A record number of junior players have reached out to the club, wanting to play for one of Wests Tigers seven junior representative teams in 2023.
The spike in interest follows a hugely successful season for Wests Tigers with five of its junior rep sides making the finals of their respective competitions, including a maiden premiership for Wests Magpies in the Harold Matthews Cup.
The growing numbers are encouraging for the club, as it continues to invest heavily in pathways and development. Almost 1600 players have lodged an expression of interest to join one of Wests Tigers representative teams, from U16’s through to U19’s.
The joint venture club has a talent pool that spans a vast area, taking in the junior rugby league districts of Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies, as well as Macarthur Group 6.
Former Wests Tigers fullback Shannon Gallant oversees development in the Southwest, and likens the club’s emerging talent to the tip of an iceberg.
“The numbers are great and it’s not surprising to be honest,” said Gallant from the club’s Campbelltown office.
“When you look at the success of this year’s representative teams, and all the hard work we do in development, I think we’ll see more and more young players wanting to wear our colours.
There is an enormous pool of talent in the Southwest and I really do think we’re just scratching the surface.”
Shannon Gallant
Paul Sironen holds a similar pathways’ role to Gallant, looking after the Inner West of Sydney. The Balmain great shares an equally rosy outlook for his own development zone.
“We’ve also got some tremendous talent coming through, and like the Southwest, our application numbers are up on previous years," said Sironen.
“We have more than 600 players wanting to be considered for our two junior teams, Harold Matthews and SG Ball.
“It’s quite a job whittling this down and naturally there will be a lot of young players who miss out on selection this time around.
My advice to those boys and girls is to stick at it and just keep enjoying your footy.”
Paul Sironen
Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe believes junior development is the cornerstone of the club’s future.
“Strategically, pathways and development are crucial to the vision we have for the Wests Tigers," said Pascoe.
“We are a development club, so it makes perfect sense to continue investing heavily in our pathways program.
“We’ve seen some terrific achievements this year from our representative teams, including maiden premierships for our Harold Matthews and Harvey Norman Women’s teams.
“We will continue to drive grass roots participation and we want our best young players aspiring to become Wests Tigers.”
Just a few days out from the NRL Grand Final and trials for next season are already under way at some clubs.
Wests Tigers will be joined by Cronulla Sharks and Parramatta Eels on Thursday night at McCredie Park, Guildford for invitational trials for next year’s U/21's Jersey Flegg Cup competition.
