The West Tigers are reportedly set to lose assistant coach and NSW Cup head coach Wayne Lambkin to the Manly Sea Eagles.
One of the most experienced coaches in rugby league, Lambkin joined the Wests Tigers in 2019, taking over as the club's Jersey Flegg coach. He would then be promoted as the head coach of the Tigers' NSW Cup side, the Western Suburbs Magpies, in 2022.
Now, per The Sydney Morning Herald, he is set to depart the Wests Tigers to join the Manly Sea Eagles as the 'Benji Marshall Era' begins.
His arrival to the Tigers came after he carved a successful coaching path at Westfield Sports High School for two decades. The school is continually recognised as one of the best sporting schools in New South Wales and has produced multiple talents over the years.
The list of talents includes former and current NRL players Pat Richards, Israel Folau, Bryce Gibbs, Dene Halatau, Stefano Utoikamanu, Tommy Talau and David Klemmer, to name a few.
His coaching career also includes being the head coach of the North Sydney Bears NSW Cup team from 2006 to 2015 and helping guide the Manly Sea Eagles to the U20s title in 2017, in which they defeated the Parramatta Eels in the Grand Final.
Surprisingly, Manly enforcer Haumole Olakau'atu was one of the 17 Sea Eagles players that featured in the game..
In an interview on the Tigers website earlier this year, Wayne Lambkin revealed the best part of his job as a coach was helping the younger players on their way to make their first-grade debut.
“There are broadly three types of players in reserve grade,” Lambkin says.
“You get the first-grade player that doesn't want to be in reserve grade, and you get the guy who is a very good player but who might not ever play first-grade.
"Then there are the juniors coming through who are bypassing reserve grade and on to first grade."
Before he began his coaching career, Lambkin was a former player, having appeared in 18 games for the Western Suburbs Magpies between 1987 and 1988 in the second-row position. However, in both of the years he played in first grade, the Magpies would claim the Wooden Spoon.