The Wests Tigers greats say they have been frozen out of the club

Tigers legends Steve Roach and Benny Elias claim they've been frozen out by the Wests Tigers and have to rely on invites from rival clubs to attend games as officials guests. As debate rages over the future of iconic Leichhardt Oval – where Roach and Elias spilt blood for Balmain over more than a decade in the 80s and 90s – the pair spelled out the uneasy relationship between some old Tigers legends and the Wests Tigers joint venture. Roach revealed he has never received one official invite to a function apart from a juniors fundraiser years ago. He claims fellow club legends like Wayne Pearce and Garry Jack have received the same treatment. "We spilt blood on Leichhardt Oval for years and years, and I’m trying to talk about the Magpies too. There was 100 years of the Magpies, there was 100 years of the Balmain Tigers," Roach said. "They've tried to brush 200 years of heritage - they’ve said ‘we’ve got a new club here’. We don’t get invited to anything. "Sorry, I tell a lie, we got invited when they wanted to raise money for the pathways. Now we get invited this week by Parramatta. We've been invited by Parramatta, can you believe? "Newcastle have invited us up there for a Wests Tigers game…hello? We want to feel a part of it (Wests Tigers) but we don’t feel a part of it, that’s the problem."