Leichhardt Oval
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Wests Tigers vs Cronulla SharksSun 27 Apr 2025 06:05
Established
0 (2023 years old)
Capacity
0
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Country
Australia
Location
Mary St, Leichhardt, New South Wales
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| 27 Apr | Wests Tigers  | - |  Cronulla Sha |
| 20 Jul | Wests Tigers | - |  Gold Coast T |
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Leichhardt Oval is a football stadium in Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of two home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League team (the other being Campbelltown Stadium), and is the former longtime home of the Balmain Tigers, who used the ground from 1934-1994 and 1997-1999. The ground is considered by some to be antiquated but home supporters and many league fans in general consider it to be good for spectators due to the proximity of supporters to the playing area. The grounds roots lie with the Balmain Tigers who were in the national competition from 1908 to 1999. The Balmain Tigers merged with the Western Suburbs Magpies for the start of season 2000 to become the Wests Tigers. As of July 2012, Leichhardt Oval is the most played-on Australian professional rugby league ground in active use in the National Rugby League, having hosted 794 games since Balmain played its first game at the ground against Western Suburbs in Round 1 of the 1934 NSWRFL season, held on ANZAC Day, Wests winning the game 18-5. Balmain's first win at the ground came in the very next game of the 1934 season with a 27-13 win over University.
Leichhardt Oval was first used as a Rugby League football ground in 1934 and became the home ground of the Balmain Tigers. The ground underwent a major overhaul during the 1970s when the configuration of the ground was changed (from east-west to north-south) and lighting installed. As it was one of the few rugby league grounds with lighting and was located close to the city, Leichhardt Oval began to be used for non-Balmain games such as the pre-origin interstate games between NSW and Qld (Leichhardt was originally preferred to the Sydney Cricket Ground for interstate games from 1978 due to dwindling crowds in an era when NSW dominated the contests. Also, unlike the SCG at the time, Leichhardt had lights allowing for night games).
On 16 June 1981, Leichhardt Oval hosted the last ever interstate game between NSW and Qld played under the old 'State of Residence' rules before the permanent move to the now familiar State of Origin series. The game, which attracted only 6,268 fans, saw the Steve Rogers captain NSW, with Qld Origin players John Ribot, Paul McCabe and Rod Morris in the side, win a surprisingly competitive game 22-9. Playing that night were some of the stars of the game at the time including: Chris Anderson, Noel Cleal, Steve Mortimer, Ray Price and Les Boyd (NSW), coached by Ted Glossop, and Mal Meninga, Gene Miles, Chris Close and Wally Lewis (Qld), who were captain-coached by Arthur Beetson.
From 1974, with the ground having lights for night football, Leichhardt was also used as the base of the NSWRL's annual mid-week competition, hosting most of the games and all Finals from 1974 until 1986 before the Final was moved to the new Parramatta Stadium in 1987. The last Mid-week Final held at Leichhardt was the 1986 National Panasonic Cup Final, with the Parramatta Eels defeating Balmain 32-16.
On 4 August 1985 a crowd of 21,707 set a then Balmain Tigers ground attendance record for a Round 22 clash in the 1985 Winfield Cup against the St. George Dragons, won 17-15 by St. George. This remained the Tigers attendance record for only four years until beaten by the 22,750 who attended the Round 22 match against Penrith in 1989.
Balmain left the ground in 1994 when they moved to Parramatta Stadium as part of an identity change to the Sydney Tigers. The move was not popular with supporters and the club returned to Leichhardt for the 1997 season. Balmain played their final game as a stand-alone team in 1999 when they defeated Parramatta 20-10 in appalling conditions. The ground then became one of the home grounds of the new Wests Tigers team.
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