The Wests Tigers players and fans got a chance to catch their breath on the bye round weekend just gone.

Picking up two points in the most straightforward way possible was a welcome change from the stress and agony we've all been feeling recently.

We thought this would also be a perfect opportunity to welcome a new member of the team, Zac Kelsey from the Tiger Town podcast.

Zac has impressed us here at the Wests Tigers Podcast with his knowledge around rugby league and passion for our club, and we look forward to hearing him more often on our podcast.

On his debut with us, Zac is joined by Joel and Nick for a look at the latest Wests Tigers news.

Wests Tigers news up for discussion

This news includes the re-signing of Adam Doueihi on a two-year deal. We discuss the pros and cons of that move, and try to work out where he lines up in 2026.

It also appears that Charlie Staines might be moving on from the club with a deal from the Super League on the table. We look at where that might leave our wing depth.

The Wests Tigers Podcast Forum has been continuing to boom in recent times, and we've been creating some topics and polls that feed nicely into our podcast discussions.

One poll was in regard to what the club's 2026 recruitment priority should be; it was no surprise that a position was considered the priority by the vast majority of respondents. That gets discussed on this edition of the podcast.

We have also listened to the opinions of our forum members, with a number submitting their top 3 reasons to be optimistic about the Wests Tigers' chances in 2026. Joel, Nick, and Zac also give their reasons to be upbeat and list three reasons each around why we should maybe temper our enthusiasm a bit for next year as well.

We hope you enjoy this bye-round edition of the Wests Tigers Podcast and hope to see you soon on the Wests Tigers Podcast Forum.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wests-tigers-podcast--6660380/support.