You Are The Worse Coach I Ever Met” Star Player Disparaging The Wests Tigers Head Coach Benji Marshall….

Former Penrith Panthers, Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm, Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers forward Junior Moors has revealed he doesn’t believe promotion and releation is a viable concept in Australian rugby league.

The concept is used with success in England as teams bounce up and down the tiers, keeping games competitive when they otherwise wouldn’t be at the back end.

It’s an issue that plagues the NRL during the back-end of seasons with multiple dead-rubber style games, but Moors, speaking on Rugby League Outlaws Super Duper Saturday show, said he doesn’t believe the concept would work in Australia with teams in the second tier simply not ready to make the step up.

“It would work if we had enough teams that were capable to play in the NRL. I think there isn’t,” Moors told the show.

“I think the teams below don’t have the capabilities to play in the NRL when it comes to venues and stuff like that.

“If that was the case, it would be good. I think it really works in England because over here at the moment if you get to the top eight and you get the last couple of rounds in the season, you get some dead rubber games. There is no real reason to watch it.

“It solves that problem because in England, if teams are at the bottom, they are fighting to stay out of relegation. There ends up being two competitions at the end and every game is exciting to watch. I think that’s the big draw for it, but logistically, I don’t think it would work [in Australia].”

Moors also talks about the start of his career, Craig Bellamy and Samoa’s rise in rugby league.

Wests Tigers are pleased to confirm the squads for the upcoming Knock-On Effect NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup competitions.

Both teams will be led by new head coaches in 2024, with former NRL hooker Aaron Payne taking over the Wests Magpies in the NSW Cup, and Leon Latulipe in charge of Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg team after a stint as Manly Sea Eagles U/21s coach last year.

Both teams will be bolstered by players who completed pre-season with Wests Tigers’ NRL squad heading into the 2024 season.

From the NSW Cup Magpies, Declan Casey, Josh Finau, Nick Lui-Toso, Reuben Porter and Sione Vaihu took part in the Wests Tigers NRL pre-season, as did Jersey Flegg players Cayne Nicholas and Iverson Matai.

Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg Cup kicks off their season on Saturday, March 9 when they take on newcomers Kaiviti Silktails at Lidcombe Oval.

The NSW Cup Magpies kick off their season in Canberra against the Raiders on Saturday, March 16.

Zakariya Agbere, Vaka Aho, Tristyn Ball, Lachlan Broederlow, Zakauri Clarke, Joshua Coinakis, Matthew Curl, Joseph Delle, Cale Edmed, Tom Fisher, Ma’u Fonua Fotu, Fangavalu Hammond, Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere, Bailey Hodges, John Ibrahim, Joseph Jabar, Jai Langlands Doi, Ofele Lene, Will Malloy, Iverson Matai, Adam Mehrez, Brenden Naicori, Finnley Neilsen, Cayne Nicholas, Elijah Pettit Young, Flynn Pickering, Junior Taungatua, Shaquille Tavita, Naati Teaupa, Herman Tofaeono, John Tuipolotu, Kobie Wilson, Tutonu Junior Wright

A word from the coach: Leon Latulipe

Firstly, I am privileged to have such a solid team of staff who are so dedicated in preparing our players for the big stage. Our success as staff will be judged on what we can do to promote these players to the next level.

This squad is an even mix of contracted players and train/trialists who have all have been producing good results throughout the preseason.

Our focus in pre-season was on fundamentals, skills and being clinical with the ‘little things’.

From a physical performance perspective our players have been tracking well with the strength and conditioning work and I have been impressed with what some of our boys have produced in that area.