NRL Rookie Watch: Which Wests Tigers are worth keeping an eye on in 2023?

With the 2023 NRL season nearing, we list the crop of rookies from each club worth keeping tabs on as they aim to join the elite list of budding stars with a Rookie of the Year award to their name.

As per the NRL, “players are eligible for the Rookie of the Year in their debut season and the subsequent two NRL seasons … Once a player plays five (5) NRL Premiership matches (or English Super League matches), he becomes ineligible for the Rookie of the Year in any subsequent seasons”.

Justin Matamua

Matamua made his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers in Round 17 last season off the bench against Parramatta – where he lasted just several minutes before being sent to the bin for a shoulder charge – before earning another opportunity the following week against Penrith. He also made the leap from Jersey Flegg to NSW Cup midway through the year making three starts in the second-row for Western Suburbs before returning back for the Wests Tigers’ run towards the Jersey Flegg finals. Matamua started in the front-row for the NSW under-19s side midyear where he ran for 109 metres and made 28 tackles without a miss in a comprehensive victory. A versatile forward, Matamua will look to cement himself as a week-to-week first-grader in 2023 as a part of the Wests Tigers’ new-look pack after impressing in trials.

Junior Tupou

Tupou also made the jump to the NRL last season debuting for the Wests Tigers in Round 10 where he scored a try in a loss to North Queensland. He played a total of four on the wing across the season averaging 94 run metres and scoring a pair of tries. An under-16s NSW representative, Tupou came through the Raiders system before linking up with the Wests Tigers’ Jersey Flegg squad last year. He played just three Jersey Flegg games across the season, however, spending a majority of the year on the wing or at fullback for Western Suburbs in NSW Cup, scoring eight tries. At 6-foot-3 and 95-kilograms, Tupou is an athletic and skilled outside back who will like his chances of climbing up the depth charts at the Wests Tigers and adding more NRL games to his résumé. Tupou broke nine tackles and scored three tries in his two preseason outings this season and, with Ken Maumalo expected to be sidelined for the start of the season, may push for a starting spot come Round 1.

Brandon Tumeth

Tumeth started alongside Matamua for the Blues’ under-19s squad last season and has turned heads at the club over the past few years. He has split his time between Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup over the past two seasons and will be eyeing an NRL debut in 2023. An athletic edge forward, Tumeth has appeared in five NSW Cup games over the past two seasons, bagging two tries last year. Having graduated through the Balmain system, the Wests Tigers decision-makers will be eager to ensure the 19-year-old develops into a consistent first-grader and 2023 might be the year that we get out first look at him on the big stage. The arrivals of Isaiah Papali’i and John Bateman have bolstered the club’s edge forward stocks with Tumeth, Matamua, Alex Seyfarth and Shawn Blore also among those fighting for minutes.

Sione Fainu

A highly-touted middle forward from an ultra-talented family, Fainu was brought over from Manly prior to last season and looks set to make the leap to NRL level this year. Still just 21, Fainu has four seasons of Jersey Flegg football under his belt and has spent time in NSW Cup across the past two seasons as well. Named the NSW Under-18s State Player of the Year in 2019, Fainu has been on the radar for some time and is unlucky to have not debuted yet. The Wests Tigers’ middle forward stocks look stronger than they did 12 months ago thanks to the addition of David Klemmer and the rise of Matamua and Fonua Pole, however, the departures of veterans James Tamou, Zane Musgrove, and Tyrone Peachey should open up some starting and interchange minutes.

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