Phil Gould makes bold call on Wests Tigers' roster after $4 million overhaul that signals new era

The acquisition of Roosters discard Terrell May has turned the Wests Tigers into a "top eight NRL roster" according to league great Phil Gould.

Gould's Canterbury and the Dragons were also in the running to sign May after he was surprisingly granted permission by the Roosters to exit the club early, despite signing a contract extension midway through the 2024 season.

May has established himself as one of the most talked about young front rowers in the game, making the Roosters decision to cut him loose surprising.

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The May deal punctuated a $4 million spending spree by the Tigers, who have been busy turning over their roster after three straight wooden spoons.

May joins former Penrith teammate Jarome Luai, Jack Bird, Royce Hunt, Jeral Sketon and Sunia Turuva as new arrivals at Concord for the 2025 season, giving Benji Marshall a huge opportunity to draw a line under the years of failure that have dogged the tenures of Michael Maguire and Tim Sheens before him.

Add to those new signings highly touted teen centre Heamasi Makasini, who is considered a superstar of the future and penned a new three-year deal in October and the Tigers have got a lot to be positive about.

Gould has long been an advocate of building a team from the grassroots, as he did at Penrith and is in the midst of repeating at the Bulldogs, and the Canterbury football boss commended the Tigers for snaring May, declaring that Marshall now has a top eight roster.

Marshall recently signed a three-year extension reportedly worth around $2 million and has been much stricter in handling the team on their return to preseason, with five players sanctioned for returning to duty out of shape.

With senior players Stefano Utoikamanu and Isaiah Papali'i out the exit door and speculation that divisive Englishman John Bateman may follow them, the 2025 season has a sense of freshness that should help Marshall and new CEO Shane Richardson usher in a new era of success.

But with the big signings, led by Luai, comes the pressure of expectation, with Gould's "top eight roster" comment likely to be followed by plenty of expert opinion suggesting that the Tigers need to have a significant upswing in their results.

Whether the quality in the squad can instantly transform a team that has been accused of falling short of NRL standards remains to be seen, however, the spine in particular now looks capable of challenging the better teams.

Here's how they might line up in 2025 (new signings in bold):

1. Jahream Bula 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Adam Doueihi 4. Justin Olam 5. Jeral Skelton 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Jarome Luai 8. Terrell May 9. Api Koroisau 10. Royce Hunt 11. John Bateman 12. Samuela Fainu 13. Fonua Pole 14. Jack Bird 15. David Klemmer 16. Alex Twal 17. Alex Seyfarth