TORFAEN Tigers have joined forces with Warrington Wolves to provide young Welsh talent with a route to the Super League.

The Tigers, along with Wales Rugby League officials, visited the Halliwell Jones Stadium last Friday ahead of a crushing home win against Huddersfield for the start of an official partnership with the Wolves.

The link-up aims to develop coaches and players, raise the profile of both clubs and build the rugby league community in Wales.

It will offer youngsters access to a pathway which can lead to semi-professional rugby league with the West Wales Raiders, but also the opportunity to rise all the way up to the Super League.

Tigers chairman Matthew Cummins said: “We at Torfaen are excited about this partnership and it is a huge stride forward for the club which will no doubt give everyone a big lift going into the first round of the season next weekend.”

The new pathway will include a talent identification process guided by both the Tigers and Warrington age grade/academy coaches in which talented players will be invited to trial with the Wolves at their impressive facilities.

Players will also be identified when the Tigers’ age-grade teams play against their current Wolves’ age grades sides and through games against other Warrington partnership clubs.

As well as player development, the Tiger’s coaches will benefit from the partnership as they will be under the guidance of the Warrington coaches.

The Wolves staff will be holding development events with Tiger’s coaches as well as coaching roadshows and fun days where both teams’ coaches will have the chance to coach alongside each other.

With a rugby league powerhouse such as Warrington, it is inevitable the profile of the sport in Torfaen will grow and in turn this will help grow the rugby league community.

This will be further enhanced by the presence of Warrington representatives at events which Torfaen will run and the possibility of joint events between the two teams in the future.

Neil Kelly, Warrington Wolves Foundation director, said “We are hugely excited about forming this partnership and developing closer links to support the development of rugby league in Wales.”