With around six weeks before the start of the 2023 season, Wests Tigers NRLW head coach Brett Kimmorley believes there’s a good balance to the club’s inaugural squad.
“I love the look of the team we have assembled and there is a real local flavour to it,” says Kimmorley a few days into preseason training.
“We’ve got a handful of very senior players with NRLW experience, another layer of players who have played in the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership, and then there’s the next wave of talent coming through,’’ he said.
“This reflects the club’s investment in women’s pathways, and the players’ desire to represent Wests Tigers.”
Kimmorley says being a father of four girls helps him connect with his 28-strong female squad, which includes Women’s Origin players Kezie Apps and Sarah Togatuki.
The recent addition of Salma Nour, Taylor Osborne, Eliza Siilata and Folau Vaki, completed the team’s 24-player roster.
All four are either local juniors or have come through Wests Tigers women’s pathways, reinforcing the team’s ‘home grown’ identity.
Nour is a 20-year-old hooker who played her junior rugby league with Liverpool Catholic Club.
She has played Tarsha Gale Cup with Illawarra Steelers for the past three years, earning player of the year honours in 2022.
Osborne is a 26-year-old second row now in her fifth season at the club and has played in the NSW Women’s Premiership since Wests Tigers’ inaugural season in 2019.
Siilata is a 19-year-old lock who began playing rugby league in a mixed boys’ and girls’ team with Macarthur Saints, when she was eight years old.
She has played the last three seasons with Wests Tigers in the Tarsha Gale Cup, after joining the club from Campbelltown Collegians.
Vaki has followed a similar path to Siilata, progressing from junior clubs Macarthur Saints and Campbelltown Collegians, and was part of the victorious NSW Women’s U/19s Origin team in 2021.
The Tongan-born forward is one of seven children and has played for all of Wests Tigers’ female pathways teams.
Wests Tigers opening game in the 10 team, 2023 NRLW season will be up against Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium on Sunday, July 23.
