Senter sent off one last time

Retired Wests Tigers captain Darren Senter may have started as a Canterbury junior but he will forever remain a Tiger.

More than 300 people celebrated the hooker?s career at Senter?s Send Off at Balmain Leagues Club on Saturday night.

Balmain Tigers legend Wayne Pearce and respected Balmain and Wests Tigers forward Mark O?Neill shared some tales of Senter with the audience.

Pearce described Senter as a very competitive player who showed great toughness and an ability to focus on the tasks required to win matches.

?Darren hated to lose. It is that type of competitiveness you want from a player in your team,?? Pearce said.

?He wasn?t the most popular player with opposition fans because he was so competitive, but he was respected. He always played to win.

?Toughness is not about verbally giving it to a player or belting a player. It is about being knocked down and getting back up again for your team. Darren could play with pain and he did that on many occasions.

?Darren had an amazing ability to achieve a goal and to reset new goals. His first goal was to establish himself in first grade. His second goal was to play representative football.

?He then worked on his leadership skills and to captain a club for six years is an amazing achievement.

?As for his focus, I remember the time his father Bob suffered a heart attack watching a game between the Wests Tigers and Parramatta at Leichhardt Oval.

?Darren left the field at half-time with the side trailing 14-0. Bob was being treated in the dressing rooms when Darren walked in. He was emotionally shocked and as the coach, I told him to go with his father in the ambulance to the hospital.

?Darren spoke with the doctor and once told his father would be alright, he went out for the second half and had an outstanding game. The match finished in a 14-14 draw with Darren taking the players? player award.

?Darren James Senter may not have been born a Tiger but he certainly became one.??

In paying tribute to his former team-mate, O?Neill couldn?t resist a dig at Senter?s love for the mirror and to fine detail.

?Darren was one of the toughest blokes I played with. He always led by example and he was the type of player you wanted to play alongside each week,?? O?Neill said.

?Off the field, Hollywood was always well groomed. If a player took his mirror space, that would be the end of them.??

As for Senter, the veteran of 226 games ? 100 with Balmain and 96 with the Wests Tigers _ the night was a fitting way to finish his career.

?I might have been a Canterbury junior but Tiger Town is where my heart is. This is where I belong and this is where I always will be,?? Senter said.