Seagulls Academy graduate and local junior Reece Hoffman will make his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers tonight.
The Bayside local played for both Wynnum Juniors and Redlands Juniors and attended Alexandra Hills State High School.
Hoffman has come up through the grades in the Seagulls Academy, playing Cyril Connell Cup, Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup and Hastings Deering Colts, before making his Intrust Super Cup debut in Round 22 of the 2019 season.
A powerfully built centre, Hoffman’s rise is a testament to his hard work and dedication after being overlooked for representative squads as a youth until he made the Queensland Under 18s last year.
Seagulls Academy Manager Glen Dreger is incredibly proud of Hoffman and like a lot of people on the Bayside, will be excitedly watching him play against the Rabbitohs tonight.
“Reece is a very dedicated young man who gave himself every chance to play in the NRL through his great work ethic and attitude.
The fact that he has pushed himself to earn a debut at only 19 years old shows how much effort he has put in and the trust that Michael Maguire has in him.
Everyone at the Seagulls will be watching tonight and cheering on one of our own.”