Tigers coach Michael Maguire has confirmed that captain Moses Mbye has been training in the team's vacant hooker position.
Last year saw Mbye initially find himself at a familiar role at fullback, before moving to the centres. The Wests skipper is set to now take on the dummy-half role left by Robbie Farah.
Maguire admitted that the club are will look to avoid rushing any moves for a marquee signing to prevent problematic overspending as they look to learn from previous lessons.
The Tigers hold a $1.3 million war chest, but have already missed out on the likes of Latrell Mitchell and Jai Arrow.
Wests have moved their focus onto BJ Leilua and Adam Doueihi and gaining scrutiny for not looking to be more flexible during negotiations.
When asked about spending on the open market, Maguire was adamant the Tigers will stand strong.
“We need to be clear about not making the same mistakes this club’s made in the past,” Maguire told Fox Sports.
“We’re in the process of making major changes but we need to be smart about how we make those changes.
“The position our salary cap is in at the moment, we need to get players’ values spot on.
“We want to give players the best opportunity to build something here at Wests Tigers that hasn’t been here at the club for some time.
“We’ve got a great young squad, now we just need to be patient about making the right decisions around who we bring into the club next.
“We won’t be just spending money for the sake of spending it.
“I’d rather take my time and focus on building the club from the ground up. We’ll be diligent about making the right decisions.”
Mbye has been noted to be training with dummy-half alternatives Billy Walters and rookie Jake Simpkin as the club look to shuffle through the position due to Josh Reynolds future uncertain with court matters.
Jacob Liddle looked certain to fill the void before sustaining an ACL injury against Manly in August.
Liddle's time on the sideline mixed with Farah's departure and Reynolds' off-field uncertainties, Mbye looks to be the next name on list.
Mbye is very talented but can never seem to put it together consistently. Maybe hooker is a good idea but who knows.
As far as signings Adam Doueihi would be good as an eventual successor for Benji Marshall at Five-Eight. Brooks and Doueihi would be a good combo.
Not sure if Joey Leilua is a good signing but they need some talent. Really thought Dallin Watene-Zedinak would’ve been a good fullback having played under McQuire also. I’d suggest making a cheap play at both Matt Dufty and Euan Aiken.
His best position is waterboy.
Mbye should retire and say byebye
Mbye, while a decent first grader, is hardly a marquee player and it’s up to Maguire to find how he can best perform for the Tigers.
I think he’ll make a better hooker than full back although his defence may be tested.