[ad_1]
Warriors star Addin Fonua-Blake has met with the Wests Tigers as he looks to secure a return back to Sydney for the 2025 NRL season.
According to 9News Sydney, Fonua-Blake held a meeting with the Tigers at Haberfield Rowers on Thursday.
He is expected to meet with both the Dragons and the Bulldogs this week after Canterbury general manager Phil Gould confirmed his interest in the star prop.
READ MORE: Tigers set to offer Luai mammoth $4.5m deal
READ MORE: Rabbitohs ‘Dream Team’ great dies after long illness
READ MORE: Tszyu takes title after surviving early ‘roadblock’
Fonua-Blake had originally requested an immediate release from the Warriors to return to Sydney but has since agreed to play out the 2024 NRL season with the club.
The Bulldogs have lost a host of front row depth with Tevita Pangai Junior retiring and Franklin Pele and Luke Thompson heading to the Super League.
Gould offered a glowing endorsement of Fonua-Blake when asked on SEN if he’s interested before stating “he’s not cheap”.
“Yeah Addin’s a quality player, I have a lot of time for Addin,” he said.
“I spent a little bit of time at the Warriors during COVID as a consultant and got to see Addin first hand, he’s a quality player.
“He’s not cheap though and I’d imagine there’d be a lot of interest in Addin.
“He’s got to return home to Australia for family reasons which he’s working through with the Warriors … there’ll be a lot of people lining up for his signature that’s for sure.”
One front row target the Bulldogs did have their eyes on was Roosters premiership winner Sio Siua Taukeiaho.
However, a failed medical meant the Catalans prop would not return to the NRL with Gould providing clarity around the situation.
“He was a player that we were really keen to pursue, he had a year to go on his contract at Catalans, they were looking for some kind of replacement if he was to come back to the NRL and any deal with us was subject to a medical, as they normally are,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, late in the season over there in France, his team went to the final, he played with injury in the finals and the grand final and it only made it worse.
“By the time he got back here he’s got a serious foot injury that requires surgery.
“There was two types of surgery for that, one type of surgery could get him back in 10-12 weeks, if he had to have the bigger surgery it could take a hell of a lot longer than that and that’s the one he now needs.
“He wouldn’t pass any medical to get an offer from us to come back into the NRL. I imagine he’ll be going back to Catalans to complete his contract. In the short-term he’s going to have surgery and quite a lengthy rehab.”
After missing out on Taukeiaho, Gould did contend the Bulldogs have a shortage in the forwards they need to address.
“I think everyone knows that, and sees that, the problem is there’s nothing really on the market to buy and we don’t want to rush out and spend the money,” he said.
“We’ve probably got a bit more than people see there. We’ve got some young blokes there that didn’t play a lot of football, they’d (fans) be feeling a lot better about it if they’d seen them play and we’re hoping they can get more time on the pitch next year.
“We’re certainly looking, we’ve got money available, and we can make spots available, we realise that’s an issue for us and we’re working towards it but I think we’re a little bit better placed than what the average person is looking at there.
“Internally we’re pretty confident in the blokes we’ve got can get a job done for us, no doubt we are looking for an experienced middle forward though.”
The Bulldogs first NRL game next season will be against the Eels on March 9.
[ad_2]
