BALMAIN GREATS GATHER FOR FIGHTING FUND September 24, 2014 You don’t have to win a grand final to have a grand final reunion – not when it was the greatest grand final ever and the Balmain side of the Wests Tigers joint venture is fighting for its survival. Paul Sironen and other members of the Balmain side beaten 19-14 in extra-time by Canberra in the NSWRL grand final 25 years ago today (Wednesday) will gather for a function at the Tigers Five Dock social club tonight to talk about old times and raise some money for the Balmain fighting fund. “A lot of the players are coming,” former Tigers second-rower Paul Sironen tells RLW. “Myself, Steve O’Brien, ‘Brash’ (Tim Brasher), ‘Meggsy’ (Michael Neil), ‘Whiz’ (Gary Freeman), Bruce McGuire, Steve Edmed. ‘Block’ (Steve Roach) is coming after he finishes some work he’s got on. “‘Junior’ (Wayne Pearce) is away on holidays, so he can’t be there, and Benny (Elias) is indisposed as well. I’m not sure about ‘Jimmy’ (Garry) Jack. He may already be down in Melbourne, with his son playing in the grand final.” Coach Warren Ryan and chief executive Keith Barnes have also been invited. Balmain must pay off debts to remain one half of Wests Tigers with Western Suburbs and Sironen says some of the money from the $90 tickets sold for the fuction would go towards the fighting fund. He also says a special guest will be there. “George Piggins is coming along, which is great,” Sironen says. “We invited him. Balmain stood by Souths when they were fighting to get back into the competition and George is doing the same thing for Balmain as we’re fighting to stay a part of it. “The Tigers are struggling a bit and we’re launching the Tigers fighting fund to try to get Balmain back on its feet. We need to let people know what we’re up to on that score. The last time Balmain made the grand final as a single entity was in 1989, so that’s very important to us as players. “The function is open to the public and we’d love them to come along. Tickets will be available at the door for $90 each and it all starts at 6.30pm. People can ring the club on 87896300 if they need any other details.” - GREG PRICHARD
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 07:11:02 +0000
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