2025 NRL: Wests Tigers Season Preview

After finishing last for the third consecutive season, the Wests Tigers look ready to make a long awaited move up the NRL ladder with some key signings bringing a renewed sense of confidence to the club.

Season Preview

The past three years have been a horror show for the Tigers. Three straight wooden spoons, but the good news is, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The emergence of Lachlan Galvin as a future star last year was only the beginning. Before the pre-season, player departures such as Isaiah Papali’i (Panthers), John Bateman (Cowboys), Junior Tupou (Dolphins) and Stefano Utoikamanu (Storm) left some big holes in the playing group and forward pack in particular. However, the Tigers did their homework and signed plenty of quality replacements, with the arrival of new faces such as Jarome Luai, Terrell May, Royce Hunt, Jack Bird and Jeral Skelton proving they are a club eager to restore some pride back in their jersey. The revitalised spine of Bula, Galvin, Luai and Koroisau will surely lead to more wins once they’ve had a chance to build combinations and familiarity with each other.

As Benji Marshall begins his second year as a full-time coach, the injection of talent now gives Benji his shot to prove the doubters wrong, and prove he has the coaching chops to be the one to drag the Tigers out of the doldrums. That being said, there will be many more eyes on Benji and the Tigers this year. With the playing roster now much more respectable, it brings a pressure they haven’t experienced to date. For a few years the expectations have been non-existent, so it will be interesting to see how the Tigers cope with being more in the spotlight than they’ve been previously.

Their opening run of fixtures is favourable on paper. Across the first two months, they play the Knights and Eels twice, Dolphins and Broncos away, and play their first top four opponent from last year in Round 8 when they meet the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval. Through the Origin period, they have byes in rounds 12 and 15, but their draw gets tougher, with away trips to face the Storm, Cowboys, Manly and Warriors. The finish to the year is more balanced, with a mixture of home and away games against the Panthers, Bulldogs, Raiders and Titans, along with their final bye in round 23.

Best Signing

Jarome Luai: Fresh off the back of winning four premierships at Penrith and an Origin series for New South Wales, Luai has proven he is a premium halfback in the NRL and brings a wealth of experience to the Tigers halves, something they’ve sorely lacked for many years. While Luai traditionally hasn’t always played halfback at the Panthers, he showed last year when Nathan Cleary missed time through injury that he’s more than capable of leading a team around the park and being the focal point of attacking structures for a premiership team.

Granted, the Tigers are a very different side to the Panthers, but the confidence he would’ve gained from those experiences is primarily the reason the Tigers will be a much-improved outfit in 2025. It’ll just be about how he builds into the combinations around him. He re-unites with his former Panthers teammates Api Koroisau and Sunia Turuva, which will help him with the transition into a new team.

Key Player

Lachlan Galvin: Could’ve easily picked Jarome Luai as the key player as well, however the combination he has with Lachie Galvin will be key to the Tigers season. Starting his second season, Galvin has already made an immense impact on the Tigers in such a short career. He has proven to be a future star of the game and if he continues to develop, the Tigers will only get better. Second year syndrome has been a factor for many young talents before, so a big watch on Galvin will be whether he can maintain the meteoric rise now that teams have had more of a look at how he likes to play.

His ability to choose the right plays at the right time for someone who is still a teenager is great to watch for any rugby league fan. Had he not been suspended, he would’ve won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award by a landslide last year. It’s not a stretch to say we could be seeing him in the Origin arena in the next few years in things fall his way.

Player to Watch

Alex Seyfarth: In line to start in the second row with the departure of Isaiah Papali’i and John Bateman, Seyfarth looks primed for a big season and could be most improved in the Tigers pack. Can play big minutes on the edge and Benji has shown faith in him by re-signing him for a further three years. In limited opportunities last year, he showed in his 80-minute performances that he brings an energy and grit the Tigers are looking for if they’re going to change their identity from a losing club to a winning one.