Year four for the North West Wolves Rugby League Club is shaping up as one of the biggest in their short history, with a growing junior program and a push into NSW firmly on the agenda.
Since forming, the club has grown to almost 400 players with a strong emphasis on participation and development. Club president Ross Christensen said after consistent growth year-on-year, and having just secured federal ALP leader Bill Shorten as their No. 1 ticket holder, the club had some new goals this season.
“It’s more about consolidating everything, money going into facilities and trying to make sure that 2014 is the year that we deliver on what we should,” Christensen said.
“Our aim is obviously the premiership, we won the second division premiership last year which was good but we want a first division premiership.”
The Wolves have gone a long way towards securing that premiership with some key recruits for the 2014 season. Former Newcastle South half-back Tim Christie has joined the club, along with Phil Salue, Leo Vaiga, Solomon Faalogo, and James and Peter Iese, giving the Wolves some great depth.
The biggest movement at the club however is the push to play in the NSW tier three competition, instead of the Victorian league. The club has been provisionally accepted in to the competition, but needs a funding boost to pay for trips to Sydney for the games. Christensen said the move was a necessary if the club was going to develop players.
“Last year our first grade team only played seven games, so they need more competition,” Christensen said.
“In 100-odd years there’s only been two Victorians have played at the elite level, and part of that’s infrastructure isn’t good enough here to drag them through.”
The Wolves have been on the front foot since their inception in developing their players, sending development squads to Sydney, Tasmania and South Australia for competitive games. They have won almost every game they played across those three series, and also contributed nine of the 17 state representatives last season.
Christensen said the popularity of rugby league in the area was growing, and the Wolves want to be at the forefront of that interest.
“We had an intra-club practice game last year and there was 1500 people there,” Christensen said.
“That’s something that some people don’t understand, that it is actually quite popular.”
*The Wolves are still looking for juniors to fill out their under-six, under-12 and under-18 teams. Contact: northwestwolves@hotmail.com for more info.
