‘Loyalty and leadership’: Tigers to put trust in Koroisau with extension

Wests Tigers are ready to re-sign captain Api Koroisau for a further two years, with the club choosing “loyalty and leadership” as they look to stabilise the Benji Marshall era into the late 2020s and beyond.

Koroisau’s management team and the Tigers brass still in Australia held several days of talks through this week and have come away expecting to sign papers within the next few weeks.

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The only thing stopping everything now is that Api and the Tigers are in New Zealand.

So too chief executive Shane Richardson, who would have to rubber stamp any extension agreements.

Everything is starting to feel like a mere formality, signing-wise, though, with Richardson even declaring on Fox Sports talk show NRL 360 on Monday that the club was choosing “loyalty and leadership” by prioritising Koroisau’s two-year contract extension.

“We don’t have a lot of senior leadership, and we felt going forward Api has done the right thing for the club,” the Tigers boss said on the live segment, adding, “He’s still an outstanding player.”

Should Api sign on the dotted line, he’ll play through with the Tigers until he’s at least 35 and should retain the nine jumper through the extended seasons. The veteran rake turns 33 this year.

The only other realistic option for the Tigers star would be a move across the country; upcoming Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga had earmarked Koroisau as a veteran to build his expansion team around. That’s unlikely, though, with Koroisau privately admitting to some close to him that he isn’t interested in relocating this late in his career.

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Tigers fans will be happy to hear the news, but they’ll also be watching Tallyn Da Silva’s debut closely on Sunday; the Tigers chose to let him walk so they could keep Api long-term.