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| Rosella | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Western Suburbs Rugby League Football Club |
| Colours | Green Red Black White |
| Founded | 1910; 115 years ago (1910) |
| Website | http://www.westrosellas.com.au |
| Current details | |
| Ground |
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| Competition | Newcastle Rugby League |
TheWestern Suburbs Rosellas,Western Suburbs,Wests,The Rosellas are aRugby league club based in theNewcastle, NSW region of Australia. It was a foundation member of theNewcastle Rugby League in 1909 and has been one of the most successful teams in that competition.[1] The club has had a number of players representAustralia includingWally Prigg, a member of theAustralian Rugby League Hall of Fame.[2]Johnny Raper, another member of theAustralian Rugby League Hall of Fame played for Wests after he finished playing for theSt. George Dragons.[3]
A strike in 1909 hastened the conversion to the professional code and the club was formed inNew Lambton, though noRebels players had joined. Playing in red and green, their first match was on 14 May 1910 where they lost to South Newcastle 18–0. They withdrew from the competition midyear.
The club has been known as the Rosellas since at least 1915, where it is recorded in a report on a challenge match where they as champions playedBalmain as champions of the Sydney premiership that year and won 35–5.
The club has had a successful leagues club making an attractive sponsor of rugby league in the national rugby league. Despite attempts by theNewcastle Knights to gain sponsorship from the Wests Leagues Club, in 1995, the club was going to be the majority owner of theHunter Mariners in theSuper League competition until a majority of members of the club made it clear that they would not support a team in the Super League competing against the Knights in August 1995. Bob Ferris, the General Manager of Western Suburbs, left shortly after to manage the Mariners.[4] In December 2005 the Wests Leagues Club, entered into an arrangement with theNewcastle Knights to secure their future as a member of theNational Rugby League.
Wests Football Club has also supplied a number of players for the Knights most notably NSW and Australian playerMatthew Gidley, current playersKurt Gidley,Jarrod Mullen and former Knights playerLuke Walsh.
The team song for the Rosellas is"Oh have you ever seen a better football team than the one that plays for West, They come from miles away just to see us play for they say that West is best, The Western Suburbs boys fill the crowd with joy - they're the best you've ever seen, So you'd better come along when you hear this song and see the boys in the red and green."
| 1912 | 1915 | 1916 | 1922 | 1961 | 1966 | 1970 | 1978 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1984 | 1992 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2002 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2019 |
Wally Prigg (Australia 1929)Keith Froome (Australia 1948)Col Maxwell (Australia 1948)Ian Johnston (Australia 1949)Johnny Raper (Australia 1959)Allan Buman (Australia 1965)John Cootes (Australia 1969)Ken Maddison (Australia 1973)Matthew Gidley (Australia 1999)Anthony Tupou (Australia 2006)Kurt Gidley (Australia 2007)| Federation |
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| Representative teams | |
| CRL divisions | |
| CRL groups | |
| CRL cups | |
| Illawarra teams | |
| Newcastle teams | |
| Group 7 teams | |
| Other cups | |
| Former competitions |
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| Related articles | |
