Wests Tigers are delighted to announce James Tamou as the club’s captain for the upcoming 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership season.
The 32-year-old Tamou has played a total of 267 first-grade games since making his debut for North Queensland in 2009 — going on to feature in 170 games for the Cowboys before playing 97 games for the Penrith Panthers (2017-20).
A Premiership-winner who has achieved success at every representative level, Tamou joined Wests Tigers ahead of the 2021 season and is signed through until the end of 2022.
He will feature as part of a five-man leadership group including local juniors Luke Brooks, Adam Doueihi, David Nofoaluma and international forward Alex Twal.
Tamou said he felt privileged to be named captain of Wests Tigers.
“With the rich history that this club has, it’s an absolute honour to be named captain of Wests Tigers,” Tamou said.
“It was quite an emotional thing for me. I can see how passionate the boys here are for the Wests Tigers jersey and it’s a real privilege to lead them forward this year.”
Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe and Head Coach Michael Maguire paid credit to Tamou’s professionalism since joining the club.
“I’d like to congratulate James on this achievement and commend him on his actions both on and off the field since arriving to Wests Tigers,” Pascoe said.
“James — and the other four men in our leadership group — are all well-served to lead our team in the year ahead and we’re looking forward to seeing them drive our club forward.”
“James’ influence on our club has been excellent from the moment he’s been here,” Maguire said of Tamou.
“He has extremely strong support behind him from the playing group and the team has really resonated with him as the leader of our side.”
