After losing a host of players to professional opportunities and a few to rival Shute Shield clubs, a new look Western Sydney Two Blues remained in the mix this year but were unable to break the club’s first grade finals drought.

Despite that, a number of individuals starred for the Two Blues and the club continues to improve on and off the field.

Overview with Sailosi Tagicakibau: 

“It was a really tough season and not the year that we were hoping for. It’s a really tough competition and credit needs to go to the other sides for raising the standard again,” Tagicakibau said.

“We started the year quite well but then lost our way just after the halfway point of the season and never really got our consistency back after that.

“Against Easts at home, we were leading at one stage and then they blew us away and that was the way our season panned out.

“A lot of our games were like that. We were in it and were competitive, but we fell away at the end.

“It was a frustrating season but we still need to appreciate how far we’ve come as a club in recent years and then strive to get better.

“Coming into the 2024 season, we set our expectations high but we knew the competition would improve again. We lost a few players but that created opportunities for guys like Abel Magalogo, David Meki, Heremoni Nepo and Christian Papa, who finished the year as the competition’s top try scorer.

“We’re really happy with the stability we’ve got off the field at the club now. We’ve recruited heavily to bring top class coaches to the club.

“We’ve also got a great scholarship program in place with Western Sydney University, so there are opportunities here in western Sydney and at the Two Blues.

“We want to take another step forward right across the club next year. We can’t just focus on first grade, we need to connect with our colts and our juniors and make sure we’re competitive in all grades.”

What needs to happen at Western Sydney between now and round one next year?

“I’ve done an extensive review on our performance this year and I think our depth probably cost us a bit this year in both our playing and coaching ranks,” the coach said.

“If we can increase the quality right across our grade and colts programs, it will push higher standards and hopefully build competition for spots.

“That starts with the coaches and we’re confident we’ve got the right people at the club now to help us get to where we want to get to.”

Which of your players do you think can push on? 

“I feel like I say this every year but the Suesue brothers are still knocking on the door and deserve an opportunity somewhere,” the former professional rugby player said.

“They are the best non contracted 9/10 combination in the Shute Shield and were both in the running for the Ken Catchpole Medal this year, even though Reece missed the last few rounds with an injury.

“Both Rilloy and Reece are great assets to our club and to the Shute Shield competition and I know if they get an opportunity in a professional environment, they’ll go to another level again.

“They’ve never trained full time before so who knows how high their ceiling could be.”

What can we expect in 2025? 

“I think you’ll see a more well-rounded game from the Two Blues next year,” the coach said.

“After our review, we were able to identify some areas to work on for next season and I think that’ll help us evolve in our game.

“The most important thing for us though is to make sure we retain the core of our playing group and attract high level coaches to the club to deliver a high quality rugby program and we’ve done that so we’re confident looking ahead to next year.”