They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles.

At the time of the joint venture only South Sydney Rabbitohs and the St George Dragons had won more titles than the Tigers.

[2] Even though both teams agreed to boycott the match, Souths turned up and were officially awarded the Premiership when they kicked off to an empty half of the field.

The distinctive black and gold colours of their 1908 thin striped jerseys led their fans to quickly nickname them "The Tigers".

Though it is claimed they were also known as "The Watersiders" in the early days, this appears a moniker that was used by newspaper journalists rather than Balmain supporters and fans.

Post-World War II marked a golden era for Balmain with the Tigers reaching five consecutive Grand Finals winning three of them.

The Tigers would appear in several Grand Final matches throughout the 1950s and 1960s but were just another victim to the mighty St. George Dragons eleven-year streak of Premiership wins in this period, losing in 1956, 1964 and 1966.

When the Tigers did take out the competition in the 1969 NSWRFL season it was a classy 11–2 defeat of favourites Souths who boasted 11 internationals, this would signal the last time Balmain would ever win a Grand Final.

The wooden spoon had not been in Balmain since 1911, but it returned in club history when the Tigers won only 4 games and had 2 draws in 1974 following several poor years.

In 1976, things looked more hopeful when Balmain began the year with an undefeated run through the pre-season "Wills Cup" competition.

The side also won the 1976 Amco Cup knockout tournament in front of a then-record crowd of 21,600, beating North Sydney.

The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour captain Ellery Hanley was signed by the Balmain Tigers to play the remaining rounds of the 1988 NSWRFL season for them once his representative commitments were fulfilled.

The Tigers remarkably only lost a single game from that point onwards reaching the Grand Final against Canterbury, only to be denied the trophy in a controversial 24–12 loss.

Canterbury player, Terry Lamb, is still remembered by fans for knocking out the legendary Ellery Hanley with a high shot in back play midway through the first half.

After the heartbreak of the 1989 Grand Final, the Tigers never regained their dominating form (although they did make the finals again in 1990) and went through a rebuilding phase following the retirement of star players Wayne Pearce, Garry Jack, Steve Roach and David Brooks who had all played over 100 games for the club over a period of 10 years or more.

[citation needed] Jones also began a controversial clear-out of some of the other Tigers stars who had not retired, notably the Kiwi international Gary Freeman.

[5] At the end of the 1996 ARL season, the League's chief executive John Quayle resigned and was replaced by Balmain president (and former hooker) Neil Whittaker.

[9] Balmain's final game in the top grade as a sole entity was in Round 26 1999 against the Canberra Raiders at Bruce Stadium which ended in a 42–14 defeat.

The report followed on from the news that for over 10 years the leagues club at Rozelle had sat dormant as different shareholders and developers struggled to negotiate deals on what to do with the land.

[11][12][13] On 21 March 2019, it was revealed that Wests Ashfield accepted responsibility for the Balmain club's outstanding loan to the NRL.

[citation needed] On 29 August 2024, it was reported in the media that Balmain directors had called a crisis meeting with the intention of splitting from their merger arrangement with Western Suburbs.

It was stated that there was frustrations and concerns relating to decisions made by the Holman Barnes Group (HBG) - majority owner of the Wests Tigers.

Leo went on to state “I really believe the time has come for us to step aside and resurrect the Balmain Tigers, We’re getting Leichhardt Oval upgraded and we could play there every second week.

The following day, Danny Stapleton one of the other board members stated that Balmain were 100% committed to the merger and the reports were not true.

[15][16] In December 2024, it was reported in the media that certain factions of the Balmain club wanted to split from the merger with Western Suburbs to form a partnership with the prospective South Island Kea team.

The clubs' existing lower grade sides play home games at Leichhardt Oval and TG Milner Sportsground in Marsfield.