Welcome to the latest edition of the West Tigers podcast, anaelw edition. We're up the episode fourteen. I'm joined once again by Kelly And despite us being a little ad hoc in our episodes over the past two seasons, Kelly, we've made it back for a show up to number fourteen. But we've made it back for a show before the start of the NRLW season. That's pretty good for us.
Yeah, it is fourteen. That's pretty exciting that we've got this far.
And I'm looking forward to a longer season this year with more consistent podcasts since we have more teams to talk about and more games to talk about.
Do you think we'll actually manage to get our stuff together that we can get on every week.
Well, we've just got to there's no excuses anymore, Gary, we just gotta lock it in.
So it's been a disappointing first two seasons of the West Tigers on her old W side. We've picked up the wooden spoon both years, but there's been a lot of changes over the off season, a lot of players moving on and a lot of players coming into the club. Do you want to give us a little bit of a highlight of some of the players that moved on that you were disappointed to see leave the club.
Kelly, Yeah, I think probably the first one that I was probably the most disappointed.
To see leave was Nevada Nevada George.
I thought towards the end of the back season, the end of last season, she was really starting to you know, hit those lines well. She was playing really well in that thirteen role, and then yeah, unfortunately.
We lost her. Also, Pauline.
We can't really go by and not say that we're disappointed about losing Bo because she was such an integral.
Part of our West Tigers NRLW side from day one back in the Harvey Norman's Harvey Norman.
Day's the Curtain Twins who almost felt like they were rusted on to the West Tigers logo. So I think as West Tigers supporters, it was really difficult to see.
A lot of those players being moved on with I.
Guess the biggest disappointment was the lack of communication from the club around a number of them moving on and just seeing posts pop up from opposition teams who were announcing that they'd been signed.
As you said though, too, Wooden Spoon.
So it's you know, it's hard to keep a team together that has had, you know, such has struggled so much over to consecutive seasons. So I guess we just have to wait and see now what flow and effect that massive sort of shuffle has made.
The longest part of the off season, Like, we had a lot of players leaving but not much coming in. And I remember having a conversation with you back a couple of months ago, and we're thinking, like, how are we going to field a side? But over the last couple of months, there's been a lot of players brought in the West Tigers club, some with a lot of experience, some with international experience, some with state of origin experience, and some inexperienced from young players coming in as well.
Do you want to tell us about a couple of those players that have come into the club over the last couple of months to add.
To our squad for season twenty twenty five, Kelly, Yes, So, looking at the list today on the website, which still actually includes Natasha, who was another one that's a massive loss, but it doesn't include Jessica, who is a.
New addition to the forward pack.
We have eleven new players that are in our top twenty four and four new development players, which you know, eleven out of twenty four is a fifty turnover.
That is huge, very much so when you look at the side.
However, when I was sort of looking at the players earlier today, I was actually quite interested to note that they majority of them are sort of in their mid twenties and upwards. So there are, as you said, a few young girls that are sort of being bought through the pathways. But we're looking at players like Emily Bass, who is a veteran outside back.
She played for Queensland in game three in Origin.
She's played NRLW for the Titans, so she's an extremely experienced NLW player we have, so just looking at my list of other people, Tarena to MARKI if I apologize in advance if I pronounce any of these names wrong, but she.
Is a twenty eight year old.
She's actually a rugby sevens player from New Zealand who actually won the silver medal at the Olympics a couple of years ago with the New Zealand team. And when you read through the team announcement of when she was signed, Naddy had massive raps on her and the level of elite.
Professionalism that she's brought to the club, which is really exciting.
We've got Jade Fanua, who she's not super she's not exactly old, but she's got fourteen games of NROLW experience from the Eels, so she's also played for Tonga, so she'll be she actually scored, I think it was her. Nope, it wasn't her. Sorry, I'm just all over the shop at the moment. I'll get there in a second. So she, as I said, has played fourteen games for the Eels and represented Tonga in the Pacific Championship.
I think she was an important addition with that loss of Nevada George as well, playing in the prop and lock positions. I think that's a crucial appointment.
Yeah, very much so.
And then Amelia who was actually signed at the end of twenty twenty three to play last year, but she missed out on the whole season due to the birth of her first child in September.
She's been in the squad this year to play.
She also has ten games of NLW experience behind her as well. So those slightly older girls are going to come into the existing team of those girls that have stayed and really helped to bolster the experience and the understanding of what it means to be an NLW player. Then the clubs sort of sprinkled in a few young, sort of early twenties players. So Caitlin Turnbull, she has played os tag for Australia. She also played in the
Ossie Sevens in union. Then she made the switch to league and she was playing in the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership. For went in Magpies last year and scored. I think she's scored thirteen tries in eleven games that she played last year, so she sounds like she knows how to find there the try line.
And faith Minira twenty one has a union background. That was another thing.
I was noticing quite a lot of girls who have made the switch union to league, but we've seen that in the past be really quite fruitful, so hopefully we're seeing the same here. So Faiths played quite a lot as she actually played in the Super Women's season with the Queensland Reds and then joined moved down to Sydney to join the girls for the pre season.
And place primarily as a half Kelly.
Yeah, she does, but I think in the trial she played quite a bit on the wing, but she was also she's also capable of playing in the harves. Then we've got Lily Rogan who's a twenty one year old center. She actually captained the premiership winning Steelers Harvy Women's premiership side last year and she had her NLW debut for the Roosters in twenty twenty three, so she sounds like.
She's a pretty awesome pickup as well.
Then there's five or six other girls that we haven't mentioned who have different ranges of experience, either in the NRLW in Harvey Norman, Lisa Fiola or Tasha gail Or have experienced from other sports that have made the transition into rugby league.
And I think that turnover of the squad was needed, especially I think Brett Comorley has to be under a fair bit of pressure this season heading into into the season to start to get results for the team, so I can understand why he is he has brought in so many new players.
Kelly, we also did have quite a injury disrupted season last year. We lost Kezy for a big chunk, We lost Harmony, we lost we lost Tile, we lost quite a few, quite a few players of Lissana we didn't have Lisana for a large chunk.
Of the year the year either.
So this season was quite disrupted. And interestingly, all of those players who missed quite a lot of this season were retained for this year, so I guess not he sees something in them that he wants to keep on the squad and keep working towards. As we know, Kezi Salah Christian of all extended with the club, which is
massive news. So hopefully we're starting to now see the opportunity for the NRLW side to build when we're coming into a competition that's got the likes of the Roosters and the Broncos, who just seem to have endless amounts of money and able to not only sign good players, but then retain those good players year on year. So it's making it that little bit trickier to keep and attract those those high quality players.
And you mentioned the three real re signings over the off season. For me, the biggest one out of those is Kezi Apps, who was pretty much signed on for the rest of her life. Yeah, shall be at the club forever. We're lucky enough to have her at an ambush event down at the BU earlier in the year, and she is such an impressive individual, such an impressive impressive leader, Kelly.
She's so inspirational.
And I just hope that you know, listening to her behind the Raw podcast last year that she did as well. I just hope that young girls that have any kind of interest in potentially pursuing a career in rugby league take the opportunity to listen to Kesey's story and hear that. You know, she didn't get into the sport until she was almost in well, I think she was in her early twenties, which to have a lucrative career at such a high level starting at such a late age because
she didn't have the opportunity. Young girls that are interested in playing rugby league now have the opportunity to get in and continue all the way through and build up from that really base level into an NLW career.
And you said Christian and Salad Tokatuki also so extended. What do you think they continue to add to our squad.
The big thing with the two of them is they just like last year, going to well almost every game and getting to know the girls off the field as well.
And just seeing how they wore their heart on their sleeves every single time they took that field. I remember being like hard when the girls lost yet another game and Christian was just devastated.
She was crying.
She was so upset because she just wanted the rest of the team to experience that the joy of winning, and they hadn't had that opportunity to do so. When it came to the Dragon's game back at Leichhart, when it was absolutely bucketing down and the girls did get the win, it was so exciting to be able to share that with the girls and see the way that the older girls like Salah and Christian bought the rest
of the team together. And then again, obviously, you know, getting that with over the Sharks in the last game of the season, who then went on to play in the Grand Final, was pretty awesome as well.
Now we've got to fairly well rounded squad. In my opinion, who do you think are the key players in our squad heading into the season twenty twenty five.
I think it's going to be interesting to see who feels that fullback role now that Bo's gone. I think from looking at the team liston and looking at the new players that we're bought in there's a few different players who could potentially feel that role. I think Jataya,
I think that's how you pronounce her name. She's come to us from the Cowboys and the Titans, and she played fullback in the trial, I believe, and you know she she had quite a good game from my understanding, and so that's a really big role that's, you know, obviously extremely important in the game of rugby league. Montana Clifford, I'm really excited to see Montana play again next year. She was a late entry into the team as a replacement for injury, and she just blew us away with
her running, with her tackling. She is just a great all round player. So I'm actually really excited to see see the way that she plays. And from all reports, if her friends on socials are anything to go by, Caitlin Turnbull sounds like she is an absolute gun who just as I said earlier, those thirteen tries in eleven games in the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership. Hopefully she can get just as many for us in the NLW this year.
YEA, for me, it's really easy to go past Kezzy, Sarah and Christian. We know what we're going to get from those guys, and they are all the three of them world class players, and so I'm going to ignore them for a little bit once again. Like most seasons, I can't like to see Lassana Latu play. She is probably my favorite and r LW player across the league. She's just so exciting to watch, great footwork, can bust through a tackle, and I'm hoping that she can cement
a position in the halves this year. I'm not sure whether they're going to go with her in round one, but I'd like to say her name in round one.
Well, she did play the trial and from all reports she played the full first half and then they did quite a bit of shuffling in the second. So I think Noddy would be you know, if she's fit and firing. I think Noddy would be a bit crazy not to name her in the halves for that first game and really get that Harves combination, because the question is who does she partner with?
Who is going to wear the six?
You would assume maybe it'll be Evie who's got that experience in that jersey, who played under nineteens origin, but is she may be too young to be put into that responsibility.
Full time to start the season, so I think I.
Think Noddy would be crazy to not put Lisagna in the seven. But then the question is then who partners her in the six?
Now, as you said, West Tiger's played a troll on Sunday afternoon at Atlard Oval against the Saint George Dragons. Neither you or I were able to get out to the game. Sadly, my daughter dragged me away to some basketball thing, so I'd planned to go but didn't get out to the game. Can you give us a little bit of a summary of what happened with that game? We went down twelve to four to the Dragons.
Yeah, so yeah.
Without being there, it's often a little bit tricky, especially with trial matches as well, to get a really full understanding of how the game unfolded. But a few of the others from the ambush were there and said that the first half was a little bit clunky. The side let in two tries, which is a little bit of a concern, but also not a huge concern being such a new team getting used to each other, building combinations and those kinds of things. So the side was scoreless
in the first half. They were playing a team that has some extremely good players, so the players that did score for the Dragons included the likes of teag and Berry and Racy McGregor, who we know are very very well capped n RELW players. So the girls managed to get over the line in the second half through I wish I could remember who it was, but one of the forwards that came off the bench in the seconds that definitely sounds right well close.
I don't know the pronunciation, but I think that's what it was.
We promised by the end of this season we'll have them, will have them down pat But obviously having cares you play a massive chunk of the game after missing so much of the NLW season last year. Even though she played Origin, it's not the same as running out with your team. I guess Origin was a good warm up for her for the preseason and the NLW season.
A few things to sort of take away that we might need to work on.
Obviously that that cohesion in defense, so letting in three tries is not awesome. But again with combinations the players getting to know each other, hopefully that's something that Knotty and the team can be working on. Over the next fortnight. There seemed to be a little bit lacking in attack
in the second half. Potentially that's again because of those different halves pairings listen and mostly played the first half, so taking off those experienced players in the second half always has a bit of that impact on a trial and discipline, as we have heard tonight, So that.
Doesn't sound like a West Tigers team lacking.
DISI no, so we've heard tonight Earlier today, the judiciary has found Selma guilty of a grade to careless tackle and she's going to miss the first two rounds of the ERLW season. So when it's only a nine round season, that is a huge amount.
Yeah, it's a massive panety eleven?
Is it eleven? Yeah? Either way, it is huge.
And it's really disappointing for me because I thought she was coming on really well last year and I would have thought she was probably the leading candidate to get some time at hooker this season, So it's really disappointing to see her missing those first two games.
Yeah, I definitely agree that I would have had Selma in my number nine to start round one.
But now you've sort of now got.
To go into those new players to start looking for a replacement.
Especially as we've lost a little bit of depth in that position with any Prior going across to the Bulldogs and Emily Curtain heading over to the Warriors, So we don't really have that backup that we would have had had last season. Well, Salma was probably the backup last season, but we don't really have that depth in the position of experienced players.
Yeah, that's right. And just while we're on, a shout out to Ebony for.
Scoring the Bulldog's first try in their trial, so that's something that they can't take away from her that she scored their first try.
Yeah, I'm very disappointed to see her move on. A little pocket rocket who I really enjoyed watching play played well above her weight because her weight wasn't very much but plenty of heart.
Yeah, and so definitely would have been taller than this season.
So we'll have a little bit of a look at the season I had and our expectations what we think we're going to see throughout the twenty twenty five season. As I said it start of the show, sadly, we started our time in the rolw with two wooden spoons, which is a bit disappointing considering we came off that Harvey Norman premiership when and and I think it would be really great for the club if we could have a successful season in the own rolw.
Yeah, sure would it would.
I think seeing how much the men's team has improved but still falling that little bit short, this club just create is just needs that.
Little ray of hope to keep everybody going.
What are you expecting to see this season, Kelly do Are you expecting to see improvement? Are you expecting to see his struggle? What are your thoughts around what fans can can expect to see moving forward?
Yeah, I guess that's a really hard question to answer. With such a massive change to the structure of the team, it is really hard to know what the one to seventeen is going to look like for round one, and you know, we don't have an easy opposition around one. Of course, we go straight in to play the team that's probably the premiership favorites after their off season signings in the Brisbane Broncos at in Brisbane as well, just
to you know, make it that little bit easier. All I'm hoping is sort of the same as what we've said about the men's team is just that that improvement, that never say die attitude, that they're in every game, that you know, they don't drop their heads if things don't go their way, that they you know, don't let those you know, errors and silly penalties lead to the opposition scoring, because we've seen that in both the men's and the women's game over the last couple of years
that we've had some games that are so extremely close that those little decisions and those little brain fades potentially is why the game was lost in the end.
And being such a short season, injuries and depth play such an important part because if you lose a key player for three weeks, that there's a thirtyear season gone already. So it's really important that we have a little bit of luck. I'm hoping with a little bit of luck, we can start to push out of the bottom of their NMLW and hopefully up towards a semi final birth.
That would be amazing, And with another two teams in, it means you get a couple of extra rounds to play, so it's a little bit longer than last year.
So the club has to look at.
Managing load and things like that, especially the fact that the girls aren't full time players like the men's team, so they've got a factor in a whole other range of different elements of the girls' lives into this season. But yeah, I'm just hoping we don't get to the second last round of the year with no wins like we did last year. And you know, winning the last two games of the year was great, but it would be nice to win a couple early on in the season.
And having a look across our squad. We get to the end of the season, We've had a successful season, We've made the semmis. Who do you think is going to win the West Tigers and r LW Player of the Year?
Oh?
Good question. The Shane Brooks in jured. Of course I would have lubbed Brooks to have won it. She was so closed last year. Oh, either Caitlin or Claudia for top tri scorers. So the two, the two speedy outside backs the player of the year. My actually, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with Montana. Montana Clifford. She's in that back row spot who has such a big impact and if she can work a really good combination with the haves,
just like we've seen Kezy do as well. Potentially, you know, she could be up there with the triscoring, but she's also a weapon when it comes to defense, so she's sort of got that the whole game, the whole package wrapped up.
So yeah, I'm gonna go with Montana.
And a player I meant to mention earlier who is out for the season. I was really disappointed when I heard that she was out for the season, and then I heard the reason why. Raquel Horn's going to be a massive out for us this season.
Huge loss, a huge loss, but a massive congratulations to Riquilla. She's expecting twins twenty five weeks at the moment and still putting ninety five percent, like probably even ninety nine percent of the population to shame with her her workout. She still turns up to training, she still does the workouts with the girls. They posted a video of her running the Bronco Run a couple of weeks ago. Obviously not quite as fast as she was in the past, but she's out there.
She's geeing them up.
And I did notice there was some photos from her at the trial before the game having a word in not his ears, So maybe she might take on a bit of an assistant coaching role this year while she's not able to play.
So we're just over a week from the start of the season. Do you have the details about the first round? I haven't looked yet, so you're actually telling me. Do you know what it is when we play?
Yep, So we play on the Saturday.
So we play Saturday, the fifth of July, so twelve forty five kickoff and the game is being played up in Brisbane at totally Workway Stadium. So we are playing the Broncos who, as we know, were already a stacked team and then in the off season they went and bought forty seven times Daly m winner in Tamiica Upton. That's what it feels like anyway. So yeah, it's to be an interesting one. They played their trial just before
the men's game on Sunday. They played against the PNG Orchards I think it's the so the women's team from Papua New Guinea and they ran in forty eight points to none.
Wow, So we've got a game to look forward to.
We do, yes, we definitely do it.
It's going to be you know, baptismal fire as they say, you know, don't push your.
Foot around, just get straight in and.
Well, who knows, you might as well measure yourself against one of the best at the start of the season.
That's exactly correct.
Now, once again, we'll be running our Player of the Year award. Check it out out on Facebook. Check out it will be on the Ambush page, will be on the West Tigers podcast page. Check that out. Participate in that vote for your favorite players or your best players each weekend, and we will do a little reward throughout this and then we'll add it all together and see it takes out the Player of the Year award seasons
about to start. Thank you for joining me, Kelly. I promise next time I'll have a little bit more engagement when I actually have a game analyze, and I won't have to rely on you as much for all this information about all these wonderful new players we have.
No it's exciting.
I had a lot of fun researching the new players and finding out about them all, and I'm excited to get out there and watch them all take the field in our Tiger's jersey.
And you went to the effort of research and I just chet gpeat it, gpted it.
I normally would have, but I wasn't sure how good GPT would be, so I did an old school yeah as.
I said, thank you for joining me, Kelly, thank you for listening everyone, and we'll get back to you with another episode after that Round one game. Hopefully we'll be a little bit more consistent this year and try and build a little bit of a listener Bason and not release a plot every once every story he wakes to go, that's right, Thanks guys.
Thanks.
And then and