Western Suburbs Red Devils
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Western Suburbs Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Red Devils |
| Short name | Wests |
| Website | http://www.westsdevils.com.au/home |
| Colours |
Red Blue |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Competition | Illawarra Rugby League |
| 2012 | Runners-Up |
| Records | |
| Premierships | 15 (1957, 1959, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991, 2009, 2010, 2011) |
| Runners-up | ? (1958, 1973, 1979, 1983, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2012) |
| Minor premiership | ? (1977, 1978, 1983, 1991, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) |
The Western Suburbs Red Devils (Wests Illawarra, Wests Wollongong, Wests Red Devils or simply Wests Devils) are an Australian rugby league football team based in Figtree. The club is a member of the Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership. The club play out of Figtree Oval, Figtree. Wests wear red and blue jerseys and have won 14 premierships. Wests Illawarra Leagues club is a thriving club in Unanderra.
The West Devils U18's coal league side in 2017 is captained by Vegim Ajdari followed by Jye Phillips as CO captain
Wests formed in 1949 with the amalgamation of clubs in the district (primarily Unanderra and Mount Keira). The Leagues Club was established in Unanderra and opened in 1956. The Red Devils won the premiership the following year with a 22-6 win over Wollongong. They repeated this effort in 1959 when they defeated Northern Suburbs 12-6 in the Grand Final.
With Don Parish at the helm as captain-coach, Wests took back-to-back titles in 1969-70. Warren Ryan continued this trend the following two seasons when he took over, defeating Thirroul (18-11 in 1971, and 23-9 in 1972). Cronulla Sharks legend, Tommy Bishop also guided the team to a premiership in 1978.
Wests were again premiers two years later, winning in 1980 and 1981. The following year the Illawarra Steelers were accepted into the NSWRL premiership, thus all the sides in the league became feeder clubs to this side. Being premiers, a large portion of the Red Devils were contracted to the Steelers. This made life difficult in the 1982 premiership for the Red Devils, but within three years they won another premiership. They followed this up with another in 1989 and 1991.
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