Wests Tigers have secured several NRLW contract extensions well ahead of the club’s second season in the Telstra Women’s Premiership.
Rikeya Horne, Losana Lutu and Salma Nour have signed new deals which will keep them at the club for at least another two seasons, while Eliza Siilata, Jessica Kennedy and Imogen Gobran have all penned 12-month extensions.
Horne will enter her seventh season in the NRLW in 2024 after scoring four tries from eight appearances in her first season at Wests Tigers.
Lutu, a Campbelltown junior, played a starring role in Wests Tigers first two victories in 2023 before injury brought a premature end to her season. One of the club’s development success stories, Losana has signed a long-term deal through until 2026.
Nour, a Liverpool junior, looked right at home in her debut season playing four games and scoring her first try in the narrow Round 8 loss to the Broncos.
Macarthur Saints junior Siilata was named Rookie of the Year in the club’s inaugural season, making her NRLW debut after playing several seasons in the Wests Tigers pathways teams.
Kennedy made her NRLW debut in Round 3 against the Raiders and impressed off the bench in seven straight appearances in her first season in the top grade.
Gobran also adjusted comfortably to first grade in her rookie season, making her NRLW debut in the team’s narrow Round 4 loss to the Cowboys.
Most of the club’s inaugural squad is retained for next season including co-captains Kezie Apps and Botille Vette-Welsh, and 2023 Player of the Year Sarah Togatuki, pictured above.
Also on board again in 2024 are New Zealand internationals Leianne Tufuga and Najvada George, Samoa internationals Christian Pio and Pauline Piliae-Rasabale, and Campbelltown twins Emily and Sophie Curtain.
Tiana Lee-Thorne and Brooke Talataina will both make the step up from development contracts to the club’s top-24 roster next season.
Talataina was called on to make her NRLW debut in Round 7 last season and the young half did exceptionally well, playing every minute of the season’s final three rounds.
Thorne is an 18-year-old fullback from Liverpool who was named ‘best back’ in Wests Tigers Tarsha Gale Cup team this season and is yet to make her NRLW debut.
Another young local on the rise is Campbelltown junior Iemaima Etule. The 18-year-old middle forward has signed a long-term deal with Wests Tigers beginning with a development contract in 2024.
Another four players who will be joining the squad for the 2024 season will be announced in the coming days.
Wests Tigers head of football Matthew Betsey says the squad for next season will again have a strong local flavour.
“Entering a team in the NRLW for the first time was a huge milestone for this club and a steep learning curve,” said Betsey.
“We are very proud to see so many of our local juniors and pathways players getting the opportunity to play NRLW with Wests Tigers.
“We had 14 players who made their NRLW debut and 26 players representing our club in our inaugural season.
“Of the 14 who played NRLW for the first time, 12 were local juniors or Wests Tigers pathways players.
“Year on year our aim is to bring young talent through our female pathways, and that will again be the case in 2024.”
Updated Wests Tigers 2024 NRLW squad: Botille Vette-Welsh, Tess Staines, Leianne Tufuga, Pauline Piliae-Rasabale, Emily Curtain, Sarah Togatuki, Ebony Prior, Christian Pio, Kezie Apps, Najvada George, Sophie Curtain, Imogen Gobran, Jessica Kennedy, Rikeya Horne, Losana Lutu, Salma Nour, Eliza Siilata, Tiana Lee-Thorne, Brooke Talataina
