The best there never was. The Wests Tigers are stuck amidst the longest current finals drought in the NRL, with their last top eight finish coming all the way back in 2011. Every other team has featured in at least one finals series between 2012 and now โ except Wests.
While fans are quick to point the finger and lay blame on different figures within the club, their seven straight years of bottom eight finishes comes down to one single factor โ retention.
Some of the best players of the game have featured in the Wests Tigers system over the last decade, yet somehow been allowed to walk away from the club. Internationals, Origin stars and club heroes, now wearing the colours of another club.
Hereโs the best 17 of players that have been let go, released or not re-signed by the Tigers over the last decade.
11. Martin Taupau
One of the most dominant forwards in the competition on his day, Taupau has quite the highlights reel in his time playing for Wests. Of course there's THAT fend on poor ol' Alex Johnston, plus a stack of others as he went on to make his New Zealand debut, though an immediate release to Manly came with Taupau desperate to get of the club and earn an enormous pay day. Half of the competition will be after his signature when he's off contract next year.
Ive lamented the retention and recruitment situati at the Tigers for years. It’s been woeful. The number of current players who used to be with the Tigers is astounding. Admittedly someone like Tedesco is hard to.keep given his price tag but many of the others were very affordable as fa review as salary cap goes. The previous management of recruitment and retention was woeful and with the departure of this management I hope things will stabilise. Of the seventeen listed here fourteen of them should have been kept on. There were only three that I thought were not as well performed as I would like.
Beau Ryan in the 17? Youโve got to be kidding. Heโs a reggie at best, or more likely, belongs in the old 3rd grade.