Rugby League: Die-hard fans turn out for Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks clash

Many of the former turned out this afternoon to watch the clash between Wests Tigers and the Cronulla Sharks at Scully Park, but that's the thing about live professional sport - it brings the latter out of the woodwork as well.

Gwen Hoad, a former Wee Waa resident who now lives in Tamworth, is nothing if not a die-hard Cronulla fan.

She was clad in all-Sharks gear, but it was not the sort sold at the gazebos erected by the field. No, she had taken roughly two weeks to knit her own outfit.

"I just can't sit down and do nothing," she explained of her knitting habit.

Prior to the game, she chatted with Braydon Trindall, who she has known since his childhood in Wee Waa.

"I'm an ex-nurse, and I used to look after him when he was a little boy," she said.

Over 10,000 people flocked to Scully Park this afternoon to see the much-vamped clash, but the energy inside the ground was so emphatically electric that it felt as though twice as many had turned out.

Contributing loudly to the atmosphere were local Tigers supporters, Rachel and Neil Grayson, with their kids Ben and John.

As the admin of Wests' most populous fan website, Rachel would "like to put my money on it" that she is the biggest Tigers supporter in Tamworth.

Rachel had been a fan of the Tigers since childhood, when her father supported Balmain and passed his passion to her.

Now, the whole family supports Wests. Rachel and Ben are "die-hards", and Neil and John have "kind of followed suit".

Although the Graysons' backing wasn't enough to drag the Tigers over the line against Cronulla, one young fan got an ideal display on his maiden trip to a local game.

12-year-old Dean Wadwell was thrilled to be watching his first match at Scully Park, with a handful of his good mates by his side, and predicted a 30-4 win by his beloved Sharks ("because they won last year").

As it turns out, Dean's prediction wasn't too far off the mark.

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