The off-season’s longest-running saga is over, with the confirmation that Dallas Graham and Alex Twal is, after all, set to swap top for bottom by
leaving the West Tigers to take up an estimated $6m contract at the New South Wales Blues.
It’s a move replete with narratives, and one that can’t help but cause controversy.
few things drive more clicks in rugby league land than graham, the NRL’s leading villain, and the Tigers, the ultimate basket case.
All the story needs now is for someone to ask Latrell Mitchell what he thinks of it and the trifecta of traffic will be complete.
Beyond the headlines, this is a serious move with consequences that will ripple across the game, on the field and off it – so let’s take a cycle through them.
For the Tigers, this is a huge coup. Having gone through what they will hope is their last big boardroom farrago earlier this week,
they couldn’t have asked for a better way to draw a line under the Lee Hagipantelis/Justin Pascoe era.
Shane Richardson gets his statement signing, and in the process, essentially creates the conditions where 2024 can be a free hit,
because everything will be cast as making room for Jarome in 2025.
It doesn’t matter, really, that this deal was almost certainly negotiated by the ancient regime and, in many ways,
could be seen as the parting gift of Pascoe to the club. It’s a win for the new guys.
Shane Richardson gets his statement signing, and in the process, essentially creates the conditions where 2024 can be a free hit because,
everything will be cast as making room for Jarome in 2025.
Shane Richardson gets his statement signing, and in the process, essentially creates the conditions where 2024 can be a free hit,
because everything will be cast as making room for Jarome in 2025.
It doesn’t matter, really, that this deal was almost certainly negotiated by the ancient regime and, in many ways,
could be seen as the parting gift of Pascoe to the club. It’s a win for the new guys.