Wests Tigers will reach a special milestone on Sunday with the club's 500th first-grade game to be played in Round 7 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium.
Over 20 years on from Wests Tigers' first match against the Brisbane Broncos in 2000, it's been an incredible ride so far for the club with so much more still to come!
With 499 games currently in the books, we look back on all the records, milestones, achievements and more that have taken place so far...
The Highs
The first 499 games of Wests Tigers have brought with it one Premiership (2005) as well as a number of remarkable attacking performances. The club's biggest winning margin is 52 points — achieved against the Bulldogs in 2005 and 2008 — while on three occasions the side has scored 56 points in a game (2008 against the Bulldogs, 2004 against the Warriors and 2009 against the Sharks).
Last week's 34-0 half-time lead against the Cowboys was the equal biggest lead at the break — level with the aforementioned win over the Warriors in 2004.
Older fans will also remember the club's biggest ever comeback — a stunning 24-point turnaround against a Newcastle Knights side that would go on to become premiers in 2001. You can read more about the comeback here.
2005 Match Highlights: Grand Final, Wests Tigers vs. Cowboys
The Lows
Despite never claiming the wooden spoon, there have been some tough defeats along the way in 499 games. The club's record loss remains a 64-0 demolition job by the Melbourne Storm in 2001... and that's all we need to say in this section!
The Captains
Recently retired Life Member Robbie Farah holds the record for most matches as Wests Tigers captain with 149 during his stellar career with the club. Darren Senter has the next most matches as captain with 86 while now Assistant Coach Brett Hodgson also chalked up 50 games as skipper of Wests Tigers.
The Tries
Chris Lawrence and Benji Marshall have battled it out for many years to be the club's all-time leading try-scorer, with the centre-turned-forward (84* tries) holding a one try lead over the playmaker (83* tries) at the time of writing.
Farah comes next in on the list with 68 tries but all eyes will be on David Nofoaluma, who comes in next on the list with 63* tries. At just 26 years of age, Nofoaluma could well find himself on top of the tally in the coming years.
In terms of individual seasons, Taniela Tuiaki's remarkable run in 2009 still remains the feat to beat with the powerful winger crossing for 21 tries in the year — an incredible record given injury prevented him from playing in the final few games. Lote Tuqiri (18 tries in 2010) and Pat Richards (17 tries in 2015) have threatened the mark since but not been able to topple the iconic outside back.
The Points
The long-time goal-kicker for Wests Tigers, Marshall is out in the clear when it comes to points scored for the club with 1175* at the time of writing. It's hard to see that mark being reached any time soon with over 700 points between the legendary playmaker and the next active player... back-rower Chris Lawrence.
It's also hard to see Brett Hodgson's individual season from 2005 being reached any time soon with the fullback chalking up a stunning 308 points that year — including 30 in that iconic finals win over the North Queensland Cowboys.
Only twice since 2005 have Wests Tigers had a player go over the 200-point mark in a season — Marshall chalking up 203 points in 2010 and 211 points in 2011.
And one final point: surprisingly, it's Farah (16 field goals) who heads up this statistic in Wests Tigers history, not Marshall (13 field goals).
Marshall field goal seals it for Wests Tigers
The Coaches
Wests Tigers have had eight different coaches take charge of a game during their 499-fixture stretch with Life Member Tim Sheens well out in front with 250 games.
Sheens not only has the most wins, he also has the best winning percentage (48.8%) with current Coach Michael Maguire the next best on that list.
The Players
In total, 232 players have run out in a first-grade fixture for Wests Tigers — the most recent of which came in Sam McIntyre last weekend. McIntyre was Player #233, with the difference coming in Mosese Fotuaika, who was given Player #155 in memoriam following his passing in 2013.
Only four players have reached the 200-game mark in the history of Wests Tigers — Robbie Farah (277 games), Benji Marshall (245*), Chris Lawrence (245*) and Chris Heighington (202).
The Referees
Tony Archer (47 games) and Shayne Hayne (47 games) have overseen the most Wests Tigers matches in history... but we all know you're interested in the percentages of which officials have led to the most wins.
Bill Harrigan (4 wins, 1 loss) comes in as the best with 80% while Luke Phillips (1 win, 5 losses) comes in at the other end with 16.7% — excluding those officials who only presided over one game in Wests Tigers history.
The Future
Perhaps the brightest note to end on, however, is around the future with the number of first-grade debutants the club has handed out to players over the years.
Coach Michael Maguire has given five rookies their shot at the big time since he arrived in 2019 — Thomas Mikaele, Oliver Clark, Tommy Talau, Alex Seyfarth and Sam McIntyre — while over half of the 21-man squad named to take on the Bulldogs made their first-grade debuts with Wests Tigers.
In total, 103 players have made their NRL debuts while at the club with the 2003 rookie class standing out — a group that included Dean Collis, Luke Covell, Robbie Farah, Liam Fulton, Bryce Gibbs, Dene Halatau, Chris Heighington, Benji Marshall.
