Wests Tigers are set to lose a second young gun mid-season, with hooker Tallyn Da Silva poised to follow Lachlan Galvin out of the joint venture, likely to join Parramatta.
AAP has been told the Tigers will release Da Silva from the final 18 months of his deal in time for him to join an NRL rival before the June 30 transfer deadline, which falls at 5pm (AEST) on Monday.
The Campbelltown product is understood to have told the Eels they are his preferred destination but nothing official had been signed as of Sunday afternoon.
It is understood he will ink a deal until the end of 2029.
Da Silva has shown promise across 22 games but his path to a regular starting spot became clouded when the Tigers indicated veteran Api Koirisau was their long-term hooker.
Jason Ryles speaks to media. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
The signing looms as a major boost for Jason Ryles’s rebuilding Eels, who have struggled for stability at hooker since Reed Mahoney’s departure for the 2023 season.
Ryley Smith has shown potential in his rookie season but is not yet considered ready for 80 minutes every week, and is currently suspended.
The Eels have a bye next weekend but could have Da Silva in the 17 for their rivalry clash with Penrith in round 19.
Losing Da Silva will be disappointing for the Tigers, after he had been considered their hooker of the future.
The club also lost fellow local boy Galvin, another superstar-in-waiting, to Canterbury a month ago.
With a dearth of quality hookers on the market, Da Silva had attracted interest from North Queensland, Newcastle and Manly.
Hasler on hot seat as losses pile up
The pressure on Des Hasler is reaching bursting point after the veteran coach’s Gold Coast side was edged by the Cowboys 30-24 on a miserable afternoon at the Titans’ Cbus Super Stadium.
Hasler’s men have secured just four wins so far this season and their 11th loss leaves them anchored to the bottom of the NRL ladder, with their coach’s storied career on the ropes.
The 64-year-old Hasler has coached 497 NRL games and won a pair of premierships at Manly, but the cold hard facts are he now owns a 12-27 record in one-and-a-half seasons with the Titans.
Gold Coast have the bye next week and it would not be the greatest of surprises to see Hasler relieved of his duties prior to their next match against Brisbane on July 13.
After Sunday’s game, Titans’ captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui said while things were not going well, he backed Hasler and still believed the club could make the finals.
“Obviously, it’s a tough time here at the club and we’re all feeling it,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.
Des Hasler. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
“Definitely, we’ve still got enough time (to make the finals). We’ve just got to stick together and regroup and make sure that we’re coming up the ladder, off the bye and really start turning the season around because if anyone in the comp can do it, we can do it, and we have the team to do it.
“I believe in every single one of them. I believe in the coaching staff, and like I said, we’ve just got to stick together.”
While the blowtorch on Hasler has intensified, it was a pressure-relieving win for Cowboys coach Todd Payten, though the quality of the performance will hardly put fear into the competition’s leading teams.
Payten said the win relieved some pressure and revealed the Cowboys had not watched any video of the Titans leading into the clash, preferring to focus on themselves after conceding 138 points in their past three games.
“We stripped things right back this week and just focused on us,” he said. “We didn’t show any vision on Titans, which is not a common thing.
“The review off the back of last week was just around our effort or some good stuff, and there’s a lot of questionable stuff. We stripped it right back to just finding teammates.”
with AAP
© AAP
