Behind The Roar – Details, episodes & analysis

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, revealing how a call from his 7-year-old daughter was the catalyst for his decision to call it quits after that first season. He also reflects on the early days, outlining some of the struggles and the benefits of the joint-venture club, and of course that very first game against a star-studded Broncos team. A fitness fanatic, Pearce tells us how and why he was a pioneer in that space. It was a handful of events, including the death of his father, and contracting Hepatitis B from the ‘magic sponge’, that prompted Junior to complete a science degree and search for a healthier way of life. He recounts the ‘secret meeting’ he had with the late, great Jack Gibson in the early 80s, when Jack was trying to lure Pearce from Leichhardt to Parramatta. We chat about club legends including Benny Elias, the late Keith Barnes, and Benji Marshall, and about the disappointment of losing the ’89 Grand Final. Pearce also talks about the resilience and loyalty of Tigers’ fans; confident the club has put the building blocks in place to ‘turn the Titanic around’. All that and more on this week’s episode of Behind the Roar.

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 group of Campbelltown-based players who created a slice of history two years ago, winning the first ever Harold Matthews premiership for Western Suburbs Magpies.We have a bit of fun talking about junior footy, life away from footy, and the people who played an important role in their formative years. It’s an easy chat with three great young fellas who also happen to be damn good footy players, as we look ahead Sunday’s Junior League Appreciation Round match against the Raiders at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

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 playing the game, but says it helps having a big group of ex-NRL players as current workmates.He talks of the camaraderie of his playing days, his life post football, his brief experiment with an acting career, and his love of Leichhardt Oval.

Galloway enjoyed some really good years in a team which fell narrowly short of the grand final on a couple of occasions, and which regularly pressed for the top-eight.

He also talks about the latter years in his time at the Tigers when things weren’t going so smoothly, so he knows a thing or two about the pressure that mounts during a losing streak.

Offering some sage advice to the current group of Wests Tigers, he says to ignore the outside noise, and keep working hard.“You’ve just got to keep it between these four walls, you just got to work at it together,” said Galloway.“You can't listen to too much outside noise. You start reading all these headlines, all these people on social media hammering you, things like that.“You just got to stick together, keep turning up. I know it's hard. I've been there.But the only way out is to stay positive, keep believing and keep working hard.”Galloway doubled down on those who are relentless with their criticism of the group.“As long as the effort's there, the supporters be proud.

“Some of these media outlets, there's blokes on TV that I don't think they've even played games and they're throwing barbs at the boys and things like that.“They're just like parasites. My advice is to not let them rattle you.“Keep believing and keep working hard.”

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 how he thought it would happen, but he’s just stoked that it did.

His debut milestone was belatedly celebrated this week at the club, with his family on hand at the Zurich Centre on Tuesday to present Alex with his very first NRL jersey.

They will be there on Friday night too when Alex gets to run out in the starting side for the very first time, against of all sides his former club, and just up the road from home.

We chat to Lobby about his first 12 minutes in first grade, about his pathway to Wests Tigers after switching from soccer to league, and about how he’s enjoyed his first season at Concord despite the daily journey from the Gong.

We also dig a bit deeper into the mindset of a player and how he prepares for a match when named as 18th man.

Alex is living proof that you’ve got prepare as if you’re going to play, and you just never know, 18th man or not, you might even make your NRL debut!

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 suggested that his Uncle Richard should design the jersey. He is also the cousin of former Balmain Tigers player Paul Davis.

Richard talks about the significance of NRL Indigenous Round, the important role that rugby league plays in helping Indigenous youth, and his sheer delight in being involved with the club he supported as a child.

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 community, and about the structure and purpose of the soon-to-be-launched Wests Tigers Empower program.

Shaun also tells us about the time he shared a beer with Kenny Sutcliffe – the ‘male model from Mudgee’ – not in Mudgee mind you, but of all places in Saudi Arabia!

All that and more in Episode 51 of Behind The Roar.

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 challenges and opportunities that come with the job as reserve grade coach, when, more often than not, the team changes from week to week. 

Payne talks about his own football journey and why the time was right for him to hang up the boots as a 29-year-old and turn his hand to coaching.  He also talks about the disappointment of losing the 2005 Grand Final, the No.9s competing with Api Koroisau for a Blues Origin berth, and away from footy, his love of fishing and thoroughbreds.

All that and more on our 50th episode of Behind The Roar.

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 Tongan heritage, New Zealand-born, and raised in Melbourne, Fonua also reveals his entrepreneurial side, telling us about his latest clothing label and the inspiration behind its name, ‘live yourz’. 

All that and more on episode 49 of Behind The Roar.

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 get together at Campbelltown, when suddenly informed mid-recording that former teammate, WT Player #4, had passed away.  

We talk about Terry - the footballer and the larrikin, we look at a couple of key battles that will take place on Saturday evening, including the match-up between two of the game’s best props, Stefano Utoikamanu and Payne Haas.

We also discuss the move of John Bateman to lock, the impending NRL debut of former Super Rugby star Solomon Alaimalo, and the rising stars involved in junior rep Grand Finals on Saturday at CommBank Stadium.

All that and more on episode 48 of Behind the Roar!