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Your team’s rising stars to watch in 2025 ... and the NSW Cup guns to take NRL by storm
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Western Suburbs Magpies
Where they finished: P13 6-18 record MISSED FINALS & WOODEN SPOON
2024 was one steep learning curve for Aaron Payne as he made his pilgrimage from the QLD Cup where he was coaching Townsville, to go coach Wests.
Payne certainly entered and suffered a baptism of fire with the Magpies’ struggles in this competition, a striking resemblance to what was on show at first-grade level. As injuries weakened the Tigers squad, that impacted the Magpies and consistently saw the squad resemble a Ryde Eastwood RMC side as opposed to a KOE NSW Cup side. As a result, the Magpies did suffer a number of struggles early in the season. As a result, they used 55 players this season, which will cause a team to unfortunately struggle as Wests did.
In that though, they were able to find a rare diamond in the rough. That came in the form of forward Tim Johannssen. The front rower came from Ryde in RMC and delivered in spades off the bench before earning a starting role and delivering on investment. Johannssen earned an NRL debut after a great performance against the Warriors where he ran 60 metres to score a solo individual try. Tony Sukkar and Tallyn Da Silva were others to shine for the Magpies in what was a trying year. Their halves were inconsistent as they were trying to fit Latu Fainu in on minute restrictions which made an overall impact on squad make-up for most outings.
There will be significant turnover at the Tigers next season, so the make-up of the squad is still a large mystery. A heavy emphasis on youth will see the Magpies have a young nucleus again next season, but if the Tigers have a good run with injuries at NRL level. The Cup side should be competitive after a year of teething problems with the young side. We see them entering a similar spot the Roosters were in after they had the wooden spoon in 2023.
NRL ROSTER WATCH: There is plenty to keep an eye on for the Tigers next season. Year two of the Benji Marshall experience and it is clear that he isn’t afraid to give chances to players that deserve it. Alex Lobb, Reuben Porter, Luke Laulilii and Johannssen among others to earn NRL debuts plucked from Wests.
It is however a make or break year for Justin Matamua, he has shown on occasions he can be an elite middle forward, but the tinkering of positions at NRL level hasn’t helped when he consistently comes to NSW Cup and delivers impressive numbers. Jordan Miller is one of those players who may have debuted too early, but despite this concern, Miller will have a good stint in NSW Cup next season, averaging just under 100 metres a game. With an NRL style off-season under his belt, his motor will improve significantly and expect a minutes increase for him next season.