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2017 - CEO Justin Pascoe tells young gun fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen that we are resigning James Tedesco. Papenhuyzen signs with Melbourne Storm, and weeks later Tedesco signs with the Roosters. He doesn& #39;t backflip this time.
2017 - Matt Ballin announces his immediate retirement due to chronic injuries, having made only one first grade appearance for the club.
2017 - Tim Simona is found betting on NRL games and is officially de-registered by the NRL. The disgraced centre then reveals to the media that he& #39;d been snorting cocaine with teammates during Mad Monday celebrations in 2016.
2017 - Jason Taylor is sacked after just three games (1 win, 2 losses). It is understood the club is now paying about $1.2 million for players and coaches who are no longer there: around $750K to Farah, around $200K for Curtis Sironen and now $250K for Taylor.
2017 - Taylor& #39;s parting gift is signing Chris McQueen for a reported $450K per season deal, despite him having a known, major back/neck problem.
2017 - The club signs Ivan Cleary as head coach on a three year deal.
2017 - Four of the clubs best/most promising players - Aaron Tedesco, Aaron Woods, Mitch Moses and Luke Brooks - are all off contract at the end of the season, perfect planning and foresight by Tigers management.
2017 - Cleary famously declares that he only wants players "on the bus". The club tables offers to Tedesco, Woods and Moses but they all jump off the bus. Brooks is re-signed.
2017 - Cleary leads the club to a 14th placed finish, winning just 7 games all season, but there& #39;s cause for optimism as the salary cap situation improves.
2018 - Finally, with room in the salary cap after years of paying former players and coaches, Cleary goes on a spending spree, signing Josh Reynolds, Ben Matulino and Russell Packer on big money deals.
2018 - Benji Marshall returns to the club. Cleary throws Robbie Farah a lifeline in a mid-season transfer. Moses Mbye is also signed on a big money, mid-season deal. Marshall ends up cementing a five-eighth spot as $800K signing Josh Reynolds manages just 5 games due to injuries.
2018 - Cleary& #39;s new signings guide the club to 9th, narrowly missing out on a finals spot. Cleary then stays true to his "on the bus" mantra & requests a release to re-join Penrith. After initially stating the club would not release him, CEO Justin Pascoe eventually caves.
2018 - Speaking of Pascoe, the CEO is de-registered and the club fined $750K for an agreement signed with Farah in 2016 to become a club ambassador when he retires. The amount of Farah& #39;s ambassador deal – $639K – is to be included in the 2019 cap as it was not declared to the NRL
2018 - The club was rumoured to be in talks with Wayne Bennett, but sign Michael Maguire as head coach on a three year deal.
2018 - The clubs salary cap is once again a mess, this time due to big money deals for McQueen, and Cleary& #39;s star signings Reynolds and Packer.
2019 - Packer, reportedly on a deal worth over $650K a season, falls out with Maguire and only plays 5 games. Packer is on a long term contract that runs to the end of 2021.
2019 - Reynolds is given permission to negotiate with other clubs for 2020 and beyond as he is not in Maguire& #39;s plans. The 30-year-old manages just 12 NRL appearances in 18 months since signing with the Tigers on a 4 year deal (by Cleary). His contract runs until the end of 2021.
2019 - Maguire performs reasonably well despite not having his own squad and dealing with the mess left behind by Cleary. He gets the club within one game of making the semi-finals for the first time in 8 years
2019 - In front of a sell-out crowd at Leichhardt, the club loses the last game of the season to Cronulla and even let Paul Gallen kick a field goal. They finish 9th & have the longest drought without a finals appearance (8 years). The club has finished 9th six times since 2004.
2019 - Beau Ryan is made a life member of the club at the end of season awards function. Players that aren& #39;t life members include Scott Prince and Gareth Ellis.
The end.
In summary, while there& #39;s been horrible mismanagement and poor decisions from the top down, I also believe there& #39;s been an incredible amount of bad luck and misfortune over the year.
Hopeful Maguire can turn the club around, because if he can& #39;t then...
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In summary, while there& #39;s been horrible mismanagement and poor decisions from the top down, I also believe there& #39;s been an incredible amount of bad luck and misfortune over the year.
Hopeful Maguire can turn the club around, because if he can& #39;t then...
How could I forget, 2016 - The club & Jason Taylor think it& #39;s a good idea signing Jamal Idris after he spent 18 months away from rugby league touring the world. He plays 5 games, ruptures his ACL, then retires.
2020 - The club comes up against the Gold Coast Titans, who had not won a single game in 12 months. They lose, of course.
2020 - We lose to the Warriors after leading 8-0 early, despite them needing to loan players from other clubs to actually field a team due to COVID-19. The most exciting part of the performance was Michael Maguire kicking over a chair during his half time speech.
2021 - The club honours legend Tommy Raudonikis in a way only they can - by having four tries put on them in the first half by the Cowboys, who hadn& #39;t won a game all season. They make a game of it in the second half, but still lose, of course.
