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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'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'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'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'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'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'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'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'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't life members include Scott Prince and Gareth Ellis.
The end.
In summary, while there's been horrible mismanagement and poor decisions from the top down, I also believe there's been an incredible amount of bad luck and misfortune over the year.
Hopeful Maguire can turn the club around, because if he can't then...
In summary, while there's been horrible mismanagement and poor decisions from the top down, I also believe there's been an incredible amount of bad luck and misfortune over the year.
Hopeful Maguire can turn the club around, because if he can't then...
How could I forget, 2016 - The club & Jason Taylor think it'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't won a game all season. They make a game of it in the second half, but still lose, of course.
In his post match press conference, Michael Maguire says "it's not what Wests Tigers are about".
He obviously hasn't caught up on this thread.
He obviously hasn't caught up on this thread.
