NRL 2024: Tigers welcome new signing Solomon Alaimalo as David Nofoaluma drama lingers

Towering former rugby speedster Solomon Alaimalo has joined the Wests Tigers as they continue to work through issues with star winger David Nofoaluma.

Benji Marshall of Wests Tigers (Photo by Izhar Khan/Getty Images)

Unsettled winger David Nofoaluma returned to Wests Tigers training on Monday, alongside the club’s newest signing — towering former Super Rugby speedster Solomon Alaimalo.

Alaimalo, 27, is a New Zealand outside back who earned rookie of the year honours in his debut season with the Chiefs in 2017.

At 196cm, Alaimalo is the same height as Sydney Roosters high flyer Daniel Tupou.

“We’re very excited to have Solomon join the club,” Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall said. “He is a very explosive athlete with great speed, power, and agility.

“He will also add leadership and experience to our group, and he is a man of great character.”

Alaimalo played Super Rugby with the Waikato Chiefs, and more recently with Canterbury in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship.

“It’s been a really nice welcome from everyone here at Wests Tigers from the moment I touched down last night,” he said.

“This place [the Zurich Centre] is amazing and I can’t wait to settle in and get stuck into pre-season training.

“There are a lot of guys in the squad who are from back home, including Benji, so that probably will make it even easier for me to adjust to my new home here at Wests Tigers.”

David Nofoaluma at pre-season training before he refused to turn up. Picture: Tigers Instagram

Alaimalo who only flew into Sydney on Sunday night, was straight in for training the following morning, when absentee winger Nofoaluma also reported for duty.

However, the issues involving the star winger and the club remain unresolved, perhaps permanently.

Nofoaluma hadn’t trained since last Wednesday after claiming he was subjected to unfair treatment at training. He lodged an official complaint with the RLPA over the club’s alleged conduct.

While Nofoaluma was back training at Concord on Monday, the drama is far from over.

The club has tried desperately hard to keep Nofoaluma happy but the two parties remain at odds over what constitutes an acceptable attitude to playing and training.

There are suggestions that the unrest between Nofoaluma and his teammates and coaching staff remains.

Some teammates are even telling their agents that they hope Nofoaluma considers leaving.

He has two years remaining at Concord but his future at the club remains largely uncertain.

Club insiders wouldn’t prevent Nofoaluma from leaving if he found another club.

Wests Tigers have made a number of strange decisions in recent years but well-placed sources claim the club has acted appropriately and professionally with Nofoaluma.

Privately, teammates believe Nofoaluma should train harder rather than complain to the RLPA.

Nofoaluma and head coach Benji Marshall are known to be close although the club was unimpressed with Nofoaluma’s fitness levels.

Benji Marshall and the Tigers have big decisions to make. Picture: Jonathan Ng

There was also a reported communication issue between Nofoaluma and the club’s football department.

Nofoaluma didn’t physically train on Monday due to a niggling calf injury but was at the club’s Concord headquarters and was expected to complete a gym session on Monday afternoon.

Wests Tigers have a full training session on Tuesday which Nofoaluma will attend.

The club wants Nofoaluma back to full fitness heading into the club’s Christmas break.

Nofoaluma, the club’s leading all-time try scorer, is on a contract worth around $500,000 a season.

There were suggestions he may be interested in a return to the club he was loaned to back in 2022, Melbourne Storm.

At the time, Nofoaluma told the media: “It was one of the best things in my career.

“After 10 years of not being able to play finals, it kind of felt like a promotion to be able to do that with such a quality side like Melbourne.”

Tigers fans hope for future hinges on critical week ahead

-Pamela Whaley

Wests Tigers fans are slow to trust. And with good reason.

They’ve been burned 1000 times before, by broken promises of change, by expectations placed on kids too young to bear the weight, by then losing those kids to see them blossom elsewhere, by new coaches and new recruits and a net result of failure since 2011.

All they want is a club they can believe in, with solid, pragmatic governance that makes sense.

They want their highly paid players to go to training and dig in when things get hard.

They want accountability.

And that’s why there’s hope for the week ahead.

Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis and CEO Justin Pascoe. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

It’s among the most important week in the club’s history in terms of shaping the future of the Wests Tigers and ending more than a decade of mediocrity.

On Tuesday the Tigers will hold the final board meeting of the year where results of an independent review into the club’s governance is expected to lead to action based on the report’s recommendations.

It’s anticipated those recommendations include major structural changes within the board, which could see the end of chairman and major sponsor Lee Hagipantelis from Bryden’s Lawyers.

And if the recommendations are accepted and put into action, directors of the Holman Barnes Group, who hold a majority on the Tigers board, may be forced to vote themselves out.

It’s a line in the sand moment too for coach Benji Marshall, who faces the first test of his coaching mettle with veteran winger David Nofoaluma this week.

The pair played 63 games together between 2013 and 2020, but this shift in their relationship is a difficult one to navigate.

Nofoaluma is unhappy at how he is being treated at training and refused to turn up last week, but he’s expected back on Monday.

As one of the big earners at the club, Nofoaluma is a leader and should be setting standards at training. However, his future is not certain, and he’s been in and out of first grade recently.

How Marshall handles this week will shape how he’s seen by the playing group and fans alike.

All considered, the next few days are a true turning point for the club that could turn them into a powerhouse of the NRL, re-engage their loyal fan base and spark a brighter future.

And that’s no hyperbole.

It all started from a petition with more than 2000 signatures of Tigers fans, which was organised by a handful of fed up supporters.

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has a big job on his hands. Picture: Tigers Instagram

Steve Stretton from the Wests Tigers fan podcast is one of them.

“We’re delighted that Holman Barnes listened to the fanbase through us with the review, that they took our petition seriously and instructed a review take place. Our hope now is whatever the recommendations are, that they’re put in place,” he says.

“From the outset, we’re not about pointing the finger, we just want our club to be successful and we want change to happen that will allow us to be successful.

“Our hope is the club is put before any individual gain.”

Fans like Stretton can be polarising, but they’re powerful. And so they should be.

The loyalist of fans ask for change, instead of allowing themselves to grow indifferent to a 12-year finals drought, multiple coaching changes and two consecutive wooden spoons.

In a society where time is money, energy spent by regular citizens trying to provoke action in an NRL club is truly unique.

“The one thing about Wests Tigers fans, it’s an extremely passionate fan base and an extremely broad fanbase. When the Wests Tigers are doing well, it engages so many people,” Stretton says.

“The fact that there are so many rusted on fans who are so passionate about the club after 11 years of absolute rubbish performances, really, it just shows how deep the fanbase goes.”

It’s a shame they’ve been the butt of the joke for so long now.

If the Tigers’ board is forced to start again on Tuesday, they’re not starting from scratch.

At least they’ll never be irrelevant. They’ll never have to beg fans to care for as long as they’ve still got them.

Originally published as NRL 2024: Tigers welcome new signing Solomon Alaimalo as David Nofoaluma drama lingers