High praise from Tamworth

As our team prepares for its next challenge against Sydney Roosters, here’s a quick recap of a busy week in Tamworth.

A sold-out Scully Park, a gallant win by our Cubs, community events at every turn, intense media interest, and a weekend where rugby league stole the show.

As CEO Justin Pascoe stated before Saturday’s game, the club’s connection with Tamworth is very real and meaningful.

As a club we have done a lot of work in the past few years to build a strong relationship with this community."

CEO, Justin Pascoe

"It’s so much more than just playing a game of football here.”

It’s about engaging with the local community on many levels. The buzz about town is the result of a lot of pre-planning."

That ‘planning’ included several community events, like a Wheelchair Rugby League & All Abilities clinic for example, held on Wednesday.  You only need look at the pics to see how much enjoyment these events delivered.

Here’s a snippet from a touching email the club received the very next day, from the niece of one of the participants.

"I just wanted to reach out and say thank you so much for the wonderful evening you guys put on for us."

My Uncle Ross, who lives and breathes his beloved Tigers, had the best night ever."

Kellie Stewart

And this, from another Tamworth local Wendy, whose brother also attended the All Abilities clinic and the meet and greet.

The time, patience and warmth displayed was heart warming. Please pass on my thanks to all involved, it was amazing."

Wendy Walsh

Community events continued from dawn 'til dusk on Thursday.

One-hundred and thirty high school students took part in Wests Tigers Festival of Rugby League in the morning, more than 300 children attended our free community clinic in the afternoon, and there were smiles all round for the ‘meet the players’ event at Scully Park in the evening.

Tamworth resident Shane was so impressed after attending a couple of events,  he signed up as a Wests Tigers Member.

Your club is a credit to the NRL and your supporters make it such a strong family club. I look forward to seeing you in Tamworth in years to come."

Shane Moran

Our players obviously returned disappointed by the loss to the Sharks, but they should feel very proud of the positive impact they had on the Tamworth community.

It came as little surprise to see the ‘house full’ sign erected the day before the game; such was the hype around town.

Plenty of spectators turned up early to watch our U/16s Cubs tackle the Greater Northern Tigers in the curtain-raiser, won by Wests Tigers 36-8.

This match, as was the case when our U/18s Cubs travelled to New Zealand last month, was part of a community and development tour. By all reports the boys had a wonderful time, and played some fine footy as well.

The scoreboard will show that Cronulla Sharks proved too strong for Wests Tigers in the Round 22 NRL match.