Wests Tigers have re-signed promising back-rower Lamar Liolevave until the end of the 2016 season.
The Marist Saints junior, who played Australian Schoolboys in 2013 before recently representing the Junior Kiwis in 2014 alongside Wests Tigers teammates Te Maire Martin, Manaia Cherrington and Watson Heleta, will join the full-time NRL squad in 2015.
A graduate from Benji Marshall’s alma mater, Keebra Park High School, Liolevave was a standout player for Wests Tigers’ NYC side in 2014, with the powerful ball runner registering 10 tries, six try-assists and 15 linebreaks on the left edge.
He also averaged 22.5 tackles per game plus 109 metres per game — coming off an average of 10.7 runs per game.
Liolevave’s fine form in 2014 culminated in him being named as the NYC Holden Cup Coaches Player of the Year, with his focus now turning to consolidating on that form with a strong pre-season under new head coach Jason Taylor.
“It’s great to be able to stay here with the boys,” Liolevave said.
“I’ve built some strong relationships here and I’m looking forward to staying with the Wests Tigers.
“I’m really keen to be able to learn more from JT and the new coaching staff here at the club. He’s brought some new skills to my game that I need to work on, and some that I didn’t even know that I needed to work on that much.
“That’s really good for me; I’m just looking to learn from him and get a good pre-season under my belt so that I can really build heading into next season.”
