The infighting that has destabilised the Wests Tigers has already cost them their most promising two juniors in a generation and could result in a third and their marquee man leaving the club.

Prodigious five-eighth Lachlan Galvin became exasperated with the club and its direction two years ago and eventually agitated for a release to join the Bulldogs, while gun hooker Tallyn Da Silva left to join the Eels in the same season and now Jahream Bula and $6 million man Jarome Luai could follow them out the door amid his get-out clauses.

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Michael Ennis noted on the Fox League podcast that the Tigers were planning their future around a gun list of juniors that are now no longer at the club and the vision for rebuilding a contender has imploded before their eyes.

“I go back a couple of seasons ago when their Harold Matthews team, the Western Suburbs Magpies won the competition and it had Lachlan Galvin and Tallyn Da Silva and all these young guys coming through and they hung their hats on that,” Ennis said on The Fox League Podcast.

“They hung their hats on that nursery that they’ve got out in that Western Sydney region, but also in that Balmain region.

“They now have lost multiple players from that team and the players that have really dragged the club forward to play a style of footy and one that their fans could see improvement in.”

Ennis warned the longer the boardroom dramas and petty infighting continue, the more the Tigers risk losing more of their most valuable commodities in their star players, who get the fans through the gates.

“There’s now talk of Jahream Bula leaving,” Ennis said.

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Jarome Luai could leave amid the club’s turmoil.Source: Getty Images

“There’s clauses around Jarome Luai’s contract that are significant and these distractions don’t help that.

“The other one who’s coming to the end is skipper Api Koroisau and we’ve got the PNG Chiefs situation and the Bears coming into the competition.

“He’s a prime target for that. He would be fantastic for 12 or 18 months.”

Bula has been linked with a move to follow Galvin to the Bulldogs, which would mean their young spine including Da Silva will have all left within the space of 18 months.

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Ennis is concerned that Bula and other players are looking at the boardroom dramas and thinking this is a distraction to my footy career that I can do without and that isn’t helping me reach my potential.

“Jahream Bula is going and sitting down with other clubs, and he’s listening to their plan and their way forward and what they’ve got in place,” Ennis said.

“And then he’s also coming back to training and having to front up on a Monday and a Wednesday and sit in front of cameras and talk about what’s going on at the board level and the distractions around what’s happening with the club.

“It’s an easy decision for him to go, I don’t need this. I want to go somewhere where I can win a competition and I can enjoy my footy without these distractions.”

Could Jarome Luai follow Lachlan Galvin out the door?Source: Supplied

There was uproar at Luai last season when he was accused of being hypocritical of Galvin leaving the Tigers mid-contract, when he had clauses in his own five-year deal to do the same.

However, Luai maintained the clauses were about holding people accountable, including himself and the club.

The Tigers have not held up their end of the bargain and Anasta believes Luai has been vindicated.

“He’s been right, he’s thinking this is why I had clauses,” Anasta said.

“Everyone and on NRL 360 we’ve been critical of at times, a few journalists saying why isn’t he getting rid of those clauses if he’s so happy? Well, this is why.

“It’s going to be a challenge to maintain them (off-contract stars) now.”

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Anasta played the last two seasons of his career at the Tigers and noted the difference between how they are run and his two previous clubs the Bulldogs and the Roosters was chalk and cheese.

Part of that is down to the fact they are a joint venture club, but the Tigers need to show more unity to build a roster capable of competing for the title.

“Stability is key and so is consistency,” Anasta said.

“And if you’re like Jarome Luai or a player or even fans, you haven’t seen either of those things at the Tigers.”

Tallyn Da Silva has joined the Eels.Source: Getty Images

Ennis warned most players just want to play football and talk about it if they have to, but they don’t want to be peppered with questions about boardroom squabbles when they are trying to prepare for games each week.

“Players don’t want to front up every single day and have to talk about off-field distractions and issues or infighting,” Ennis said.

“It’s a distraction that they don’t need.”

Anasta went further suggesting that instability at the top level of clubs had the potential to filter down to the playing group and blasted the lack of leadership at the Tigers.

“It gives them an excuse,” Anasta said.

“I know that sounds bad and I’m not saying the players will use it as an excuse or the club, but it actually gives an out.

“You don’t want to be giving anyone an out. You are the businessmen. You’re the leaders. You’ve got to set the example.

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“And you’re actually setting the wrong example and have done for way too long.

“I get so confused as to how these guys, who have been successful in their own right know how to breed success, how to live success, how to be successful at their level, can think that this is going to be good for the players and for the club.”

Peter V’landys has admitted the NRL will consider taking action to save the Wests Tigers from themselves for the good of the fans.

Anasta feels it is time for the NRL to take over the struggling joint-venture, who haven’t got things right for 20 years since lifting the trophy in 2005 and that was more down to the players and coaches than club powerbrokers.

“I’m almost taking over,” Anasta said if he was V’landys.

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“I’m going in and going, this is what’s going on. You’ve shown over the past however long now that you can’t get this right. And this is what we’re doing as a game for the betterment of the game and its fans.

“Because, again, we go back to the it’s all about the fans. With no fans, there’s no game. We’ve got a club here who have one of if not I’d say it’s close to the biggest fan base. It’s up there in the top two or three definitely in Sydney.

“You just can’t keep doing this. You’re going to lose a lot of fans. You’re going to lose a lot of people. They’re the ones that pay.”