Western Suburbs colours of Black and White were taken from the Ashfield Metropolitan Rugby Club and not Wests Rugby Union side. This made Wests the only new club not to retain the colours of its district Rugby Union club whose colours were "bottle green" in 1908.
The fact that Western Suburbs Rugby League club wore the black and white of Ashfield Metropolitan Club is further confirmation that the professional side was formed from the Ashfield side and not the Wests Rugby Union club.
In 1908, the club's inaugural season, the club wore a jersey consiting of evenly spaced black and white hoops.
Many different designs and variations were used throughout the years with the only real commonality being that the jerseys have always been predominately black and white. This fulfills the chant of the clubs team song...
"Black and white are our club colours,
wearing these we're brave and bold,
and the only time we'll change them,
is to put on green and gold."
The first recorded picture of the Western Suburbs playing strip featuring a team emblem was in 1918. Even though the team formally adopted the name "Western Suburbs Magpies" in 1928, it wouldn't be until 1961 that the Magpie image would make it onto the jersey.
Wests jumpers feature black and white hoops in their jersey design for the first half of their existence. It was during the war years of 1918, 1943 and 1944 that simpler designs were chosen due to shortages and rationing of fabric. 1944 saw the use of the black with white "V" for the first time. An iconic image that was readapted in the 1960's and one that the team still uses proudly.
Through most of Wests history, the teams jersey has features a neck collar. From 1978 - 1991 however the team adopted a v-neck design. The 1970's also begun the common practice of wearing short sleeved jumpers.
Other notable dates:
- 1978 was also the first year Wests got a jersey sponsor in Victa.
- 1983, 1994 and 2006 the club went without a major sponsor.
- 1999 was the first year the clubs and leagues emblems were embroided directly on the jersey.
- 2004 was the first season the Magpies played in a fully synthetic jersey.
- 2008's jersey features a Centenary of Rugby League logo.
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The Wests Tigers playing colours of black, orange and white were derived from the two original club colours. Black and white from the Wests Magpies and Black and Orange from the Balmain Tigers. The joint venture constitution states the jersey will feature a Tiger as its main logo with the Magpie logo to sit proudly on the shoulder.
"The Wests Tigers proudly wear their Heart on their Sleeve"
In 2000, the team had two playing strips. One predominately Black and one predominately Orange. These jerseys closely resembled the jersey designs of the two foundation clubs. The team wore each design an equal amount through the seasons 2000 to 2002.
In 2001 a special jumper was worn to commemorate the double header against another 1908 foundation club, the Sydney Roosters. It was a black design with small orange and white stripes running horizontally around the jumper.
2003 saw the club's first step away from wearing the traditional based design of its parent clubs. A new design was created with a wider spread of the clubs three colours. The main jersey featured a predominately white body with vertical curves of black and orange. The alternate jersey which was only used if the main design clashed with opponents during away games featured a black body with white and orange vertical curves.
In 2004, the team wore a Magpie-based jersey for the NRL's 1980's retro week. The Balmain retro jersey was worn on a later occasion. This popular move continued into 2005 and 2006. It aims to maintain the proud identity of the two parent clubs and looks set to continue into the future.
2005 saw two new jersey designs. The main jersey being predominately black and the alternate design being mostly orange. Thanks to the club's first finals appearance and grand final victory, this design was the league's biggest selling jersey of the year.
Apart from changes to sponsorship the 2006 and 2007 jerseys have remained the same as the 2005 design.
In 2008, the Wests Tigers jersey features the "Centenary of Rugby League" logo on its right breast. This logo is to appear on every Rugby League Jersey in 2008 from U6's through to NRL. In 2008 the Wests Tigers also wore special Centenary versions of the Western Suburbs Magpies (Rnd 1 against the Dragons) and Balmain Tigers (Rnd 6 against Souths) jerseys.
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