In a special edition of Behind The Roar, Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson sets the record straight about some key issues at the club ahead of Friday’s sold-out match against the Eels at Campbelltown.

On this week’s episode of BTR, as we celebrate Wests Tigers 25th season in the NRL, we chat to the team’s very first coach and Balmain Tigers legend, Wayne Pearce. Junior’ covers plenty of ground as our NRL and NRLW teams prepare for big games at Leichhardt Oval over the next few days. We chat about his days as a 14-year-old selling hotdogs on the very same hill that would eventually be named in his honour. He talks about his time as the inaugural coach of the joint-venture club,...

On this week’s episode of BTR we chat to Wests Tigers Player #287 Reuben Porter, who made his NRL debut this season at the age of 27. After eight seasons in the NSW Cup, Reuben had almost given up on his dream to play NRL, before a call from Benji changed all that. This is a story about a perseverance and patience, about belief and self-doubt, about a guy who put ambition on the backburner only to fall back in love with the game. After uprooting and moving from New Zealand to Sydney as a...

On this week’s episode of BTR we chat to Wests Tigers Player #291 Tim Johannssen, who made his NRL debut last week against the Cowboys. BTR is proudly sponsored by Pro Wrestling Australia. This is a story about a young fella who walked away from rugby league, giving up on a childhood dream, who was then called back to give it another crack. A young man of strong faith, Tim reveals how he wandered down a wayward path, making poor choices, and taking wrong turns. A strong and talented athlete,...

In episode 60 of Behind The Roar we speak to Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson.

On this week’s episode of Behind the Roar we chat to the Fainu brothers who last weekend became the first trio of brothers to play NRL together for Wests Tigers. It’s not often three brothers all get to play NRL, yet alone at the same time, and in the same team. So rare in fact, only ten times have three or more brothers played together in the same team in the past 100 years.Last weekend Latu, Samuela and Sione Fainu created a slice of history when they suited up together against the...

This week’s episode of Behind The Roar is a special State of Origin preview as we count down to Wednesday’s series decider at Suncorp Stadium. We chat to a couple of fellas who know a thing or two about Origin deciders at Suncorp having experienced all that the Queensland cauldron has to offer. We are joined by Wests Tigers current NRLW Coach Brett Kimmorley, who played 10 Origins for NSW over a ten-year period, and current Head of Wellbeing, Tim Grant. Noddy talks about his highs and lows...

In this episode of BTR we speak to NRLW co-captains Botille Vette-Welsh and Kezie Apps.

On this week’s episode of Behind the Roar we chat to Wests Tigers Player #281, Justin Olam, ahead of the team’s Round 18 match against Melbourne Storm.Adored in his homeland Papua New Guinea, Olam has also developed a big following here in Australia since his arrival in 2017, following six seasons with the Storm. ‘Juzzie’, who didn’t start playing rugby league until he went to university, tells us about how he had to learn on the run when he first joined Melbourne, admitting he knew very...

On this episode of Behind the Roar we speak to debutants, Jordan Miller, Heath Mason & Luke Laulilii.

This week’s guests on Behind The Roar are three rising stars who have recently made their NRL debuts with Wests Tigers, as we celebrate Junior League Appreciation Round.Joining us for episode 54 of BTR is Wests Tigers Player #270 Tallyn Da Silva, WT Player # 275 Kit Laulilii, and WT Player # 277 Lachie Galvin.All three are Macarthur juniors who have played with and against each other for many years and have followed a similar path in their rugby league journeys. They are part of a larger...

This week’s guest on Behind The Roar is Wests Tigers Player #94 Keith Galloway. One of the best props to have pulled on a Wests Tigers jersey, Galloway played 173 games for Wests Tigers over 10 seasons after joining the club from Cronulla Sharks in 2006. A good old-fashioned prop who had a cult following in his heyday, Galloway reflects on the good times and the tough times in his days at the Wests Tigers. Still in great shape, the heavily tattooed big fella explains how he still misses...

This week’s guest on Behind The Roar is former Dragons’ winger Alex Lobb, who will make his first starting appearance in the NRL on Friday night in Wollongong. Lobb, a 22-year-old Wollongong local, joined Wests Tigers in the off-season looking for an opportunity.  He was unexpectedly called on to make his NRL debut in the team’s most recent match against the Cowboys in Townsville. It was an unlikely debut with little fuss or fanfare in the lead up to the game.  As Alex explains, it was not...

On this week’s episode of BTR we chat to the man behind the design of our 2024 Indigenous Jersey which will be worn on Friday night against the Cowboys. It’s a special bitesize edition of BTR where we recognise and celebrate the immense contribution indigenous players – past and present – have made to our game. Uncle Richard Campbell has very close ties to rugby league and indeed to Wests Tigers. He is from the same Indigenous community as current Tigers half, Jayden Sullivan, who quickly...

This week’s guest is a highly regarded sports administrator who was CEO of Central Coast Mariners for nine years and has previously worked in the NRL at both Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs. He was recently appointed to the position of GM Community, Foundation and Affiliates and his work will play a huge role in Wests Tigers Strategic Plan. We talk to Shaun about how his challenging experiences in the A League have shaped his passion for making a true difference in the...

Joining us this week on our 50th episode of Behind the Roar is former Cowboys hooker, now Wests Magpies NSW Cup Coach, Aaron Payne. Payne joined Wests Tigers in the pre-season, uprooting from Townsville for a sea change in the big smoke, and a fresh challenge. After playing 219 NRL games across 11 seasons with the Cowboys, this fella has plenty of skin in the game, and can tell a yarn or two as well, like how he made a thousand bucks a minute when making his NRL debut. We talk about the...

On this week’s episode of BTR we learn a lot more about 21-year-old middle forward, Fonua Pole.   We chat about preparations for Saturday’s game against the Bulldogs, how some divine intervention helped him switch from Aussie Rules to Rugby League, and he also tells us about his ‘first true love’.    As debate continues about banning the long kick-off, Fonua says he loves coming off the back fence, and reveals what goes through his mind at that moment just before ‘collision time.   Of...

On this week’s episode of Behind the Roar turn back the clock with two of Wests Tigers ‘Originals’ who played in the club’s first season in the NRL, and in the very first match against the Broncos at Campbelltown. We chat to WT Player #8 Shane Walker – who zooms in from his worksite – and WT Player #15 John Skandalis – who strolls in from his worksite, the corporate sales suite at the Zurich Centre.   Both players reminisce about the good old days, excited about Saturday’s past players...

  This week’s guest on BTR is former Panthers, Wests Tigers and NSW prop, Tim Grant. Much of the chat with Tim is about his role at the Wests Tigers as head of wellbeing, and we take a deeper dive into the link between mental wellbeing and player performance.  He talks openly about his own battles post-retirement, and the struggles of others who failed to cope when all they knew was suddenly taken away.  These days he’s helping players in many ways, whether just there as a friend who’ll...

In this week’s episode of Behind the Roar we chat to Wests Tigers very first captain, Darren Senter. Senter played 226 NRL games in total over 13 seasons. He made his debut with Canterbury Bulldogs in 1992, playing three seasons at Belmore before joining Balmain in 1995, where he played five seasons there. He played another five seasons at West Tigers but decided to hang up the boots in 2004.  Despite missing out on the club’s maiden premiership in 2005, he’s got no regrets about making...

Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson joins us on this week’s episode of Behind the Roar to talk through some key elements of the club’s new strategic plan, and a whole lot more. We talk about the importance of increasing Wests Tigers’ focus on the southwest corridor, our plan to be the number one development club in Sydney, and with Leichhardt Oval facing an uncertain future, we discuss the factors shaping the club’s stadia policy over the next few years. We also reflect on Easter Monday’s...

In episode 44 of Behind the Roar we chat to veteran half Aidan Sezer ahead of Easter Monday’s match against the Eels. Aidan has played more than 150 NRL games and made his first starting appearance for Wests Tigers in Saturday night’s glorious win over the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval.  He’s a wonderful character with a great sense of humour who is grateful for the opportunity he’s been given at Wests Tigers after spending four years in England. Sezer, or ‘salad’ as he’s affectionately known,...

In Episode 43, we sit down with Wests Tiger number one Joel Caine. Joel takes us on a journey through his career, sharing insights from his time with the inaugural Wests Tigers team and his transition into the world of media. But that's not all - we introduce a brand new segment called Turnbuckle Time, proudly brought to you by Pro Wrestling Australia. All that and much more, on this episode of Behind The Roar

Wests Tigers assistant coach John Morris is our guest on the first episode of Behind The Roar for the 2024 season. We also welcome to our new sponsor of Wests Tigers official podcast, Pro Wrestling Australia.  Morris covers plenty of ground on this episode of BTR, talking about the rigours of pre-season, about what is needed this weekend in Canberra, and giving specific detail about his role as defensive coach. Morris also talks glowingly about his ‘boss’ Benji, and how well he has brought...