerly known as St Patricks Dundas) * Enfield Federals (former Western Suburbs junior club) * Five Dock RSL Dockers (former Western Suburbs junior club) *

Holy Cross Rhinos The Sydney Combined Competition (SCC) formerly Inner City Combined Competition (ICCC) is an amateur rugby league competition for both senior and junior rugby league clubs in the St. George, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Ea ...

(Ryde) * Leichhardt Juniors *

Leichhardt Wanderers The Leichhardt Wanderers are a rugby league club based at Leichhardt, New South Wales. They compete in the Sydney Combined Competition. Their jersey is traditionally predominantly Red and Black. In recent years they have included white in their ...

(formed in 1918) *

North Ryde Hawks North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Ryde-Eastwood Hawks The Ryde-Eastwood Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Ryde, New South Wales formed in late 1962, with the intent of entering the inaugural Inter-District competition in 1963. This competition became kn ...

Strathfield Raiders Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

Former Clubs

Some extinct clubs that once played in the Balmain District junior competition include: *Balmain Police Boys (until 2014) *Drummoyne Sports (until the 1990s) *Balmain Waratahs (until the 1990s) *Ermington-Rydalmere (until the 1990s) *Glebe Police Boys (until the 1990s) *Balmain United (until the 1990s) *Cricketers Arms (until the 1990s - Darling St, Balmain - now known as Monkey Bar) *Sackville Sharks *Ryde District Devils (until the 1980s) *Birchgrove Scorpions (until the 1990s) *Gladesville Sports (until the 1980s) *West Ryde-Denistone Stones (until mid 2000s) *Rozelle Codocks (until the 1970s) *Pyrmont Colts (until the 1980s) *Glebe Shamrocks (aka St James Sports Club - until the 1970s) *Ryde CYO (until the 1970s) *Carlingford CYO (until the 1970s) *Balmain Arlines (until the 1970s) *Glebe Youth *Bing & Swing (Glebe, former Glebe district junior team - folded in 1930) *Balmain Iona (aka Rozelle Iona) *Drummoyne Rovers (1920s) *Rozelle Fernleigh (1920s) *Marist College Eastwood

Notable Juniors

Some notable Balmain juniors include: *

Wayne Pearce Wayne John Pearce Order of Australia, OAM (born 29 March 1960 in Balmain, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. An athletic for the Balmain Tigers, he was known as Junior. Pearce represented N ...

(Balmain Police Boys) *

Paul Sironen Paul Sironen (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Finnish descent who was a prominent Second-row forward for the Balmain Tigers during the late 1980s, and early 1990s. He was part of the team that ...

(North Ryde) *

Benny Elias Ben Elias (Arabic: بن الياس; born 15 November 1963 in Tripoli, Lebanon),is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played primarily as a for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premie ...

(Holy Cross) *

Dene Halatau Dene Halatau (born 27 January 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the National Rugby League. Halatau was part of the Wests Tigers ...

(North Ryde, formerly of Wentworthville) *

Robbie Farah Robert Peter Farah ( ar, روبي فرح) (born 23 January 1984) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international, Lebanese international and captain of New South Wales Blues te ...

(Leichhardt Wanderers, formerly of Enfield Federals) *

Luke Brooks Luke Brooks (born 21 December 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL) in 2024. He previously played for the Wests Tigers in the Nationa ...

(Holy Cross & Leichhardt Wanderers) *

Mitchell Moses Mitchell Moses (Arabic: ميتشل موسى; born 16 September 1994) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. He also plays for the Lebanon national team. He previously played for the Wests ...

(Holy Cross) *

Aaron Woods Aaron Woods (born 13 March 1991) is an Australian rugby league forward who plays for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. He previously captained Wests Tigers and played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Cronulla-Sutherland Sha ...

(Leichhardt Juniors) *

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Te ...

(Holy Cross) *

Kane Evans Kane Evans (born 9 January 1992) is a former Fiji international rugby league footballer who is current a free agent, having last played as a for the Hull FC in the Super League. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels, a ...

(Leichhardt Wanderers & Balmain PCYC) * Bronson Harrison (Leichhardt Wanderers & Balmain PCYC) * Josh Lewis (Leichhardt Wanderers) *

Kurtley Beale Kurtley James Beale (born 6 January 1989) is an Australian professional rugby union representative player who has made over 90 national representative appearances in a ten-year playing career at the world-class level. He is of Aboriginal desce ...

(North Ryde) *

Mitchell Pearce Mitchell Pearce (born 7 April 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He previously played for Sydney Roosters, with whom he won the 2013 NRL Grand Final and New ...

(North Ryde) * Alan Thompson (North Ryde) *

Wayne Wigham Wayne Wigham (born 11 April 1958) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played most of his career at the Balmain Tigers, but he also played for the North Sydney Bears and Western Subu ...

(North Ryde) * Mark O'Neill (North Ryde & Dundas Shamrocks) * Kevin Hardwick (Ryde District Devils & Ermington-Rydalmere) * John Davidson (Birchgrove Scorpions & Ermington-Rydalmere)

Early history

Early history 1908 - 6 teams - Balmain Iona, Leichhardt Royals, Birchgrove Juniors, Drummoyne Juniors, Rosebuds, Norwood 1909 - 6 teams - Balmain Iona, Rozelle Jnr Kangaroos, Rozelle Waratah, Iverna, Rozelle Rangers, Drummoyne Jnrs 1910 - a shortage of teams and the introduction of teams north of the harbour resulted in the "Balmain & Northern Districts" JRL for one season. A Grade - Neutral Bay 16, All Blacks 11, Rozelle Waratah 11, Elliott Bros 8, Berrys Bay 2, Crows Nest 2; B Grade - Balmain Iona 18, Berrys Bay 12, Rozelle Rangers 4, Crows Nest 2. 1911 - Given that a large number of Leichhardt teams were included and they were technically part of the Annandale District, for the competition was titled "Balmain-Leichhardt" JRL. A Grade - Balmain Iona 17, Leichhardt Royals 13, Elliott Bros 8, Leichhardt Invincible 0; B Grade - Balmain Iona 27, Leichhardt Royals 23, Leichhardt Oaks 16, Balmain Boomerangs 15, Balmain Mertonville 14, Elliott Bros 13, Leichhardt Presbyterian 4, Leichhardt Surreyville 0 1912 - known as Balmain JRL again. A Grade - 9 teams - Boomerangs, Mertonville, Violets, Iona, Pine Park, Rozelle Federals, Rosebuds, Drummoyne; B Grade - St Itas, Glebe 28, Balmain Arline 19, Ultimo Waratah 17, Mertonville 16, Balmain Royals 11, Rosebud 9, Violets 8, Rozelle Waratah 4.

References

External links

* * {{Rugby league in New South Wales Balmain Tigers Junior rugby league Rugby league competitions in New South Wales Rugby league in Sydney Wests Tigers

Clubs

Former Clubs

Notable Juniors

Early history

See also

References

External links