Wests Tigers withdraw from Addin Fonua-Blake race in massive NRL boost for Dragons

The Wests Tigers have withdrawn from the race to sign wantaway forward Addin Fonua-Blake, seemingly clearing the path for the Dragons to secure his services. The Tigers appeared to be frontrunners for the Tongan international's signature with room in the salary cap and the ability to meet his $1.2 million a season reported asking price but on Wednesday announced that they had decided to turn their attention elsewhere.

Interim Wests Tigers CEO, Shane Richardson, told SEN despite the club's high opinion of the prop, the massive contract he is commanding is not in line with the Tigers' goals moving forward. "We’ve actually withdrawn our offer for Addin Fonua-Blake," Richardson told SEN.

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"I think he’s a great player, he’s one of the top three front rowers in the game," he said. "Our forward pack is really strong, and we can add to that with our young players coming through.

"We need flexibility in our cap to be able to do things we need to do to make us stronger now. From that point of view, it’s my opinion and also Benji’s (Marshall) because I wouldn’t do it without Benji, it’s not anything to do with that (Fonua-Blake's ability) it’s got everything to do with where we need to focus our attention on."

The Tigers pulling out of the race for Fonua-Blake comes just days after the Bulldogs appeared to do the same thing. Phil Gould met with Fonua-Blake after the international star made it clear he wanted to leave the Warriors. However, earlier this week Channel Nine's Danny Weidler reported the Bulldogs are unlikely to make an offer as they continue their rebuild under coach Cameron Ciraldo.

It now appears most likely that Fonua-Blake will land at the Dragons, who continue to look for forwards to bolster their squad. On Tuesday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Dragons had tabled an offer to Fonua-Blake worth $4.5 million over four years. The Sharks are also believed to be interested in the Tongan international after freeing up salary cap space having offloaded Connor Tracey and Matt Moylan in the off-season.

Wests Tigers attentions switch to Jarome Luai's signature

Despite pulling out of the race for Fonua-Blake, Richardson confirmed the club were still intent on luring Jarome Luai away from the Panthers. The three-time premiership winner has reportedly been offered a four-year, $4.5 million deal to make the switch to the Tigers.

The Tigers' eye-watering offer for Luai is significantly more than Penrith can offer their star playmaker, despite reports the club is looking to bump up Luai's deal from $800,000 to $850,000 per year, over three years. Luai has previously indicated the decision he has to make is between "success or family".

The Tigers sensationally removed their entire board on Tuesday but Richardson says the board upheaval won't stop his club's pursuit of Luai. The former South Sydney CEO has long been an admirer of the five-eighth, having previously tried to sign him at the Rabbitohs. “I’ve made my feelings on Luai well-known for a long while. In my opinion, he was the best young half coming through,” Richardson said.

Richardson initially tried to poach Luai when he was struggling for game time at Penrith after being stuck behind former representative playmaker James Maloney. Richardson says Luai is the exact type of character and talent the Tigers need to take them to the next level, as the club tries to end its long NRL finals drought in 2024.

“He’s proven at the highest level he was the best young half coming through," Richardson said. "Not only that, he’s a great team leader, that Penrith side revolves around Luai. He is a great person off the field despite what many media people try to make out. You couldn’t meet a better person than him and you couldn’t ask for a better person at your club.”

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