Tigers in talks

IVAN Cleary and his Tigers could be spending the off-season in Hawaii as the joint-venture outfit revisits plans to take a game to the holiday hot spot.

The Tigers are in negotiations to take a pre-season trial to the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, the home of the University of Hawaii’s Rainbow Warriors. St George Illawarra will be their opponents if they can make the bold plan a reality.

The joint-venture outfit had attempted to stage the fixture during the past off-season, although broadcasting issues weren’t resolved in time for the NRL to give it the seal of approval. Unde- terred, Tigers officials are beavering away at the project in the hope of becoming the first NRL side to play in Hawaii.

‘‘We’re certainly revisiting it,’’ Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe said.

‘‘It’s a matter of evaluating the schedule – this off-season is going to be very busy with a World Cup, the Nines and other events.

‘‘We’ve got to make sure we manage the schedule in the best interests of the team. As that becomes clearer, we’ll be able to make a judgment on whether Hawaii remains a reality for 2018 or we look at it for 2019 and beyond. We still feel there’s value there.’’

If successful, the Tigers won’t be the only team in Hawaii during