Wests Tigers have inducted two new Life Members of the club tonight at the club's annual Kelly-Barnes Award, with 2005 Premiership Winner Bryce Gibbs and long serving forward Keith Galloway joining an illustrious group of Life Members.
In total, Wests Tigers have now inducted 11 Life Members, with the pair joining several other 2005 Premiership Winners and notable contributors in the celebrated list.
A local junior of Wests Tigers, Gibbs made his first-grade debut for Wests Tigers in Round 24 of the 2013 season — incredibly, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball.
He would play 17 games for the club the following season as he established himself as a vital cog in the side's forward pack, before featuring in 22 games of the premiership-winning 2005 season.
His try in the 30-16 Grand Final win over North Queensland would be his final try for the club, despite playing six further seasons for Wests Tigers.
Gibbs made his representative debut for City Origin in 2007 and was again selected in 2008 when he was also named the Best Defensive Player at Wests Tigers.
On the cusp of Origin selection for New South Wales, Gibbs was again named in the City squad in 2010 and played a pivotal role in Wests Tigers finals campaigns in both that year and 2011.
A regular of the Wests Tigers side until his departure from the club in 2011, Gibbs moved to the Cronulla Sharks for three seasons before announcing his retirement from the game.
He ended his career with 197 first-grade appearances — 155 for Wests Tigers.
Bryce Gibbs inducted as Life Member
At just 17 years of age, Galloway made his first-grade debut for Cronulla in 2003 — playing three seasons at the Sharks before moving to Wests Tigers at the start of 2006. Debuting for the club in the season-opening win over the St. George-Illawarra Dragons, Galloway's career would excel over the next few seasons as he established himself as not only a regular at Wests Tigers, but also a regular in the representative arena — starting with his debut for City Origin in their 40-18 win over Country in 2009.
Galloway was again selected for City Origin alongside his club teammate Gibbs in 2010 as well as in 2011, arguably the forward's finest individual season in first-grade. Despite Wests Tigers falling agonisingly short of a second Grand Final appearance, Galloway made his State of Origin debut for New South Wales and his international debut for Australia alongside teammate Chris Lawrence in the Four Nations tournament.
Galloway played five Tests for the Kangaroos, which culminated in their win in the final over England, with the red-haired prop becoming the first Wests Tigers prop selected for Australia.
Unsurprisingly, he won the Noel Kelly Best Forward Award that year.
He would go on to play four more seasons at Wests Tigers as he continued his fan-favourite status, before finishing his career with two seasons at Leeds Rhinos.
Fittingly, Galloway would end his time at Leeds with a Super League Championship to his name, with over 250 appearances in total throughout his NRL and Super League careers.
Keith Galloway inducted as Life Member
It is timely that both players are inducted alongside each other tonight, with Galloway praising Gibbs earlier in his career for the impact he had on his development as a player.
"I learned so much off Bryce in terms of coming off the line in my defence," Galloway said back in 2011. "He always used to shout at you if you were not pulling your weight."
Both Gibbs and Galloway have provided tremendous service and commitment to Wests Tigers over their rugby league careers, and the club is proud to welcome their induction as Life Members tonight.
WESTS TIGERS LIFE MEMBERS
2013 — Benji Marshall, Robbie Farah
2014 — John Skandalis, Mark O'Neill
2015 — Brett Hodgson, Tim Sheens
2016 — Chris Lawrence, Dene Halatau
2017 — Liam Fulton, Ben Galea, Harry Triguboff
2018 — Bryce Gibbs, Keith Galloway
