Image: J.B Photography

West Harbour veteran Sonny Satuala is certain that 2024 will be the year the Pirates break their Shute Shield finals drought and return to knockout footy for the first time since 2013. 

The 32-year old had just moved in to grade when West Harbour last featured in the first grade playoffs and seems confident that more than a decade later, West Harbour are ready to return. 

“It’s happening this year, I really believe it,” Satuala told Rugby News.  

“Back in colts I played in a grand final with West Harbour and it was such an unreal experience. I’d love to play finals with this group. It would be a great achievement and a bit of a relief to be honest after a lot of heard work from everyone at the club. 

“I’ve been around for a while now but I think this group of boys is more than capable of doing it.”

Under new coach Cam Treloar, West Harbour finished 9th last season but lost seven games by seven points or less. 

“There were only really two games when the scoreboard blew out a bit,” Satuala explained.  

“Besides that, all our other losses were super tight, even against the likes of Randwick and Sydney Uni. 

“I’d like to think we’ve learnt from that though. We need to start our games better because we know we can score plenty of points, we just can’t give teams big head starts like we did last season.”

Satuala was full of praise for the impact Treloar has had on the club over the last 18 months, particularly after getting the prop to somewhat enjoy preseason for a second straight season, something he’d rarely done before throughout his 15-year senior rugby career. 

“Cam has managed to make preseason and the offseason fun by making everything super competitive. Everything we do is a game and that helps us clock five, six, seven kilometres in the legs without really noticing we’re doing it. 

“His communication is fantastic as well. He seems to know exactly what each player needs in terms of feedback and has a way to get his message across differently to different people. 

“Plus he still lets me crack jokes as well. It’s not too serious all the time.”

West Harbour open their season with matches against Easts, Western Sydney, Manly and Norths in the opening month and Satuala is confident his side will be right in the mix in all four matches. 

“We’ve just got to score some early points to take the pressure off ourselves. We know our best rugby is good enough, we just have to do it consistently each week and across the season. 

“I just think this is our year to take our next big step as a club, I really do believe it.”