Parramatta superstar Isaiah Papali'i will wait until the end of the season to determine whether he honours a three-year NRL contract at the Wests Tigers.
After a breakout 2021 season in which he snared Dally M second-rower of the year honours, New Zealand international Papali'i signed a deal to join Kiwis coach Michael Maguire at the Tigers for 2023.
Since then, Maguire has been sacked and the Tigers have been consigned to a battle with Gold Coast to avoid the wooden spoon.
Reports emerged in July that Papali'i was considering reneging on his move to the 15th-placed Tigers.
Speculation only intensified when Papali'i refused to publicly confirm he would honour his deal and the Eels revealed they had the salary cap space to retain him.
A month later and the Eels are now on the cusp of the top-four with four games left in the regular season, leading Papali'i to put contract discussions off until Parramatta's finals campaign was complete.
"I've got a season to finish off and then I can worry about all that after," he said.
"When it does come time to have that talk (with the Tigers), we'll definitely have that talk behind the scenes.
"We (Parramatta) have a massive opportunity and I just want to make sure I put my best foot forward. I definitely believe this team can go all the way. That's what my focus has been on lately."
The Eels are already preparing to lose key members of their forward pack in Reed Mahoney, Oregon Kaufusi and Marata Niukore but the uncertainty around Papali'i's future has not been a source of frustration among the playing group.
"You get poked here and there about it but they're pretty good about it," Papali'i said.
"They understand what my situation is and they're backing me to do a massive job this season."
The Tigers' attack showed marked signs of improvement following Jackson Hastings' switch to lock in round 18, which has encouraged Papali'i as he prepares to weigh up his future.
"They've been playing some good footy. It's cool watching from the outside," he said.
"I'm definitely excited for any team that has been struggling throughout a season to put in some good performances."
Replies
Like other players have done this year, all he has to do is come out and say he is honoring his deal and the issue is over. He hasnt done that, which means there is a good chance of a backflip
He definitely wants to backflip. The issue is if he'll be able to.
Let's hope the manager had a Coach clause inserted into the contract given the Maguire episode.
I don't think there was one, otherwise they would of exercised the clause by now.
It has been confirmed, there was no such clause.
That said, it is arguable that the terms of the contract have fundamentally changed. Whether he gets up on an argument of repudiation, particularly if there is a term that expressly exlcudes a change of coach in affecting the terms of the contract, is debatable.
As Muttman says, the Tigers may be able to hold him to the contract. Whether they want an expensive player tied to their books kicking stones for three years is the question, but, I suspect Ice is not that type of player. I suspect if the Tigers insist he honour the contract, he will go over there and play to the best of his ability. Whether he will be the same player over there, however, is highly debatable.
I still can't see the Tigers allowing Papali'i to walk away from his deal considering the forwards they have lost.
Also having Koroisau there next year is a massive plus for the Tigers.
Though BEM, Wests are in a sense of building culture, to build culture you need players to buy in even when times get tough. Is Papali'i going to buy in if they are dreadful next year?
Koroisau has 2x premierships and has played Origin, nothing left for him to achieve really so getting cash and being the face of a club is a nice incentive. Papali'i still has another decade of footy, why waste a third of that at Wests who are in a rebuild bridging stage where Marshall takes over in his final year of the deal.
End of the day, Wests have the leverege, yet do they want to pay someone 600k if they are not 100% bought in?
Wether he wants to buy in or not won't really be a factor.
They have let pretty much all of their 2nd row stocks leave and there is no one else to sign.
A player who doesn't want to be there is better than no player at all.
Agree to disagree. Can be very detrimental to a club especially in the locker room if said player doesn't want to be there. I'd prefer no player if he doesn't want to be there.
Yeah, but do you think of Papa as the kind of guy who doesn't fully commit ?
If he honours the deal, he'll buy in completely.
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