Wests Tigers Orange Cubs (U/18s) will take on a Newcastle Knights U/18s Development squad at Scully Park, Tamworth on Saturday afternoon building on recent development tours to the New England region.
With the match acting as the curtain raiser to the NRL fixture directly following this game, the Orange Cubs team is primarily a combination of “on-age” Harold Matthews Cup players and first-year SG Ball Cup players from both the Western Suburbs and Balmain junior pathways programs.
Some of the players selected also played for the Macarthur Wests Tigers Laurie Daley Cup side which reached the semi-finals in 2024.
As the junior representative competitions have now concluded, the Cubs programs represent the next step in development for the club’s best junior talent.
With 32 players considered for selection in this fixture, the squad was narrowed down to 20, with a key focus being to reward players for strong performances in the recent junior representative competitions.
After the conclusion of this weekend’s fixture, the group of 32 will reconvene and conduct a series of skill building and education programs throughout the remainder of the year, with another match for the side also on the agenda.
Later in the season, the standout members of this squad will be considered for promotion into the Black Cubs (U/19s) program, which trains with the Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg Cup (U/21s) team on a weekly basis, with a view to transitioning them into that setup in the near future.
Wests Tigers Orange CUBS vs Newcastle U18s
