It has been revealed that the Wests Tigers are only paying approximately half of David Klemmer's salary for this season, while they are also only paying a fraction of Jacob Liddle's salary at the Dragons.
Klemmer was involved in one of the most intriguing moves of the off-season when he was shipped to the Newcastle Knights in a player swap with Jackson Hastings, who will instead wear the number seven jersey in Adam O'Brien's side.
Both the Tigers and Knights are desperate for radical transformations in 2023, with the Tigers picking up the spoon and Knights finishing in the bottom four.
The move of Klemmer came after issues at Newcastle last season, which also saw him suspended at one point by the club after an on-field altercation with trainer Hayden Knowles.
Despite that, Klemmer spoke of his desire to stay in Newcastle, only for the deal to go through during the off-season.
Klemmer was on a reported $800,000 per year at the Knights, working in a front row combination with the Saifiti brothers, Daniel and Jacob.
The former Canterbury Bulldogs forward's switch to the Tigers will see the Knights continue to pay around $400,000 of his contract though, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.
That means Klemmer is only on around $400,000 out of the Tigers' salary cap for this year, which represents a score for the joint venture, who have taken considerable steps to beef up their forward pack this year, with the arrival of Klemmer joined by Apisai Koroisau, John Bateman and Isaiah Papali'i, who is believed to be on around $600,000 per year at the club following two years at the Parramatta Eels on a basement price.
Klemmer isn't the only move the Tigers have made ahead of contract though for 2023, with Koroisau's arrival seeing the departure of Jacob Liddle to the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The report indicates the Tigers are only paying around $50,000 of Liddle's wage across the course of the year in another win for the club, given Liddle remaining at Concord would have seen three starting calibre hookers within their Top 30, creating an unhealthy squad balance.
Liddle is believed to be on another $200,000 at the Dragons, which also represents a value buy for Anthony Griffin's struggling side.
