One left from 2019: Nofoaluma latest to exit Tigers

David Nofoaluma has been served termination papers by the Wests Tigers, leaving Alex Twal as the sole player left at the club from the 2019 NRL season.

DAVID NOFOALUMA.
DAVID NOFOALUMA. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

David Nofoaluma has been axed by Wests Tigers with the winger's exit continuing a roster overhaul that has seen almost the entire squad recycled in the space of five years.

Nofoaluma was served with a termination letter by the Tigers on Tuesday, following multiple breach notices around training attendance after a falling out with the club.

Nofoaluma had initially contacted the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) over his situation at the Tigers.

But the 30-year-old has since accepted a six-figure payout to be released from the final two years of his deal, departing as the joint-venture's all-time leading try-scorer with 100 in 192 appearances.

"We thank David for all that he has given to this club over the past decade," Tigers CEO Shane Richardson said.

"We wish David all the very best with his future."

The Campbelltown junior's release caps a period of rapid overhaul at Concord with only one player remaining from former coach Michael Maguire's first season in charge in 2019.

That man is Alex Twal, who late last year was given permission to look elsewhere before being locked into a three-year extension.

So brutal has been the turnover at the Tigers all of the other 25 players used in the 2019 season have left the club.

Only Twal, Adam Doueihi and Asu Kepaoa remain from the 2020 pre-season.

Six players from 2021, when current squad members Stefano Utoikamanu and Jake Simpkin first played for the club, are still at Concord.

The rate of turnover is only matched by fellow cellar-dwellers Canterbury and sums up the two teams' long battle to return to the finals.

Former Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis had detailed Nofoaluma's plight last month when concerns were raised over the player's future at the club.

"(Nofoaluma) has found himself in a very challenging and difficult place, there's no doubt," Hagipantelis told SEN the day after he was dismissed as chairman.

"The boy's lost at the moment. He has all the talent and ability in the world ... he just needs to focus.

"At the moment he is not toeing the line, at the moment he has proven somewhat difficult, to manage expectations. There has been some miscommunication.

"(Tigers coach) Benji (Marshall) is instilling a benchmarking and a standard that he wants to enforce ... David's just got to come on board."

PLAYERS REMAINING WITH THEIR NRL CLUB FROM THE 2019 SEASON

Sydney Roosters: 10

Canberra: 10

Manly: 9

Penrith: 9

North Queensland: 8

Melbourne: 7

South Sydney: 7

Parramatta: 6

Cronulla: 6

Warriors: 6

Brisbane: 4

Newcastle: 4

St George Illawarra: 4

Gold Coast: 3

Canterbury: 1

Wests Tigers: 1