- 1908 -

The Club in 1908

The Tigers and NSWRL are born
On January 23rd, 1908 at Balmain Town Hall, a group of 600 citizens witnessed the Balmain Rugby League Football Club come into being. The Club also decided at this meeting to join the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The break away from Rugby Union had begun in 1895 in Yorkshire, when a group of 20 teams decided to form their own league, with the only difference being payment of players. However, slowly throughout time the rules of the game also began to change away from the amateur code, Rugby Union.

In April 1908, Rugby League in Australia kicked off. The NSWRL had assembled 9 clubs, those being South Sydney, Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs (now the Sydney City Roosters), North Sydney, Newtown, Glebe, Newcastle, Cumberland and of course, Balmain.

In the inaugural season of the Balmain Tigers and NSWRL, former Wallaby Bob Graves became the first Tiger captain. He led the Balmain side which had also gained the services of 15 other Rugby Union players.

The reasoning behind the black and gold colours of the Balmain club, to this day remain an enigma. There are 2 prominent theories; one being that the colours were chosen because of the native flower that led to the naming of Blackwattle Bay, the other theory based upon the story of Bill Beach. Beach was the Balmain local who went on to defend his title as the World Champion of Rowing in England. In England rowers wore jerseys and when Beach was left without one he grabbed the closest one which happened to be black and gold striped.

In 1908 the Tigers called Birchgrove Oval home, and it was on this ground that the Balmain club recorded its first victory in its first official game in the Sydney Premiership on Easter Monday, April 20th 1908. The Western Suburbs side were the victims as the Balmain team romped home 24-0. Alf Latta was the first person to score a try for Balmain. However the first game was not a good indicator of the season to come, Balmain won only 2 more games in 1908 and drew one from their 9 games.

The 1908 season began the Tiger tradition, but also began a tradition of another club - the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Souths went onto win the inaugural season and a rivalry that has lasted 90 years began. Over the next 90 years the black and gold of the Tigers, and red and green of the Bunnies would evoke emotions of rivalry and passion unexplainable to those who haven't experienced it.

Tiger skipper Bob Graves, and team-mate Alf Dobbs went onto represent the Australian Kangaroos on a tour of England which began yet another institution, that of the Kangaroo tour. The Roos lost the first Ashes Series, but Test football was born and many epic battles were to come.