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The Wests Tigers are on the verge of recycling almost their entire NRL squad in the space of five years, with David Nofoaluma to become the latest player to exit the club.
- Wests Tigers have released long-serving winger David Nofoaluma from the final two years of his contract
- Nofoaluma is the joint-venture's all time leading tryscorer and was the side's longest serving player
- The move continues a series of roster shake-ups from the Tigers, who have finished last in each of the past two NRL seasons
Nofoaluma has been served with a termination letter by the Tigers, following multiple breach notices over the winger's attendance at training.
It is expected the Campbelltown junior has played his final game for the club after 192 appearances, with the winger on the lookout for a new home.
Nofoaluma is the Tigers longest-serving current player and leading try-scorer, but struggled on his return to Concord last year after a brief stint in Melbourne on a loan deal.
The 30-year-old's exit will cap a period of rapid squad overhaul, 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 soon after 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, Nofoaluma 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.
Nofoaluma had contacted the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) over his situation at the Tigers.
"We will continue to work through the process with all relevant parties and work toward an outcome," the RLPA said in a statement on Tuesday.
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."
AAP