Hose Reel

Two red hose reels are fixed to a concrete column, both catching what light reaches this level. A graffiti-tagged yellow bin sits in the middle distance, black hoses coil across the floor among scattered debris, and the surrounding columns carry layers of tags and murals. A concrete step runs across the midground, dividing the space into distinct levels. It is a small detail inside a large building that had been standing empty since 28 March 2010, the day Balmain Leagues Club closed its doors. By 2015, when this photograph was made, the interior had advanced well into deterioration: waterlogged floorboards buckled through the ballroom, copper wiring had been stripped from conduits, windows were smashed, and graffiti covered the walls in layers. The reels, still fixed to their column, belonged to that inventory of things left behind when a building is vacated under notice and then not returned to. The building was purpose-built in 1957 on a prominent corner site at the intersection of Victoria Road and Darling Street, Rozelle, approximately four kilometres west of the Sydney CBD. The site covers approximately 7,330 square metres, with frontages to three streets: Victoria Road, Darling Street, and Waterloo Street. The multi-level structure included a ballroom, main bar, gaming floor, reception areas, and function rooms, with underground car parking below. The club existed to support the Balmain Tigers Rugby League Football Club, one of nine foundation clubs in the first season of the NSW Rugby Football League in 1908. The Tigers won eleven premierships, the last in 1969, before financial pressures in the 1990s led to a merger with Western Suburbs Magpies in July 1999, forming Wests Tigers. The leagues club continued operating after the merger. The 2005 Wests Tigers NRL Grand Final celebration was held at the Victoria Road venue. In 2009, the Tigers sold the property for $1, with the buyer assuming debts reported at more than $22 million. The NSW Government then issued a notice to vacate for a proposed Sydney Metro project that was never built on the site. The closure followed in 2010. The building sat derelict through fires, rejected development applications, a government compulsory acquisition that was later reversed, and a voluntary administration, before demolition was completed in 2024 and 2025. This photograph records what remained inside in 2015.