Paul Sironen has clocked up a fifty-year association with Balmain, now Wests Tigers, and he leaves behind a remarkable legacy.
THE TERM ‘legend’ often gets thrown around loosely these days, however, there is always that one player who will stand out from the rest of the crowd.
One who deserves the title is none other than Balmain Tigers stalwart Paul Sironen, as he brings the curtain down on 50 fabulous years at Leichhardt Oval.
Notching up an incredible 249 games since his first-grade debut way back in 1986, Sironen still holds the record for the greatest number of club games at the Tiger’s and it is unlikely that this record will ever be broken.
Affectionately known as ‘Siro’, his last photo at the club was fittingly under the famous Leichardt Oval scoreboard, the first place he walked on by as a kid some 50 years previously.
“I grew up like any other kid in Sydney and was always destined to play rugby league.
“My parents were decent hard-working people and were the ones who were responsible for signing me up to play rugby league in the first place.
“I was also a rugby league nerd like many other kids, who used to collect footy cards and watched my heroes running around on TV.
“Here I am now though, 50 years on and officially retired altogether, but I look back and realise that I have devoted my entire life to rugby league.”
We might not have had the pleasure of watching the former Tigers powerhouse in action at all though, as at one stage, he dabbled in American Gridiron and was the first young Australian rugby league player to win a sporting scholarship in Hawaii.
“I was recommended to an NFL talent scout who was looking for big, strong athletic blokes to play in Waikiki in Hawaii and he approached me about going over for a year on a scholarship.
“I thought, why not, how bad could it be living in Hawaii and playing gridiron?
“However, after a year I’d had enough and I wanted to return home and play rugby league again because that’s where my heart was. So, I told my coach that I was flying home and that was the end of my gridiron career.”
On his return to Australia, for the next 14 seasons, Sironen would become one of the premier forwards in the Winfield Cup competition playing alongside Balmain legends such as Wayne Pearce, Steve Roach and Benny Elias.
Although his heart was with Balmain, Sironen also reflects on the good times and bad of playing for New South Wales and Australia, making three Kangaroo tours, and a heartbreaking Grand Final loss that still haunts him even to this day.
“Making my first-grade debut for Balmain will always be up there as a career defining moment and I remember it like it was yesterday.
“Playing in what is arguably the greatest Grand Final in NSWRL history versus Canberra in 1989 is often a sore point for me though.
“It’s actually a game I had only watched again recently some 30 years later, but it is what it is and I can’t change history. It was such a terrible feeling when we lost that game though.
“Another memory that sticks out was when I was handed my first NSW jumper on my 24th birthday and running onto the old Lang Park in front of 35,000 Queensland fans. That was such a thrill.
“Unless you have played Origin football, it’s almost indescribable, the atmosphere is electric.”
Having played 14 games for NSW, the Tigers legend also played a pivotal role in touring on three separate Kangaroo tours between 1986 and 1994.
“I really do miss those Kangaroo tours.
“There is nothing more exciting than embarking on a three-month tour with all your mates.
“The Kangaroo tours were the highlight of any players career as you were part of an elite squad that boasted arguably some of the best players in the world.
“Having toured in 1986, I don’t think I played my best football that year and pretty much had myself to blame for not giving it 110 per cent.
“But rolling the clock forward to the 1990 tour, that by far was my favourite of all three tours, simply because I was playing some terrific footy at the time.
“Playing in front of the English crowds was an eye opener too because if you made a mistake or got hit in a strong tackle, they would certainly let you know about it!”
Whilst Sironen continued to toil away with Balmain (and later with Wests Tigers), the hulking forward played his last game at Leichhardt in 1998.
“It was a sad day when I did that lap of honour with my kids knowing it would be the last time that I pulled on that Tigers jersey.
“That’s the beauty about playing at one club though, you really do feel appreciated.”
But, in a strange twist of fate, an SOS from ambitious French rugby league club Villeneuve Leopards, sent out the call to entice Sironen in playing one more season.
“I could have hung up the boots, but I thought it was a good chance to see Europe, all whilst playing footy in the south of France.
“It ended up being a successful 12 months for me and I had the best time.
“As it turned out, we won the French cup final and all in all it was a great experience.
“I ended up going out on my own terms.
“Looking back though, I was privileged to have played alongside the game’s greats.
“Clocking up 50 years’ service at Balmain though was simply just a bonus, I wouldn’t have wanted to play anywhere else.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 492 (January 2024)
Click here to subscribe to the print edition of Rugby League World
