Behind The Roar

On the final episode of the 2024 season, we speak to Head Of Football Matthew Betsey.

In a special edition of Behind The Roar, Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson sets the record straight about some key issues at the club ahead of Friday’s sold-out match against the Eels at Campbelltown.

On this week’s episode of BTR, as we celebrate Wests Tigers 25th season in the NRL, we chat to the team’s very first coach and Balmain Tigers legend, Wayne Pearce.

Junior’ covers plenty of ground as our NRL and NRLW teams prepare for big games at Leichhardt Oval over the next few days.

On this week’s episode of BTR we chat to Wests Tigers Player #287 Reuben Porter, who made his NRL debut this season at the age of 27.

After eight seasons in the NSW Cup, Reuben had almost given up on his dream to play NRL, before a call from Benji changed all that.

This is a story about a perseverance and patience, about belief and self-doubt, about a guy who put ambition on the backburner only to fall back in love with the game.

After uprooting and moving from New Zealand to Sydney as a 17-year-old, it didn’t quite go according to plan for Reuben.  

Recruited by the Roosters, and then the Raiders, he found himself stuck behind some very good players.  Then a snapped Achilles, then a thing called Covid, and then a rethink about how he would pay the bills.

He talks about rediscovering his love of footy when playing with his mates at North Sydney last year, and about the biggest challenges he’s faced in stepping up from NSW Cup to NRL.

Reuben explains how important ‘attention to detail’ is at NRL level, and the ‘domino effect’ on your team if you happen to ‘miss your assignment’.  

He talks about the pride he felt when making his long-awaited NRL debut, and offers great advice to others who, like him, may think their big opportunity has passed them by.

Reuben also details what it means to him and his family to represent the Cook Islands, saying he’d love to again play in the Pacific Championships at the end of the season.

Away from footy, we chat about the perfect steak, the LA Clippers, and a whole lot more.

On this week’s episode of BTR we chat to Wests Tigers Player #291 Tim Johannssen, who made his NRL debut last week against the Cowboys. BTR is proudly sponsored by Pro Wrestling Australia. This is a story about a young fella who walked away from rugby league, giving up on a childhood dream, who was then called back to give it another crack. A young man of strong faith, Tim reveals how he wandered down a wayward path, making poor choices, and taking wrong turns. A strong and talented athlete, the Swiss-born 22-year-old had attracted plenty of interest from NRL scouts, but the hunger had gone. Tim talks openly about his struggles, his faith, his family, and the tumultuous journey that landed him at Leichhardt for his NRL debut in Round 22. It’s a captivating story about belief, self-knowledge, resilience, and hard work.

In episode 60 of Behind The Roar we speak to Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson.

On this week’s episode of Behind the Roar we chat to the Fainu brothers who last weekend became the first trio of brothers to play NRL together for Wests Tigers.

It’s not often three brothers all get to play NRL, yet alone at the same time, and in the same team. So rare in fact, only ten times have three or more brothers played together in the same team in the past 100 years.Last weekend Latu, Samuela and Sione Fainu created a slice of history when they suited up together against the Rabbitohs in Gosford, and they’ll be at it again on Friday against the Warriors in Auckland.

Two of them made their NRL debut with Wests Tigers this season, while the other made his NRL debut against Wests Tigers last season.In an odd twist of fate, Latu and Sione played their very first NRL game against the same opposition, at the very same venue, yet some seven weeks apart.

We talk footy, family, and a whole lot more. Three good young men who differ in shape, size and personality, but who share the strongest of bonds as brothers.

This week’s episode of Behind The Roar is a special State of Origin preview as we count down to Wednesday’s series decider at Suncorp Stadium.

In this episode of BTR we speak to NRLW co-captains Botille Vette-Welsh and Kezie Apps.

On this week’s episode of Behind the Roar we chat to Wests Tigers Player #281, Justin Olam, ahead of the team’s Round 18 match against Melbourne Storm.Adored in his homeland Papua New Guinea, Olam has also developed a big following here in Australia since his arrival in 2017, following six seasons with the Storm.

‘Juzzie’, who didn’t start playing rugby league until he went to university, tells us about how he had to learn on the run when he first joined Melbourne, admitting he knew very little about the game.

It was a steep learning curve, eventually developing one of the most powerful centres in the game, admired for his sheer ferocity, and feared for his ------ We talk about the evolution of footy in PNG, the chat with Benji that lured him to Wests Tigers, and the ‘little things’ in a game which have big consequences.

We also chat about his upbringing, his education, his love of nature and a whole lot more.