Ahead of the 2024 NRL season, the Wests Tigers have returned for preseason training under the careful supervision of new head coach Benji Marshall.

On the first day of the club’s pre-Christmas block of training at the Zurich Centre of Excellence, Concord, twenty-six players were put through a rigorous workout.

The club’s strategic emphasis on paths and development is reflected in the fact that two thirds of the players at Monday’s inaugural session were junior locals.

Even though this is a lengthy process that will cost a lot of money, there are a lot of encouraging indicators that the system is functioning.

Seven members of the Western Suburbs team, which just eighteen months ago won the club’s inaugural Harold Matthews Cup, are currently training with the first-grade team. All seven have development contracts or are already in the top-30, or they will be in the coming years.

Kit Laulilii, who made his NRL debut last season alongside colleague Tallyn Da Silva, was captain of the premiership-winning Magpies squad.

Laulilii will sign a development deal in 2024, while Da Silva is one of three Harold Matthews team members who have advanced to a top-30 contract from 2022.

Lachlan Galvin, a 2023 Australian Schoolboys representative, and teenage prop Jordan Miller accompany him.

Heath Mason, another speedster, and Kit’s younger brother, Luke Laulilii, were all members of the Wests Harold Matthews squad.

They were also picked for the Australian Schoolboys this year, much like Galvin, and in 2025 they will advance to the top-30 and development contacts, respectively.

Another Campbelltown native, edge forward Brandon Webster-Mansfield, moves up to the top-30 in 2023 after being on a development contract.