Matterson and Momirovski chasing opportunities

Wests Tigers recruit Ryan Matterson said greater opportunity to prove his worth as an NRL player was central to his decision to leave the premiership-winning Roosters. 

In Saturday's season-opener against Manly, Matterson and fellow ex-Rooster Paul Momirovski will be keen to justify their new club's decision to lure them from Bondi.

Matterson told pan66.com that his switch to the Wests Tigers was made easier by the fact Momirovski was also along for the ride.  

"More opportunities was the only reason why we wanted to leave the Roosters. It's such a great club but opportunity wise we weren't able to develop our game individually," Matterson said.

"Paul signed a couple of weeks before me and at that point I knew I was going to sign so it made me feel relieved - it was a first day of school kind of thing [at Wests Tigers], I've got a friend.

"I asked him what he was thinking when he was going through to process of signing and he was really keen which gave me confidence in my decision.

"We both know this is the best place to build our game right now and I believe that on and off the field the Wests Tigers are going to bring out the best in me."

Momirovski made his NRL debut in the Roosters' round 18 victory over the Gold Coast Titans before the 22-year-old was a shock inclusion the side that beat South Sydney 12-4 in the 2018 preliminary final.  

Momirovski scored a try in both of those matches and is hoping to keep that trend going on Saturday.  

"Getting the chance to play in round one was what I was aiming for - I'm really excited about it," Momirovski said.

"The couple of games I played last year with the Roosters really helped me with my confidence.

"In saying that it has been a long time since then and everyone's been training hard this pre-season and it's a new year so anything can happen."

The Wests Tigers proved too good for the Sea Eagles on the two occasions they met in 2018, trashing them 38-12 in round six and claiming a 22-20 victory in round 24.  

As well as playing his first NRL game in new colours, Matterson will play at Leichhardt Oval for the first time.

"Leichhardt Oval – its got so much history behind it," Matterson said.

"I've never had the opportunity to play an NRL match there before so I can't wait to run out on that field on Saturday."