35-year-old Robbie Farah has lots to consider, aside from whether or not to play on after this season.
As a sign of respect and gratitude for a club captain and a life member, Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe offered Farah an ambassador role at the West Tigers immediately after his retirement.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the CEO recently returned to his post last week after serving a six-month ban for not declaring Farah's post-football deal with the NRL.
Although many thought Pascoe was hard done by, the Tigers ultimately believed that the NRL did what it had to do, and didn't take the league to court.
The sanction included a fine of $639,000 that was absorbed into their cap this year and next year, along with the ban.
But a rejuvenated CEO said there had been no discussions about an early release with players, while both Farah and Benji Marshall would be given time to make up their minds about their future.
"I felt at the time when I came here the way Robbie was asked to move on, I didn't believe the respect had been shown for someone who had been a part of this club for such a long time, had been a captain and a life member,'' Pascoe said.
"That offer of the ambassador's agreement was a way of showing respect to him.
"The deal is still on the table. I have no idea if Robbie will take it up, and he has a decision to make about his playing career first.
"Robbie and Benji have to make up their minds if they want to go on. Only they will know if they want to play and have an understanding of where their mind and body is.
"Those conversations don't need to happen right now. We're right in the hunt for finals football.''
Meanwhile, there are only eight players who are signed on for 2021 and beyond, with half a dozen spots becoming available next year.
The reality is, if Tigers' coach Michael Maguire wanted to move players on, rival clubs would baulk at the hefty price tags.
The roster Maguire inherited was from Ivan Cleary, who opted out of his contract with two deals remaining to join Penrith.
However, Pascoe was not about to play the blame game, saying: "We always sit there and get players the coach wants at the time and what the clubs need at the time.
"Michael Maguire has complete confidence he can get the best out of this roster. We're also constantly looking at improving it. That's our responsibility as a club.''
As for veteran Josh Reynolds, who is in the reserve grade this weekend, the CEO said: "A player like Josh is a terrific competitor, he was brought here for a reason, he's had a horrible run with injuries, but he's exactly what we need around the club.
"This club won't sit here and worry about decisions that haven't gone our way. We have to build a culture where we're not using decisions that don't go our way as excuses for not being able to reach the successes we're striving for.''
