David Nofoaluma #164

[barra]

I have seen Nofoalama play fullback in his under 20 team with the club. The bonus is that he is quite a safe fullback with speed, capable of filling that position if the need arises. With the wingers we have signed/likely to sign this season he could easily find himself playing fullback when the need arises.

The last time Nofo played fullback was our last game due to the Benji injury... and he went quite okay from what I saw?
So I agree, he does offer cover for fullback and we're pretty thin there.

But we've been thin at fullback since Tedesco left. I have to assume that if Nofa hasn't been used there by now he's probably not viewed as a plausible option by the coaching staff.

Well no doubt the club see him as a specialist winger, but my point is that he does offer cover there and that looked acceptable last time he had to fill the role.
Yes we've been thin there for a while and certainly no better this year.

 

[Spud_Murphy]

Love his loyalty to what has been a very average club for his entire career. I hope he is rewarded with a Premiership ring or at least a finals berth within that 4 years.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Heart and soul of the club. Will finish his career with 250 games plus for the club and will be the clubs all time leading try scorer by a mile. Club legend.

 

[Krammy]

I am extremely pleased with the resigning of Nofa. There is a lot of positive energy at the club at the moment. I agree with some posters that he could be given a shot at fullback, although I do not have any idea how he has performed in this role in the past.

 

[TheDaBoss]

@hobbo1 favourite spook.player

 

[hammertime]

Lee finally lands one he's talked up in the media!

He's now 1 from 3. On par with the Tigers win percentage.

Very happy to see Noffa stay. It sends an important message about loyalty and the love for the club too, which we'll want when we have players we want to stay.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I'm reasonably confident the club wouldn't have paid overs on him.

Time to deliver on that deal Dave.

 

[JC99]

The contract is probably an overpay in its last year or two, and I'd have preferred it to only extend to the end of 2023 instead of 2024 (or possibly 2025 if the club option story is incorrect). It's certainly the duration more than the (reported) dollar value that bothers me.

But let's keep this in perspective - calling this a Packer/Reynolds sized disaster is a ridiculous overstatement. For one thing, the annual dollar value is reported to be barely half what those two got. For another, those two were past it when they arrived and never contributed anything on the park - not once. Barring injury, there's no reason why Nofa can't be a good to very good winger for at least another three years.

The other thing to consider is that the Tigers have to spend their money somewhere. We haven't had the best track record of persuading free agents to sign of late and there's a good chance we're going to go into 2021 well below the cap - and with more coming off before 2022. We've got precisely one established winger in the squad. The options weren't re-sign Nofa or use the money to get, I dunno, Cameron Munster. We went hard after JAC and at least kicked the tyres on Mansour. What other good first grade wingers were we about to sign?

Great post mate completely agree. We might be overpaying a little in his final years, but it won’t be a massive thing that ruins our cap. It also shown the NRL world we CAN hold onto good players

 

[facepalmer]

This is awesome news. A great player. Professional clubman. Someone who works hard and bleeds for the club. Remember this is a bloke that Madge DROPPED and that came back afterwards and was our player of the year and Dally M Winger of the Year a season later. Re-signing him was necessary as it says a ton about our culture, our club and our coach.

Anyone complaining about this needs to pull their head out of the sand and actually be a supporter for once instead of a Chicken Little sky is falling dipstick all the time. This is one of the greatest Tigers of all time, our current best damn player and he re-signed in his prime on a reasonable contract. If you're gonna complain about this then I feel bad for those around you honestly.

 

[facepalmer]

Like I am bewildered that there are people even remotely critical of this decision. If Nofoaluma signed elsewhere it would have been a crime and the entire league world would have roundly mocked us and rightly so.

 

[JC99]

Madge loves Nofa and Nofa loves Madge. He talked on a podcast about how happy he was that after he was dropped by Madge he managed to work his way back into the team, then has a fabulous season in 2020 and earned respect from the coach to the point where Madge was saying ‘Dave isn’t going anywhere’

That’s the kind of attitude we’ve been crying out for our team to have for years and he’s the best at it.

 

[JayT]

Great news yay!

 

[earl]

But let’s keep this in perspective - calling this a Packer/Reynolds sized disaster is a ridiculous overstatement. For one thing, the annual dollar value is reported to be barely half what those two got. For another, those two were past it when they arrived and never contributed anything on the park - not once.

I think everyone should relax over this signing. He has been great for us. Sure he has had some problems defensively but he isn't that bad. We used to hide Benji on the wing. It's not like it's a critical defensive position. If they score down his wing typically it went wrong a long time previously.

We should remember that this is less than 500k per season. It's not a small contract but it's not going to break the bank. He also contributes a lot to our team.

If he can maintain his form then it's a good signing.

 

[Needaname]

The Wests Tigers have landed a major signing coup with Dally M winger of the year David Nofoaluma inking a four-year extension to keep him at the club until the end of 2025. "The deal was sealed with a game of golf and dinner with Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis"

Lee learns Quick

Are you suggesting Lee has been taking tips from Nick as to how to tune up his golf game?

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Never in doubt, glad to see him running around with us for the rest of his career.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

Lol . As long as it’s 4 for 2 million or below . Who gives a rats but hole! That’s his value . I was fine to let him walk if he wanted the 600k reported . I was fine to pay him 500k . Either way I’m happy this is resolved . Now we can move on to getting Angus Chrichton over the line . As I honestly think that lock/ edge back rower are our only long term weakness . As we have Madden , Brooks, Doueihi , Tannous , the young kiwi half we just signed , in the halves and Laurie and Dillon , at fullback . And honestly I actually think with Simpkins and that Tuilagi , and the Big Fijian from the sharks , we probably have edge back towers sorted in the next few years as well. Just basically lock now . There is some talent in this club now . It hasn’t looked this stacked in a long time . If anyone knows MLB , it’s like we have a Tampa Bay/ Seattle Mariners farm system , with some absolute guns on the way .

 

[twentyforty]

Like I am bewildered that there are people even remotely critical of this decision. If Nofoaluma signed elsewhere it would have been a crime and the entire league world would have roundly mocked us and rightly so.

😂 they can mock even harder? 😝

 

[WT2K]

Glad it's resolved.

 

[earl]

Lol . As long as it’s 4 for 2 million or below . Who gives a rats but hole! That’s his value . I was fine to let him walk if he wanted the 600k reported . I was fine to pay him 500k . Either way I’m happy this is resolved . Now we can move on to getting Angus Chrichton over the line . As I honestly think that lock/ edge back rower are our only long term weakness . As we have Madden , Brooks, Doueihi , Tannous , the young kiwi half we just signed , in the halves and Laurie and Dillon , at fullback . And honestly I actually think with Simpkins and that Tuilagi , and the Big Fijian from the sharks , we probably have edge back towers sorted in the next few years as well. Just basically lock now . There is some talent in this club now . It hasn’t looked this stacked in a long time . If anyone knows MLB , it’s like we have a Tampa Bay/ Seattle Mariners farm system , with some absolute guns on the way .

I'm worried about the fullback role. Who is Dillon ?

The Nofo signing to me is fine as well. These aren't the contracts that kill you. We've had guys on top dollar who aren't first graders. Nofo is a quality first grader. He adds a lot to our side.

We need to be honest we have to be picked as a bottom 4 side for next season. I can see us outperforming significantly though and improving year on year if we can retain the players that come good.

 

[Needaname]

So it’s 4 more years plus a 5th option? If we include 2021-2022 season?

3 years starting 2022
1st 2023
2nd 2024
3rd 2025

Usually when the club says at least until, it means there is an extra year as player or club.

So don’t be surprised to see Nofa running around in our 2026 season.