Sunday Session: Wests Tigers willing to pay Jayden Sullivan $900,000 golden handshake

The Wests Tigers are ready to pay a once-promising star a mouth-watering golden handshake to find another club as they ramp up their NRL roster overhaul.

The Wests Tigers are ready to give Jayden Sullivan a $900,000 golden handshake to help him find a new home.

Sullivan signed a four-year deal, believed to be worth upwards of $2.4 million, to join the Tigers for the 2024 season. But he only managed eight first-grade games, and the Tigers won only once with him in the side.

They are now ready to sever ties with the 23-year-old half in a bid to clear salary cap space and reshape their roster. Sullivan has slipped down the pecking order and is, at best, fourth in line to play in the halves.

The Tigers are looking to offload Jayden Sullivan. Picture: Getty Images

Lachlan Galvin and Jarome Luai will be the Tigers’ first-choice options under coach Benji Marshall next season, and they have impressive teenager Latu Fainu waiting in reserve should injury strike.

It means Sullivan is surplus to requirements and the Tigers are happy to help find him a new home by contributing as much as $300,000 a season for the remainder of his contract.

The hope is that, by chipping in up to half of his deal, the Tigers can help Sullivan lock down a spot at one of their NRL rivals.

Sullivan has time on his side as he looks to secure a place in the NRL and realise his unquestionable potential.

Yet the Tigers know they would be better placed spending Sullivan’s salary in other areas of their playing squad given he is unlikely to force his way into the starting side, or even onto the bench.

Jarome Luai and his partner Bailey Toleafoa. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Fainu looks the likely option to support Galvin and Luai in a bench role, having made nine appearances last season despite battling hamstring problems.

Chief executive Shane Richardson’s predecessor, Justin Pascoe, signed Sullivan, saying in August last year: “I know he’s excited about our plans for next year and beyond, and I welcome Jayden and his family to Wests Tigers.”

Sullivan may not be the only player to leave the Tigers as they prepare for a busy off-season. Richardson has warned John Bateman he needs to toe the line or he could be gone as well while the Tigers are looked in a legal battle with young prop Jordan Miller after he was shown the door.

Richardson has held talks with Brisbane forward Kobe Hetherington while Sydney Roosters prop Terrell May is of interest, having been granted permission to leave Bondi for the 2025 season.

Originally published as Sunday Session: Wests Tigers willing to pay Jayden Sullivan $900,000 golden handshake