Nofoaluma saga finally comes to an end
It’s been no secret that David Nofoaluma was unhappy at Wests Tigers. According to some reports, the veteran winger has wanted out for years.
The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis told SEN 1170 “I’m not exaggerating — years” when asked about how long it’s been since Nofoaluma fell out of favour at Wests Tigers.
According to Carayannis and other sources, the dispute came out of Nofoaluma’s desire to leave the club once it was clear Tigers were going to be one of the NRL’s basement boys.
The winger had a move lined up to join Melbourne Storm in 2023, after a successful loan at the club during the 2022 season. However, Tigers were unwilling to negotiate on Nofoaluma’s existing salary, which further damaged his relationship with the club.
Once back at Tigers, Nofoaluma reportedly showed up late to training sessions and even completely skipped out on training on several occasions. He was issued multiple breach notices, but refused to change his ways.
Eventually, Benji Marshall, Tigers head coach, “drew a line in the sand” and demanded Nofoaluma leave the club. This led to Tigers and Nofoaluma agreeing to a buyout deal reportedly worth $300,000.
Nofoaluma has not signed with a new club yet, but it’s expected that there will be many suitors for his signature.
Tigers drama rumbles on
You’d be hard pressed to find an NRL club who’s had a more messy offseason than Wests Tigers.
The club finished the 2023 NRL season as Wooden Spoon winners for the second year in a row. This led to the fans demanding an independent review to examine all club operations. Ownership agreed to commission such a review. The results of which came out in December and resulted in the entire Tigers board stepping down.
Amid all of this Tigers, and specifically Benji Marshall, were involved in a very public pursuit of Penrith Panthers’ Jarome Luai. This pursuit ended in success and Luai will join Panthers in 2025.
Marshall in total control of Wests Tigers
The offseason drama at Wests Tigers have dominated headlines all season. Quietly under all that noise, Tigers boss Benji Marshall has been gaining more and more power at the club. With the old board gone and an interim CEO in place, the Tigers legend seems to have an extreme level of control over club operations.
Whether it was personally handling the Jarome Luai capture, playing a role in firing Tigers’ former recruitment boss Scott Fulton, or pushing Nofoaluma out the door, Marshall has played a big role in Tigers’ moves this offseason.
The third year boss has yet to deliver any success to the Tigers’ faithful yet, so allowing him such a big role is a risky decision by the club’s ownership. We probably won’t know whether it was the right decision to give Marshall so much power until after the 2025 NRL season, if Tigers give him that much time at least.
