Wests Tigers junior representative teams have begun the 2021 season with a string of impressive performances across the various grades — paving the way for a strong campaign ahead.
Of the seven junior representative teams associated with Wests Tigers, four chalked up victories while one had a draw in an overall impressive Round 1 for the club.
Western Suburbs showed their strong turnaround in the off-season with quality performances in both Harold Matthews and SG Ball, with the two sides each earning strong wins over the North Sydney Bears at Kirkham Oval.
Promising junior Solomone Saukuru scored the match-winner in Harold Matthews as the hosts came from behind late on to snatch a 24-18 victory while a dominant first half from the SG Ball side paved the way for a comfortable 38-4 win.
Kitione Kautoga, who trained with the NRL squad throughout the pre-season, scored a double along with Alosomu Lolohea in the eight-tries-to-one romp.
After strong trial performances, Wests Tigers Tarsha Gale showed themselves to be a strong outfit in 2021 with a good first-up win over the Parramatta Eels — Shelby Muir grabbing a double as the hosts ran out comfortable 22-12 winners.
Match: Wests Tigers v Eels
Round 1 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
away Team
Eels
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
The news was not as good for Balmain, however, who found it tough going first-up with defeat to the Central Coast Roosters in the Harold Matthews competition before playing out hard-fought 28-28 draw against Victoria in SG Ball.
The renamed Macarthur Wests Tigers (formerly GSR Wests Tigers) managed to get their season off to a winning note with the Andrew Johns Cup squad producing a strong win on the road in Ballina over the Northern Rivers Titans but were unable to get the job done in the senior Laurie Daley Cup contest.
Round 2 will see a monster five-game program at Kirkham Oval with Western Suburbs, Wests Tigers and Macarthur Wests Tigers all in action while Balmain will face the Newcastle Knights in both grades at Leichhardt Oval.
For all live scores and updates from the games, visit the NSWRL Match Centre.
