Two Wests Tigers legends could be in for a unique milestone this year with Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence both in line to potentially reach 250 games for the club in 2020.
Marshall (currently 245 games for Wests Tigers) is on track to reach the mark in what will no doubt be an emotion-filled Easter Monday clash against the Parramatta Eels at Bankwest Stadium, while Lawrence (currently 240 games) is scheduled to reach the mark against South Sydney at Leichhardt Oval in Round 10.
Only Robbie Farah (278 games for Wests Tigers) has reached the 250-game mark for the club so far, with both Marshall and Lawrence potentially joining him this year in games that are shaping as must-see home games for the club.
Veteran Kiwi forwards Elijah Taylor (175 NRL games) and Russell Packer (176 NRL games) could reach the 200-game mark this year with successful seasons, while Luke Brooks (131 NRL games) is closing in on both 150 NRL games as well as 150 NRL games for Wests Tigers — just the 12th player to reach that mark.
With 57 tries from his 119 games for Wests Tigers, David Nofoaluma will look to continue his climb up the club's all-time top try-scoring list with Robbie Farah (68 tries) in his sights. Nofoaluma still does have some way to go to catch the top two, however, with Chris Lawrence and Benji Marshall in excess of 80 tries each.
Nofoaluma has a hat-trick
Coach Michael Maguire will bring up his 200th NRL game as coach, currently sitting on 177 games following 153 with South Sydney (2012-17) and 24 with Wests Tigers in 2019. That mark does not include his 12 finals games with South Sydney, or his 70 games coached with Wigan Warriors from 2010-11.
Maguire's positive winning record should also see him bring up 100 wins before the season is out with 96 wins and 81 losses from his 177 games so far.
Off the back of a strong 2019 campaign, Michael Chee Kam (76 NRL games) could bring up the 100-game mark with another big year while fan favourite Corey Thompson (77 NRL games) could also rack up the century — his total also not including the 58 games he played for Widnes Vikings in 2016 in 2017.
Thompson is one of a handful of players who could bring up 50 games for the club this season with Jacob Liddle (37 games), Moses Mbye (40 games) and Packer (35 games) all in the mix, while new recruit Luciano Leilua is on track to bring up his 50th NRL game in the club's Round 7 away game against the Gold Coast Titans.
The Best of Luciano Leilua
Leilua and fellow new recruit Billy Walters will be hoping to add their name to the official Wests Tigers player list in 2020 with a debut game for the club, while the likes of Alex Seyfarth, Dylan Smith and Sam McIntyre all enter the season hoping to make their first-grade debut — along with the club's Development Players.
With two Sunday afternoon home games at suburban grounds in the first three weeks of the year, it's certainly shaping as a big start to the season for Wests Tigers and one that will hopefully see plenty of records and milestones fall throughout!
