Wests Tigers 2025 NRL season scouting report: Best 17, every player’s contract status, rookie watch
Jarome Luai headlines the list of six new recruits who could start for the Tigers in round one 2025. TYSON JACKSON analyses their new-look line-up, rookies to watch, challenges the club still faces and more.
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The Jarome Luai era has officially begun.
A new chapter in Wests Tigers history has started after the four-time premiership-winner officially made the switch from the premiers to the wooden spooners.
Arguably no other recruit will be under more pressure than the man who will be stepping out of the shadows of Nathan Cleary, to partner teenage whiz-kid Lachlan Galvin.
Tyson Jackson takes a look at how the Tigers, who could have all six of their new recruits starting in their season-opener, attempt their long climb back up the table.
Free agency wrap & rating
The Tigers sought after eight players this off season and landed six of them. Among those are three premiership winners in Jarome Luai, Sunia Turuva and Jack Bird, and three of the hottest free agents in Terrell May, Royce Hunt and Jeral Skelton. Apart from Stefano Utoikamanu, the Tigers had complete control of who they kept and who they let go. The 2025 Tigers side has more potential than the club has seen in years, and acquiring Luai and May has made them arguably the most intriguing team heading into 2025. The club is in a better place than where it was when they picked up their third straight wooden spoon just a couple of months ago.
RATING: A+
Coach status & safety rating
They may have picked up their third straight wooden spoon, but the Tigers were always going to give first-year coach Benji Marshall a long leash. Still, the knives might be sharpening if Marshall doesn’t deliver some sort of improvement last year, having been given free reign to shape the team he wants. He’s got some big names and moved on the players he wanted to, and even then there are more Marshall could be pushing out the door. But he needs his key players firing to keep the doubters away. The 39-year-old’s coaching future hinges on which version of Jarome Luai, Terrell May, Jack Bird and Royce Hunt he gets. They were his major targets this off-season and deemed the missing ingredients to success. Marshall will also need his club’s senior players to rise to the occasion with pressure on David Klemmer and Alex Twal to provide the platform for their young tyros. The bar is set pretty low at the moment for Marshall, but Marshall now has the ammunition to prove whether he can coach at this level or not.
SAFETY RATING: C
Likely debutant(s)
Marshall proved in his first year that he is not afraid to blood a rookies giving 12 players their NRL debuts last year. As a result, the majority of their top 30 now have NRL experience. Currently on a development deal, it will come as no surprise to see Heamasi Makasini lace up the boots for the Tigers as early as next year. The 17-year-old, who became the richest schoolkid in Australia after signing a contract worth more than $1 million, is one of the most talked about prospects the NRL has ever seen, and an injury or two in the outside backs could see him graduate before he even finishes high school. The only player in the club’s top 30 to not have debuted yet is Solomone Saukuru, who will compete with Makasini for his first run in the top grade. A Tigers junior, and signed until the end of next year, he will push hard for his first opportunity in first grade.
Who takes the next step
Only the true believers had heard of Lachlan Galvin at this point last year, and now almost everyone can see the truth. Paired with Jarome Luai, who loves to dance and manipulate defenders, Galvin will be able to do what he does best, squaring up and taking on the line. It didn’t take long for the young five-eighth to find his voice in first grade, and all signs point to a dominant 2025 for Galvin. The second half of his rookie season was filled with contract talks among other distractions. Once his future is decided, look out for the local product to truly spread his wings alongside one of the league’s bona fide superstars. If John Bateman is to stay at the Tigers he will need to step up, get over his differences with Marshall and show why he was once considered one of the best backrowers in the game. It was obvious Bateman wasn’t happy last season, which led to lacklustre performances. If he is able to come in with a fresh mindset, and a willingness to fit into Marshall’s plans, it could be a second wind for the Englishman’s career.
The three burning issues
$1 MILLION LANGUISHING IN RESERVE GRADE
The Tigers’ massive roster overhaul has led to a large chunk of their salary cap expected to play reserve grade.
Jayden Sullivan, the club’s fourth-string half, is on a $600,000-a-season deal, and although he’s spending the year with the Rabbitohs the Tigers will be paying a chunk of his salary. Brent Naden and Charlie Staines, who will struggle to make the club’s best 17, take up more than $500,000 in the Tigers’ cap combined.
With more than $1 million of their $11.4 million salary cap parked in park football, it threatens to cause significant roster headaches.
It’s why the Tigers are willing to give Sullivan $900,000 to help him find a new home. Currently, standout young players Sione Finau, Ruben Porter and Heath Mason are all training on development deals.
CAN THE BIG GUNS REPLICATE THEIR SUCCESS IN TIGERS COLOURS?
Marshall’s recruitment of star players is remarkable, considering he is coming off a wooden spoon in his rookie year.
But can their star still shine at a team that has almost forgotten how to win?
Captain and hooker Apisai Koroisau’s Penrith form did not dip when he joined the Tigers, but he was unable to save them from collecting two more last-place finishes.
The cavalry has arrived in Luai, Turuva, Bird, Hunt and May, giving the Tigers their strongest-looking side in a decade.
While it won’t guarantee success, the recruitment drive has been aimed at turning around a losing culture that has resulted in no finals appearances in 13 seasons.
DOES GALVIN HANG AROUND?
There is no doubt Luai is the chief half at the Tigers for the next five years, but the club has the opportunity to make Galvin their main man for the next decade if they play their cards right.
Signed until the end of 2026, the Tigers desperately need to re-sign Galvin and build their future around their young core.
Outside of hooker Koroisau, 32, who has two more years remaining on his deal, and Luai, 27, the Tigers’ potential long-term spine is decidedly youthful. Fullback Jahream Bula is 22, five-eighth Galvin, back-up hooker Tallyn Da Silva and back-up half Latu Fainu are all just 19.
The Tigers have until November 1 to prove to Galvin that it’s worth hanging around, before rival clubs can pounce.
Crystal ball
The Tigers are the most unpredictable team heading into 2025. Even with the marked improvement in their roster, it’s hard to have any confidence that they will make huge strides after a 13-year finals drought.
They could finish anywhere between 6th and 12th, which would be an obvious improvement but, put simply, the Tigers need to be better.
The potential to break their finals curse will depend on how the team gels, and if they have the grit most Tigers teams have lacked in the past.
2025 odds
Winners: $41
Minor premiership: $41
Top 4: $9
Top 8: $3
Most losses: $7.50
*Odds courtesy of TAB
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