Wests Tigers captain Aaron Woods will play his first match of the year this Saturday when the club plays its final trial match against Cronulla at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Head coach Jason Taylor has named a strong 20-man squad for the Sharks’ clash, which includes livewire fullback James Tedesco and boom backrower Curtis Sironen, who also both take the field for the first time in 2016.
Five of the club’s off-season recruits – Jack Littlejohn, Tim Grant, Jordan Rankin, Justin Hunt and Josh Aloiai – have been named in the team as they push for selection in the side for Round 1 against the Warriors at the same ground.
Taylor said he was impressed with last weekend’s narrow 18-16 victory over the Melbourne Storm on the Sunshine Coast but felt there are still areas to work on ahead of the season opener on March 5.
“The main area that we want to improve on coming out of last week’s trial is our middle of the field defensively,” he said.
“We did a good job of that in patches against the Storm but not so well at other times.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“We really want to improve that this week against Cronulla and be consistent throughout the year.[/social_quote]
“This week we welcome back guys like Aaron Woods and James Tedesco, which will be a huge boost for us.
“Giving a lot of the younger guys an opportunity over the past two weeks has been great, but we will be certainly getting ready for round one with the side named this week.”
Campbelltown Sports Stadium will host a five-game program this Saturday – with Harold Matthews, SG Ball, Holden Cup and NSW Cup games all preluding the NRL clash.
The football feast is great value for fans, with tickets $15 or family passes at $40, while all 2016 Wests Tigers Members gain free entry on the day.
The club will be live streaming the match on its website from 6:45pm ahead of the 7pm kick-off.
• The team named by Jason Taylor is:
James Tedesco, David Nofoaluma, Tim Simona, Kevin Naiqama, Justin Hunt, Mitchell Moses, Jack Littlejohn, Aaron Woods, Robbie Farah, Tim Grant, Curtis Sironen, Chris Lawrence, Sauaso Sue.
Interchange: Jordan Rankin, Ava Seumanufagai, Josh Aloiai, Manaia Cherrington, Kyle Lovett, Luke Brooks, Josh Drinkwater.
• Day’s schedule:
11:45am – Gates open;
12 noon -Harold Matthews: Western Suburbs Magpies v Cronulla Sharks;
1:30pm – SG Ball: Western Suburbs Magpies v Cronulla Sharks;
3pm – NYC Holden Cup: Wests Tigers v Cronulla Sharks;
5pm – NSW Cup: Wests Tigers v Newtown Jets;
7pm – NRL: Wests Tigers v Cronulla Sharks.
