The West Tigers vs Gold Coast Titans Game At Campbelltown Tomorrow Will Be Absolutely Massive

If there's one NRL game you wanna see this year it is tomorrow's West Tigers vs Gold Coast Titans clash at Campbelltown Sports Stadium. Here's a few reasons why this will be one of the games of the season:

Jarryd Hayne Returns To His C-Town Houso Roots

What a couple of seasons it's been for Campbelltown's favourite son, Jarryd Hayne. After turning his back on his beloved Parramatta Eels to pursue a career in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers he returned to rugby league last week with the Gold Coast Titans in the most high-pressure of circumstances. With the Titans building nicely and poised on the edge of making the finals, Hayne made his return in a top eight pressure cooker with the New Zealand Warriors. He performed remarkably considering the circumstances though the Titans ultimately lost. Hayne will line up in his less-favoured position of 5/8 this week in a game of equal if not greater intensity with the Titans and Tigers neck and neck on the ladder just outside the top eight.

How Good Can The Tigers Get, Post-Farah?

It's one of the most scandalous player vs coach feuds in recent memory. Jason Taylor's decision, in his first full season at the club, to sack Tiger's hooker and NSW origin stalwart, Robbie Farah three games shy of his 250th for the club was nothing short of brutal (read the full story on Vice here). But Tigers have been unstoppable since, racking up three wins on the trot, including last week's gritty win over Jonathan Thurston's Cowboys in a Leichardt Oval classic. Can they make it four? And if they do what will be Farah's fate for a club and community he first represented as a six year old at the Leichardt Wanderers?

The Hayne Plane vs James 'Teddy' Tedesco

Two of the brightest stars in rugby league will go head to head on Saturday in what will be an appetiser to one of the great positional duals set to take place over the coming years. Hayne will be lining up in his less favoured 5/8 playmaking role but a switch to fullback has been mooted by coach Neil Henry in the not too distant future. From there he will hope to get his form back to the level which made him near unstoppable at State Of Origin level. He will have to knock Tiger's fullback James 'Teddy' Tedesco from his perch, however. Selectors and fans alike will be watching the duo's performance keenly.

The Battle For A Spot In The Top Eight

With three teams on 24 points (The Tigers, New Zealand Warriors, and Penrith Panthers) a win at Campbelltown for the Titans (23 points and tenth on the ladder) could be enough to get them into the eight as soon as this week and launch their finals campaign. They sold out Gold Coast Stadium last week on the back of Hayne's return and have already discussed extending his two year contract on the back of one game for the club. The five year old franchise need a strong finish after a series of scandals in previous seasons, including a player-led cocaine ring, salary cap breach, wooden spoon, and debt issue in the tens of millions of dollars.

The Tigers will be looking to validate coach Taylor's decision to axe Farah and enter a new era of youth and dazzling creativity led by the halves/fullback trio of Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and James Tedesco.