Last night the Wests Tigers named their greatest team of all time.
It was a decent side that pretty much included all of their 2005 Premiership winning players with a couple of others that managed to find their way into the side.
Still, there were a few names missing from that team that kind of shocked me. When I posted the team on social media there was a similar reaction. People wondering how certain players missed out.
So, I wondered how good of a side you could name from players who have played for the Wests Tigers who were not named last night. This is what I came up with:
Wests Tigers Second Greatest Team Of All Time
1. Wade McKinnon
2. John Hopoate
3. Kevin McGuinness
4. Terry Hill
5. Joel Caine
6. John Simon
7. Luke Brooks
8. Andrew Fifita
9. Darren Senter
10. Keith Galloway
11. Jarrod McCracken
12. Luke O’Donnell
13. Dene Halatau
14. Bryce Gibbs
15. Bronson Harrison
16. Scott Sattler
17. Lincoln Withers
There are some fair names in that lineup! It is understandable why some of them were not voted for in the official team, but still, all of the above are current or former Wests Tigers players. Some players who maybe didn’t play too many games for the Tigers who still had a big impact on the club during their time in the black and gold.
There are players in the team I have named above that I would take over players in the official all time greatest team. The likes of Jarrod McCracken, Keith Galloway, Dene Halatau and Luke O’Donnell have undoubtedly given great service to the Wests Tigers by any measure you want to go by.
I’d take older, over weight, slightly off chops John Hopoate over Pat Richards any day of the week!
Joel Caine wasn’t a flashy player, but he is the second greatest point scorer in Wests Tigers history. That has to count for something!
When it comes to the outside backs I don’t think there is much between them.
The halves are a different story of course. Still John Simon was a decent player and Luke Brooks has already got to be one of the best halfbacks the club has ever had.
I think the forward pack listed above would destroy the all time greatest Wests Tigers pack that was named.
As for the bench, once again its pretty close.
The all time greatest team that was named was voted on by supporters. I’m not saying the supporters were wrong but I would suggest their average age was pretty low.
I think it remiss to not include some of the. “Mighty Tigers” from the Balmain Tigers era as some of these players are still part of the Tiger culture namely legends like , Paul Sironen, Steve “Blocker” Roach, Ben Elias,Gary Jack and even imports like Ellery Hanley.These names must be synonymous with any success associated with the Mighty Tigers albeit Wests or Balmain. Don’t forget these players were part of a team that dominated the late 80s and played in two consecutive Grand Finals and are probably the main reason why the Mighty Tiger lived on past the amalgamation of the two clubs
They lost two Grand Finals. The Balmain Tigers had a history that included players who were greats of the game and who actually won titles.
On top of that, the Western Suburbs Magpies also has some of the games greatest ever players play for them, and won premierships as well.
I tend to think Tigers supporters talk up that back to back runner up team a little too much. They are the only club that celebrates back to back failure like if was a great success.