Tigers are cashed up and ready to spend
The Wests Tigers showed signs of improvement in the loss to Melbourne on Saturday night.
It’s interesting to note they are playing around $1m under the salary cap in 2022. The Tigers are forking out about $400,000 for Moses Mbye to play at the Dragons, while they also have close to $600,000 in unused salary cap space this year given their previous struggles in recruitment.
The Tigers are keeping a close eye on the player market in the hope of a mid-season signing, although they could choose to pay some of their current players in advance and free up more money to add to the 2023 signings of Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i.
They had discussed pursuing Jack Bird but decided against making an offer. They are interested in Cronulla backrower Briton Nikora, who is off contract at the end of the year.
Saturday night’s loss continues a horrible run for the Tigers at CommBank Stadium, recording their 11th loss in 16 games at the venue in Parramatta.
This is their final year of their commitment to play a minimum of four home games at the new facility in Parramatta.
The club is moving towards finalising their home grounds for next season, and it appears as though they will play eight games a season at Campbelltown as part of their focus on reconnecting to the south-west. That will leave the club with four home games at Leichhardt Oval each season.
The Eels have met with Jack Bird, but the Dragons have just tabled a $1.1 million deal to keep him at the Red V.
www.smh.com.au