HISTORY
CLUB JERSEYS
CLUB EMBLEMS
HOME GROUNDS
As Gary Lester himself said, “The book is dedicated to the black and white Magpie heroes who gave clouds of dust and buckets of blood to the Western Suburbs cause. When Roy Masters told his players when they went out to play in a vital match in 1979 to give, ‘Five yards, a cloud of dust and a bucket of blood’, it was a plea that could have had its origin in almost any Western Suburbs era. It was for Wests the … before and thereafter.”
Western Suburbs is a club that has survived the most testing times in Rugby League’s history. It still survives. Western Suburbs will always stand for what is important in Rugby League – loyalty, mateship, a commitment fashioned out of a working-class society that strove for recognition through its football heroes. It was not always easy, but they were not always beaten, either.
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HISTORICAL
MAGPIE HISTORY FACTS
In 1908 the Royal Monarch was Edward VII, the Prime Minister was Alfred Deakin, The Coat of Arms of Australia was approved, the first visit by the U.S. Navy to Australia arrived in Sydney, Canberra was chosen as the capital of Australia, women were granted the right to vote in Victoria, the national Aged Pension was introduced (Aboriginals excluded), the Bureau of Meteorology was founded, “My Country” by Dorothea McKellar was published, Victoria won the Sheffield Shield, Australia regained the Ashes, Lord Nolan won the
Melbourne Cup, a New Zealand/ Australia (Australasia) team won, a Rugby football Gold Medal at the London Olympics and the first Kangaroos team left for England for the 1908/9 tour. Notable births were William McMahon, Harold Holt, Donald Bradman and Wally Prigg (the great Country/Kangaroo). Life expectancy was 55 for males and 59 for females. Australia’s population was just over 4 million people, and ………………. the Western Suburbs Magpies were established!