Tim Grant is looking to reinvent his NRL career at Wests Tigers

Tim Grant could prove to be a game changer for Wests Tigers in 2016. In turn, the 27-year-old former Origin player says he hopes the youthful young cubs will help him reinvent his career.

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Tim Grant could prove to be the game-changer the Wests Tigers need in 2016, but the 27-year-old insists it is him who has everything to gain from joining the inner west Sydney club.

Grant will be hoping to impress at his new club, and in their first outing on Saturday against the Warriors, and will be looking to return to the form that earned him a Blues call-up in 2012.

After not spending as much time on the field at the Rabbitohs last year (averaging 37 minutes per game in his 20 appearances), Grant says training at Concord Oval has felt like a fresh start.

“It’s just been great since I joined here,” he said. “The boys have all been really good and there’s a great intensity around training.

Tim Grant played in the 2012 State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Grant is looking forward for the season to start. Photo: Jenny Evans

“The young guys are particularly great. They just bring excitement to everything we do.

“They’ve got a willingness with that excitement, and I can feel that rubbing off on me, and you feel everyone lifting around it.”

Grant said that he thought 2016 would see the coming-of-age of these young Tiger cubs, and that finals footy was definitely at the back of everyone’s minds at the club.

“I think in the last couple of seasons the younger guys have really matured as players,” he said.

“I think we’re starting to see that experience that they’ve built now, and that maturity is across the squad.

“When this starts rolling into game situations, it’ll just make everything easier to execute and we’ll build on that.

“At this stage of the season you can’t be thinking about finals footy, but I think that there’s high expectations and we’ve certainly been training really hard.

“At the end of the day there’s 15 teams that can beat you, but it just comes down to who turns up, the competition is that even.”

The debutant Tiger is a veteran of the game, with 144 NRL appearances since making his debut for the Penrith Panthers in 2007.

He joined Wests after a season at the Rabbitohs, and the Tigers will be looking to him to strengthen the side’s forward pack and fill the shoes of departed prop forward Keith Galloway.

● Wests Tigers will take on the Warriors on Saturday at Campbelltown Stadium, from 5.30pm.

● Use #NRLTigersWarriors to follow the action and keep up to date with all the latest Wests Tigers news at Inner West Courier’s Facebook page.