Benny Elias and Steve Roach let rip at Wests Tigers after ugly claims towards club
The Wests Tigers greats say they have been frozen out of the club.
Tigers legends Steve Roach and Benny Elias claim they've been frozen out by the Wests Tigers and have to rely on invites from rival clubs to attend games as officials guests. As debate rages over the future of iconic Leichhardt Oval – where Roach and Elias spilt blood for Balmain over more than a decade in the 80s and 90s – the pair spelled out the uneasy relationship between some old Tigers legends and the Wests Tigers joint venture.
Speaking on NRL360, Roach revealed he has never received one official invite to a function apart from a juniors fundraiser years ago. He claims fellow club legends like Wayne Pearce and Garry Jack have received the same treatment.
"We spilt blood on Leichhardt Oval for years and years, and I’m trying to talk about the Magpies too. There was 100 years of the Magpies, there was 100 years of the Balmain Tigers," Roach said. "They've tried to brush 200 years of heritage - they’ve said ‘we’ve got a new club here’. We don’t get invited to anything.
"Sorry, I tell a lie, we got invited when they wanted to raise money for the pathways. Now we get invited this week by Parramatta. We've been invited by Parramatta, can you believe?
"Newcastle have invited us up there for a Wests Tigers game…hello? We want to feel a part of it (Wests Tigers) but we don’t feel a part of it, that’s the problem."
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Benny Elias slams Wests Tigers CEO for threatening to ditch Leichhardt Oval
Elias took aim at interim CEO Shane Richardson for suggesting the Tigers would have to look at moving away from Leichhardt Oval if the ground is not upgraded. It came just days after 16,000 fans packed into the boutique suburban ground to watch the Tigers thrash Cronulla, registering Benji Marshall's first win as an NRL coach.
"It was a big pill to swallow when we merged (in 2000), let’s not pretend that (it wasn't)," Elias said. "So, we get a little bit peeved off at times when we see comments from our CEO about our beloved ground.
"All of a sudden this bloke – who's the interim CEO – has come out and said we probably need to look for another venue. He had a few people on Monday morning who complained about the facilities…like a few "But you go and ask Benji, you go and ask the players, you go and ask the spectators where they'd like to be watching (and they'd say) at Leichhardt Oval."
