Why Wests Tigers were happy to cut Da Silva; Smith a chance at Rabbitohs debut

Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson defended the decision to part ways with Tallyn Da Silva immediately, rather than keep him until the end of the season in a bid to help the club avoid a potential fourth straight wooden spoon.

Club junior Da Silva was contracted until the end of 2026, but signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Parramatta on Monday – the final day of the NRL’s transfer deadline.

With co-captain Api Koroisau unavailable this weekend because of concussion, the Tigers will turn to Tristan Hope to play No.9 against the Roosters, with the club eager to avoid a seventh straight loss.

Da Silva’s exit comes a month after his good friend and fellow junior Lachie Galvin departed for Canterbury. Galvin posted a cheeky ‘perfect’ hand gesture, and a wink, to his social media account when congratulating Da Silva.

Co-captain Jarome Luai, who missed last weekend’s game with a staph infection, but made a point to attend a Tigers’ team meeting before joining NSW Origin camp early Monday, said of Da Silva’s early: “He was in a similar situation to Lachie, he wants more opportunity, everyone is entitled to that. All the best to him and his future. I’m sure he’ll be a great player for a long time.”

Richardson said there were two reasons why it made sense to let Da Silva leave now.

“I went out to see Tallyn’s family two weeks ago; they were really good people, Tallyn wanted to stay, but he wasn’t prepared to stay if Api was going to be extended,” Richardson said.

“We gave him permission to look around, and when he came back with the [Parramatta offer], we had to make a final decision about extending Api, so we decided to do it.

“We wanted Tallyn to make a decision based on what was best for his future. We didn’t want to tell him some bullshit, string him along, only for him to risk missing out on a deal [elsewhere].

“By letting him go, it also gives us extra money in our cap – not only do we save a bit of money this year, but we save significant money next year based on what Tallyn was on.

“At the end of the day, it was the best decision for Tallyn, the best decision for the club, and we were honest with each other.”

Balmain junior and Australian Schoolboy captain Jared Haywood is a dummy-half, but still at least two seasons away from being ready for first grade.

The Tigers will miss Koroisau, Da Silva, Jahream Bula (hamstring), Heath Mason (suspension) and Luai (Origin duty) in this weekend’s clash with the Roosters.

Luai said of being unable to help the Tigers in their loss to the Sea Eagles: “I felt guilty in a way, just not being there for the boys, with the new combinations, a young spine … I felt like those young guys would have had a lot of pressure on them to perform, and I had a part to play in that. They did their best, and we will all learn from it.”

Turuva to wear No. 1; Smith named for Souths

Brandon Smith has been named on South Sydney’s extended bench for Sunday’s clash with Manly, and is “very close to playing, but we just don’t know yet”, says Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett.

“He’ll play within the next two weeks, he’s ticking all the boxes, it’s just a matter of whether we keep him back another week,” Bennett said. “We’ll see how he trains on Thursday.”

Smith signed with Souths midway through the season from the Sydney Roosters, and has been on the long road to recovery since rupturing his ACL and MCL in round 26 last year.

The more conservative approach would be to bring Smith back via reserve grade on Saturday week, before an NRL return against the Panthers the following Friday.

Alex Johnston will start at fullback with Latrell Mitchell on Origin duty, with English halfback Lewis Dodd continuing to bide his time in reserve grade.

Meanwhile, Sunia Turuva will wear the No. 1 jersey for Wests Tigers as they try to avoid a seventh straight loss against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

With Jahream Bula out with a hamstring injury, and back-up fullback Heath Mason suspended for shoving referee Gerard Sutton in the back, Turuva, who has played in the custodian role for Fiji, will be asked to step up.

Tristan Hope will play dummy-half, with Adam Doueihi and Latu Fainu the new-look halves.

Jarome Luai missed last weekend’s clash because of a staph infection, and is unavailable because of Origin, but made a point of attending a Tigers’ team meeting early Monday before joining Blues camp.

In other team news, Selwyn Cobbo has been recalled for the Broncos for Friday’s blockbuster against Canterbury.

The Dolphins-bound winger will start at fullback, with Deine Mariner on the wing. Tyrell Sloan has also been recalled for St George Illawarra as they battle a raft of injuries ahead of Saturday’s trip to Canberra.

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