Chris Lawrence

One of the Wests Tigers best players of the modern era, Chris Lawrence has had the ups and the downs during his time at the club.

But in a boost for both Lawrence and the club moving forward, the Tigers vice-captain has signed a new 3-year deal with the club.

The 27-year old made his club debut in 2006 and since then, has played in 175 games in Wests Tigers colours and sits on 72 total tries – second on the Tigers all-time list.

With an aim to become a one-club man, Lawrence is pleased to have re-signed with the club.

“It’s very exciting to re-sign with the Club for the next three years,” Lawrence said.

“I’m really pleased to be able to stay at Wests Tigers and hopefully I can become a one-Club player.

“It’s a really good group of players here at Wests Tigers, we are tight bunch of guys and all get on with each other really well, so I’m looking forward to continuing that over the next few years.

“I’ve really enjoyed the vice-captaincy role this year, I definitely see myself as a leader in this group as it’s a pretty young squad.”

2016 marked the first year that Lawrence has become a back-rower and he admits that he still has much to learn about the role and wants to keep getting better.

“On an individual level, this is my first year as a full-time back rower, so I really want to grow and develop my game in that position – hopefully I can keep improving with each game I play there,” Lawrence said.

“From a team perspective, I want to get Wests Tigers back into the top eight, and the top four, because that’s where we should be,” he said.

Lawrence does work for the club both on and off the field and his exhaustive efforts drew praise from Wests Tigers CEO, Justin Pascoe.

“Chris is an excellent ambassador for the Wests Tigers’ brand,” Pascoe said.

“He is a very hard-working individual, both on and off the field, so we are very pleased to have him commit to the Club for three more seasons.

“Chris is a great leader amongst the playing group and is very active in the Wests Tigers’ community, including the important role he plays as one of the Club’s beyondblue ambassadors,” he said.

Those sentiments were echoed by Tigers coach, Jason Taylor.

“Chris is an absolute pleasure to have at the Club,” Taylor said.

“He’s an out and out professional who turns up every day and prepares himself in the absolute best possible way. He sets a great example for the younger players at the Club and we are very happy and excited about the future with Chris continuing to be one of our leaders.

“The thing with Chris is that he puts his body on the line every single week and plays with every ounce of energy that he has.

“His move to the backrow has been a really positive one, he has enjoyed it, and he is actually getting better as time goes on when it comes to knowing that role,” he said.

By ricky

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.