Penrith Panthers well and truly have their eye on western rugby league talent but another club is making moves in the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Sydney Roosters have snatched up Bloomfield Tigers duo Ravai Tulevu and Taj Jordan as part of their Harold Matthews Cup squad.
They have been participating in the club's junior pathways for the past two years but have now been signed to development contracts and will make the move to Sydney on Roosters scholarships sometime in the next 12 months.
Tulevu and Jordan were both part of the triumphant Tigers under 15 team in 2023 and those performances, as well as for school-based teams caught the eye of Roosters scouts.
"The Roosters come out here quite a bit now for a look around and they obviously liked how we played," Jordan said.
"Performing well at training and in games and then I think just really working hard here in Orange I think elevated us," Tulevu added.
They will split their time between Roosters (Harold Matthews Cup) and Western Rams (Andrew Johns Cup) and will start the season with the latter before becoming available for the foundation club.
They spent time in December a fortnight a fortnight in December training with the squad, becoming acclimatised to the stronger and faster Sydney players.
Tulevu said he was enjoying learning from some of the best junior players in the state as he chases his own NRL dream.
"Yeah NRL is the goal [long-term]," he said.
"It's good, they take care of you. They let us stay down there for two weeks at the end of last year which was really good.
"Everyone is just switched on and they can create things on their own. They don't need other people telling them what to do.
"They're a lot bigger as well."
"There really is a big difference," Jordan agreed.
