{"id":487569,"date":"2026-02-18T08:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/487569\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:53:08","slug":"former-maori-representative-rewarded-for-strong-preseason-with-nrl-contract-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/487569\/","title":{"rendered":"Former M\u0101ori representative rewarded for strong preseason with NRL contract – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wests Tigers<\/a> have confirmed the signing of outside back Patrick Herbert<\/a> on a two-year deal after he was rewarded for a strong 2026 preseason.<\/p>\n

Herbert was on a train-and-trial deal this offseason in a bid to keep his NRL<\/a> dream alive, and after a clinical performance for the Tigers in their trial last weekend, head coach Benji Marshall<\/a> has pulled the trigger.<\/p>\n

After spending two years in the Illawarra competition, Herbert wanted to test himself back at NRL<\/a> level, and has impressed Tigers staff.<\/p>\n

The former M\u0101ori All-Star representative has played 59 NRL<\/a> games across two stints at the New Zealand Warriors<\/a> and the Gold Coast Titans<\/a>, and will add excellent outside back depth to the Leichardt-based outfit.<\/p>\n

As per Wests Tigers<\/a> media, head coach Marshall was happy with Herbert’s efforts in the preseason and is excited to see him back in his NRL<\/a> system.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick came to the Club on a train and trial deal looking for an opportunity, he impressed the group during the preseason with his professionalism, attitude and character,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick comes to us with NRL<\/a> experience, great leadership and a hard-working nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m really pleased to welcome Patrick and his family to the Wests Tigers<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbert revealed that having spent a few years away from the top grade has made him appreciate the experiences of being in the NRL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m just really grateful to Benji and the Club for giving me an opportunity,\u201d Herbert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving time away from footy has given me a great perspective on how special it is to get another crack at the NRL<\/a>. My body is in a great place, and I’ve been able to grow off the field, which has really helped me during pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m loving life here at the Tigers and playing with these boys, it’s a great environment and you can really feel what we’re building here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I want to do now is repay the faith Benji and the boys have shown in me and contribute to the team however I’m needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Tackle 2026 NRL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 130+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 NRL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wests Tigers have confirmed the signing of outside back Patrick Herbert on a two-year deal after he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-487569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}