The Helensburgh Tigers are an Australian

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 11 ...

football team based in

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...

, a country town of the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

region. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and has competed in the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area pr ...

premiership since its inception in 1911.

History

The Tigers are a foundation club of the

, playing in the inaugural competition in 1911. Their first game was a 2-0 defeat to Wollongong.Helensburgh history
/ref> The club, however, didn't always compete in first grade since this time and not always did they have a reserve grade team following them. Scarborough fielded a reserves team which followed the Tigers between 1932 and 1935 before the Tigers dropped out of first grade (leaving Scarborough to field a reserves side behind Albion Park) in 1936.

Name and emblem

The Helensburgh team is represented by a tiger, and their emblem is similar to that of the old

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

team

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) 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 i ...

(before they merged with Wests).

Colours

Their colours, gold and black, are also similar to the old Balmain Tigers side.

Women's team

The Helensburgh Tiger Lillies was founded in 2005 Helensburgh Tiger Lilies Women's Rugby League Club are an Australian professional

Women's rugby league Women's rugby league is the female-only version of Rugby league. There are women's clubs in Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand, overseen internationally by the Women & Girls Rugby League. Australia, France, England and New Zealand co ...

football team based in

Helensburgh, New South Wales Helensburgh, New South Wales, Australia is a small town, located 45 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and north of Wollongong and north and above the Illawarra escarpment and region. Helensburgh is in the Wollongong Cit ...

Notable players

Players that have played in the National and/or Sydney competitions: *

Sam Bremner Samantha Bremner (; born 19 December 1991) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NSWRL Women's Premiership. She previously pl ...

Kezie Apps Kezie Apps (born 4 February 1991) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Wests Tigers in the NSWRL Women's Premiership. She is an Australian internati ...

* Jessica Sergis * Damien Cook (2013-

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

) * Josh Starling (2012-17

Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing team ...

, Sea Eagles and

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

) * Justin Poore (2004-14 St. George-Illawarra Dragons,

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

and Hull KR) * Neil Piccinelli (1989-98

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, they ...

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leag ...

and

) * Dave Boughton (

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

and

Adelaide Rams The Adelaide Rams were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super Le ...

back-rower of the 1990s) * Phil Doran (Sharks player in the 80s) * Scott Dudman (Sharks, Raiders forward) * John Griffiths (Sharks lower grader) * Garry Hammond (Sharks 1982-1985) *

George Jardine Rev George Jardine FRSE (1742–January 28, 1827) was a Scottish minister of religion, philosopher, academic and educator. He was Professor at the University of Glasgow, of Greek from 1774, and then Professor of Logic and Rhetoric 1787 to 1824. ...

( St. George forward, played in their 1949 grand final win with a broken wrist) * Trevor Kissell (Steelers) * Steve Kneen (Sharks, Australian Kangaroo in 1978) *

Bob Lawrence Robert Andrew Lawrence (December 14, 1899 – November 6, 1983) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in one game for the Chicago White Sox on July 19, 1924. He pitched in one inning and recorded one strikeout. He allowed one hit, one e ...

( Balmain forward in 1950's) *

Peter Phillips Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman and the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest nephew of King Charles III, and 17th in the line of succession to the British throne. ...

(Steelers, Balmain and St. George) * Jack Russell (Balmain 1946) * Brian Shannon (

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) 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 r ...

1957) * Warren Thompson ( Souths, North Sydney, and St. George 1963-70) *

Allan McKean Allan McKean (born 1942) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. Career The fullback spent the first year of his career in Third Grade for St George in 1963, his local club – his side ...

( Easts, and Australian Kangaroo in 1970) * Barry "Punchy" Nelson (NSW forward,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

president during 1980's premierships) * Randall Barge (St. George 1979) * John Cox ( Newtown 1964-66) ''Source:''

Team honours

First Grade Premierships: 4 :: 1986, 1988, 1993, 2015 * Illawarra Rugby League Reserve Grade Premierships: 5 :: 1952, 1960, 1961, 2012, 2014 *

Clayton Cup The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level of competition in its region. Usually t ...

: Nil ''Source:''

References

External links

Helensburgh Tigers Homepage

Country Rugby League Homepage
* Country Rugby League
Illawarra Rugby League Homepage
*

Group 7 Rugby League South Coast Group 7 Rugby League (or Group 7 Rugby League for simplicity) is the divisional boundary drawn from the Southern Illawarra and South Coast regions (from the town of Warilla south to Ulladulla) of New South Wales, Australia and is gov ...

{{Country Rugby League Rugby clubs established in 1911 1911 establishments in Australia Rugby league teams in New South Wales Rugby league teams in Wollongong