It's been a long and tough journey for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles, but the stage is set for their inaugural NSW Cup finals appearance on Saturday, September 2.
Blacktown Workers take on the Canberra Raiders in an elimination semi-final at North Sydney Oval after finishing the regular season in fifth place. Canberra finished one point ahead in fourth place.
The finals match is a proud moment for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles and their supporters, officials and players, with the fifth place their best ever result.
It will also be the first finals appearance of a Sea Eagles team in the NSW Cup finals since Manly qualified in 2015.
Manly formed a partnership with the Blacktown Workers Junior Rugby League Football Club in July 2016 to enter a team under the name of Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles for the NSW Cup in 2017.
Following a successful blue print used by other NRL Clubs in forming a joint venture with NSW feeder clubs, the original partnership was for four years, but was later extended to its current deal. Home games continue to be shared between Blacktown's home ground of H.E Laybutt Field and 4 Pines Park.
After a few lean years that included Blacktown Workers twice picking up the wooden spoon, the Club has fired in 2023 under new Head Coach Greg Boulous and Assistant Coach Brock Shepperd.
With plenty of added depth from the Manly NRL squad available, and a closer and supportive working relationship with Sea Eagles Head Coach Anthony Seibold, Blacktown Workers have thoroughly deserved their place in the 2023 finals series, having won 13 of 24 matches under the captaincy of hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong.
They also claimed some big scalps along the way with victories over minor premiers North Sydney Bears (36-30), third placed Warriors (32-12), as well as beating Canberra twice (19-12, 24-18).
Furthermore, Blacktown Workers also have the NSW Cup's leading tryscorer in exciting winger Clayton Faulalo, who finished the regular season with 29 tries.
Kick-off against Canberra at North Sydney Oval is 3pm.
| Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles NSW Cup History | Year | Finish/Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Bye | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 10th/12 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 22 | |
| 2018 | 9th/12 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 22 | |
| 2019 | 12th/12 | 22 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 17 | |
| 2020 | Competition abandoned after Rd 1 (Covid Pandemic) | |||||||
| 2021 | 10th/11 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 20 | |
| 2022 | 12th/12 | 22 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2023 | 5th/13 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 32 |
