Yeah, that's the final nail in the coffin for me with Nofa. I really loved the bloke for a long time. It felt like he was the heart and soul of Wests Tigers...but I think that's done now. If Benji can't motivate him then I don't know who can. To be honest, him and Douihi are the last of the "completely shithouse" years. Once they are gone, it's basically an entirely new roster under Benji.
I'm going to make the assumption that we have 1 million in the cap spare for 2023. We front loaded the shit out of a lot of players salaries so it really wouldn't surprise me. That's AFB money right there. Then you have Nofa (500k) and Doeuihi (600k). Move them both on and that's Luai's salary in 2024.
My other guess is that we are pushing for Blore / Olam swap, and Melbourne to cover the difference for 2024. In 2025, Luai arrives and we move Sezer on, or at least reduce his deal to cover Olam.
1. Bula
2. Steines
3. To'a
4. Olam
5. Tupou
6. Luai
7. Sullivan
8. Stefano
9. Api
10. AFB
11. Papali'i
12. Bateman
13. Klemmer
14. Da Silva
15. Twal
16. Pole
17. Kepoa/Seyfarth/Fainu
If this all goes well, we will have the best roster in the history of Wests Tigers for 2025. Players like Stefano and Papali'i will want to re-sign, and if they don't, it will be much easier slotting in a young gun into the 2026 side than it was for the past 15 years.
I have a strong feeling we will be making the top 8 of the bottom half this year