Hurt Nofoaluma breaks silent on Tigers’ exit: “It shows what type of club you are.”
After falling out of love with football and the Wests Tigers, David Nofoaluma believes parting ways was the right decision for both parties, albeit he admits the manner of his leaving “hurts me personally”.
Nofoaluma received a $300,000 payoff last month to walk away from the last two years of his contract after falling out of favour, bringing an end to a more than a decade-long relationship. It was an embarrassing exit for the club’s greatest try-scorer, who chose to go after it became clear that he would not be able to add to his 192 NRL games with the club.
The experienced winger claims there is “no bad blood” and feels the Tigers can make a run at the championship following a slew of changes on and off the pitch. However, he believes his image was unfairly tarnished during his final days in the black, white, and gold.
“Obviously, this is unfortunate. “It hurts me personally,” Nofoaluma told this masthead on Wednesday after signing a 12-month contract with the Salford Devils of the Super League.
“Many times, people forget that we were humans before we were athletes. Avoid leaking bad tales to the press instead of dealing with them on a personal basis. I do not believe that is a good thing to do.
“It reflects the sort of club you are. I don’t have to deal with it anymore, which is a wonderful thing.
In the same breath, Nofoaluma had good recollections of his time with the Tigers.
“I was the longest-serving player in the team whilst I was there,” he told reporters. “Although things did not go well and they wanted me to go, it does not diminish the time I spent there.
“The last year or two, there were times where I struggled a bit, trying to pull things together in terms of playing. A lot of the Tigers fans still appreciate me and love me because they still remember all the good things I’ve done for them.
“These days, rugby league is a business. If I was to give advice to any young athlete, don’t take loyalty [as an expectation].”
Nofoaluma had wanted to leave the Tigers much earlier. Two years after being named the Dally M winger of the year, he accepted a loan stint with Melbourne.
“Once I left Tigers originally to Melbourne, I felt I had left there,” he said. “As you can see, it brought my footy back to life.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming back, it was sad to come back. Once I left, I felt my time with the Tigers was done.
“Then I eventually came back and it wasn’t the same. When I left the first time, I felt like I left for good.
“I actually didn’t want to come back. With contracts and loan deals, you are obligated to them. I came back and you know how the season went, the team won the wooden spoon.
“Everything seems to have changed now. I’ve moved on, they have moved on.
“I know due to circumstances how things ended with them. It doesn’t take away everything I have accomplished for the club. That will always be there and I wish them nothing but the best.”
“Everything seems to have changed now. I’ve
Nofoaluma said he held no grudge against coach and former teammate Benji Marshall.
“Me and Benji were really close,” he said. “I still remember he reached out to me when he was at the Broncos’ feeder club to see if he could come back to the Tigers, to speak to the hierarchy at the Tigers to help him come back. I kind of got him back, because we played in the earlier years and when he came over he set up a lot of my tries in 2020 when I got the Dally M winger of the year and player [of the year] for the Tigers.
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