Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson defended the decision to part ways with Tallyn Da Silva immediately, rather than keep him until the end of the season in a bid to help the club avoid a potential fourth straight wooden spoon.

Club junior Da Silva was contracted until the end of 2026, but signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Parramatta on Monday – the final day of the NRL’s transfer deadline.

With co-captain Api Koroisau unavailable this weekend because of concussion, the Tigers will turn to Tristan Hope to play No. 9 against the Roosters, with the club eager to avoid a seventh straight loss.

Da Silva’s exit comes a month after his good friend and fellow junior Lachie Galvin departed for Canterbury. Galvin posted a cheeky ‘perfect’ hand gesture, and a wink, to his social media account when congratulating Da Silva.

Co-captain Jarome Luai, who missed last weekend’s game with a staph infection, but made a point to attend a Tigers’ team meeting before joining NSW Origin camp early Monday, said of Da Silva’s early: “He was in a similar situation to Lachie, he wants more opportunity, everyone is entitled to that. All the best to him and his future. I’m sure he’ll be a great player for a long time.”

Richardson said there were two reasons why it made sense to let Da Silva leave now.

“I went out to see Tallyn’s family two weeks ago; they were really good people, Tallyn wanted to stay, but he wasn’t prepared to stay if Api was going to be extended,” Richardson said.

“We gave him permission to look around, and when he came back with the [Parramatta offer], we had to make a final decision about extending Api, so we decided to do it.

“We wanted Tallyn to make a decision based on what was best for his future. We didn’t want to tell him some bullshit, string him along, only for him to risk missing out on a deal [elsewhere].

“By letting him go, it also gives us extra money in our cap – not only do we save a bit of money this year, but we save significant money next year based on what Tallyn was on.

“At the end of the day, it was the best decision for Tallyn, the best decision for the club, and we were honest with each other.”

Balmain junior and Australian Schoolboy captain Jared Haywood is a dummy-half, but still at least two seasons away from being ready for first grade.

The Tigers will miss Koroisau, Da Silva, Jahream Bula (hamstring), Heath Mason (suspension) and Luai (Origin duty) in this weekend’s clash with the Roosters.

Luai said of being unable to help the Tigers in their loss to the Sea Eagles: “I felt guilty in a way, just not being there for the boys, with the new combinations, a young spine … I felt like those young guys would have had a lot of pressure on them to perform, and I had a part to play in that. They did their best, and we will all learn from it.”

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.