There’s a lot to be excited about for the Sunbury Tigers in the NRL Victoria Storm premiership competition despite a preliminary final loss.
The Tigers season concluded on Saturday in a hard fought loss to the Waverley Panthers, after finishing third in the regular season.
Tigers’ centre Anisi Salani scored their first two tries of the game to level the scores at half time. Although the Panthers got out to a three try lead at the 70 minute mark. The Tigers then fought back with two late tries to Harry Sio and Noah Lewis, to bring them close, but it wasn’t to be with the Panthers winning 30-22.
It was the Tigers first season back in top grade, after winning the division 2 title last season. While the club had a strong history, a shortage of numbers meant there was a few years the club didn’t have a senior side.
Coach Grant Paaka was full of praise for his side.
“It’s not the result we wanted to get off to the big dance, but we’re really satisfied with the season we’ve had and we’re looking forward to the future,” he said.
With the average age of the Tigers team sitting at about 19, Paaka said a preliminary final is just the tip of the iceberg with his squad.
“Moving forward and keeping the group together, we’ll see a fair bit of dominance in the years to come,” he said.
“This definitely isn’t our last shot, we can build forward for the future.
“[A young age group] that was the idea around the build, progressively identifying age groups around four years ago, putting a bit of a focus around that age group and the group underneath them.”
Paaka said Sunbury has become a hot-spot for young players wanting to play rugby league, which will further bolster their on field performances for the years to come.
“There’s a lot of interstate players that are moving into the area that have a lot to offer,” he said.
With a full roster of about 30 players, off season recruiting is something on Paaka’s mind. While he would like to add some more players, he knows the squad he already has in place, has a lot of potential.
“I’m fairly satisfied with the roster,” he said.
“We were fortunate enough that it worked in our favour, in terms of player availability, injuries and suspensions.
“In terms of the current roster, if we retain them all we’ll be happy with it.
“The way the group plays footy, it’s become quite an attractive side, where we are getting a lot of outside expressions of interest.
“So we’ll see what 2024 offers when pre-season rolls around.”
Harper Sercombe
