Traditionally, Wests Tigers have found wins hard to come by in the NRLW.
The joint venture has endured difficult times since it entered the competition three years ago.
Before this season they’d won just five of their 29 matches and never more than two in a single campaign.
They entered 2026 on the back of consecutive wooden spoons and most pundits predicted more of the same.
But Craig Sandercock’s side has emerged as the success story of the season, winning six of eight matches thus far — more than they’ve won in the rest of their existence combined — to sit third on the ladder with three rounds remaining.
Only Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters, the two premiership favourites, have managed to lower their colours, and their most recent win, a one-point triumph over Newcastle courtesy of a last-minute field goal in an instant classic, showed just how far they’ve come.
According to backrower Shaylee Bent, who joined the club this season from Gold Coast, losing such games used to be a Tigers trademark.
“I’ll be honest, they’d finished bottom of the table two years in a row and from playing them they could be in the fight but they’d always lose late,” she said.
“They never had the experience to win the moments that really count.
“The girls who have been here in the past, they have all the potential in the world but now they have those experienced players around them they can do what they’re best at.
“That clarity lets them be good at what they’re good at.”
Bent is playing some of the best football of her career at the Tigers. (Getty Images: Ian Hitchcock)
Bent is one of those experienced players, having played in three grand finals and for New South Wales and Australia during her career.
Along with fellow recruits such as halfback Raecene McGregor and lock forward Holli Wheeler, she’s helped spearhead a turnaround that has the Tigers on the brink of their first ever NRLW finals series.
In doing so, Bent is playing the best football of her life — better than anything she produced on the more star-studded rosters she enjoyed at St George Illawarra and Gold Coast when she was a New South Wales and Jillaroos regular.
She’s scored as many tries this season as in her last four years combined and is putting up career highs for run metres per game, tackles per game, line breaks and tackle busts.
Bent says she’s taken it on herself to be a leader for the young Tigers side and the responsibility clearly agrees with her.
“I’m proud of myself for getting involved more. When I’ve been on good teams with good players around me I’ve let them take the hard runs, take the runs to win the game and things like that,” she said.
“But I’ve found what works for me here.
“I’m in a team where I don’t have all those names around me. I have to be a leader and I’m loving it. I love being that energy bunny and hopefully there’s a ripple effect.”
The addition of Bent and Wheeler, who Bent cites as one of the greatest influences on the team’s all-effort mentality, has rounded out a strong pack that includes wrecking machine Sarah Togatuki and ageless wonder Kezie Apps.
Apart from former Dally M winner and three-time NRLW champion McGregor, the rest of the roster is filled mainly with up-and-comers who went through those hard times and are now daring to dream of something greater.
“They might not have the experience of players like Kezie, but they aspire to be like her and we’re still growing together,” Bent said.
“We have so much young depth and in the years to come they’re going to be where we are.
“Sandy isn’t just prepping them to play for one week. He’s developing them.”
The Tigers are fixing to be a club that relies on local juniors, but that development isn’t restricted to youngsters.
Caitlin Turnbull is one of Wests Tigers biggest success stories. (Getty Images: Brett Hemmings )
Caitlin Turnbull, who made her NRLW debut last year at 25, has experienced another strong season at fullback, and rugby union convert Faythe Manera is enjoying success as a backline utility in her first season in league as the club’s equal-top scorer.
But the greatest challenges, for them and the rest of the side, are still to come.
A win over Canterbury this weekend will lock up a finals berth, but they’ll face Gold Coast — who seem the team most likely to break the Roosters and Broncos hegemony — and fellow finals aspirants Canberra to round out the regular season.
Bent’s top-level experience will prove vital for a club who is experiencing the heady glories of premiership contention for the first time.
“Some of these girls haven’t had a taste of that before. I might have taken it for granted in the past but for these girls it’s so massive,” Bent said.
“I’m so grateful to be here at the Tigers, because we can be a part of history.”
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