Kelma Tuilagi Signs With Manly

[Cobarcats]

No questions asked of the dedence

Dedence, is that like dead ants, where good at that 😁

 

[Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan]

Any chance of a backflip? He is the second rower we've needed. We can't just let him walk.

 

[Demps]

I miss him already

💔

 

[cktiger]

Great running the ball but still has some horrible lazy moments in defence.

 

[OzLuke]

is this confirmed that he's leaving? man alive he's a goer

 

[Demps]

Can sit on the bench for 68 minutes at Manly

 

[Merlot]

is this confirmed that he's leaving? man alive he's a goer

POM confirmed

 

[gallagher]

Good 40 mins.

 

[hank37w]

Great running the ball but still has some horrible lazy moments in defence.

We've got a couple of second rowers that look pretty good in attack but are unfortunately leaving, but one thing all our second rowers have in common is that they all have defensive issues.

 

[Demps]

We've got a couple of second rowers that look pretty good in attack but are unfortunately leaving, but one thing all our second rowers have in common is that they all have defensive issues.

iPapz will tighten things up.

 

[boonboon]

Where else will we find another back rower to leave a whole in the defensive line to allow 4 tries in

 

[hank37w]

iPapz will tighten things up.

That should be a big help unless he ends up playing in the middle as some have previously suggested, but nothing would surprise me.

I hope that is not the case because we really need someone solid on an edge next year and hopefully a sensible rotation is brought into play sooner rather than later.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

He was very good. I didn’t see the big deal over the off season, but if he comes and plays like that every week then he‘s a loss. Someone dropped the ball.

 

[krissy]

He was very good. I didn’t see the big deal over the off season, but if he comes and plays like that every week then he‘s a loss. Someone dropped the ball.

He looked like yet another one we should have hung on to, that is what hurts, the club has a history of letting young players go and hanging on to potatoes or worse signing other clubs has been potatoes.

 

[PJ_]

iPapz will tighten things up.

Hope we get the Android version

 

[tbones10]

This seems like a crap thread, its not listed in any official site, just this one and the Silvertails Net, could we get this either confirmed or removed

 

[bathursttiger1]

Would prefer her as the head trainer specialising in rub-downs, she's a good sort!

When I read your reply I didn’t have my glasses on and could just read “prefer her as the head” and I thought what’s he on about then I put my glasses on.

 

[Cobarcats]

This seems like a crap thread, its not listed in any official site, just this one and the Silvertails Net, could we get this either confirmed or removed

If you took down everthing on this forum that has not been 💯% confirmed there would only be a handful of posts 😁

 

[Tiger_Bond]

Rivals poach another Tiger cub​

Fatima Kdouh
Enjoy it while it lasts, Wests Tigers fans.
The clock has started ticking on the most promising backrow prospects seen at Concord in recent times.

Boom forward Kelma Tuilagi will join North Queensland bound Leilua Leilua in departing the club at the end of the season.

The 23-year old, who beat Luke Garner to a starting edge spot, has agreed to join rivals Manly on a long-term deal. Tuilagi opted to take the security of a three-year contract with the Sea Eagles over the two years offered by the Tigers.

“Madge [Michael Maguire] fought to bring me here from Melbourne. I had tears in my eyes telling him,” Tuilagi told The Daily Telegraph.

“We came back from the Christmas break but Madge had Covid, so I had to wait another week before telling him in person.

The Wests Tigers had already lost Luciano Leilua (left) to the Cowboys and have now lost Kelma Tuilagi (right) to Manly. Picture: NCA NewsWire.
“Holding it in was so hard. I didn’t want to do it on the phone. I wanted to tell him face-to-face because he was confident I would stay.”

It’s not the first time Tuilagi has slipped through a club’s fingers.

Stuck down the pecking order behind the likes Kenny Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Dale Finucane at the Storm, Melbourne let Tuilagi walk away at the end of season 2020.

The Storm could rue the decision to let the rising forward leave with lock Finucane no longer at the club and second rowers Kaufusi and Bromwich switching to the Redcliffe Dolphins in 2023.

“I started playing league when I was 15 in New Zealand. Melbourne came over and picked me up, I played some edge, some middle back then,” Tuilagi said.

“I was grateful I started off with the Storm because they are a pretty good team.

“But coming to the Tigers was the start of me.

“I had been down in Melbourne quite a bit … but the Tigers gave me the opportunity to play NRL.”

While Tuilagi opted for security, Leilua was searching for a sea change when deciding to sign a three-year deal with the Cowboys.

“It was time to get out of Sydney for me,” Leilua said.

“Madge was the main reason I wanted to stay, because he built me up to what I am today. Everything I have done in footy is because of Madge. He’s turned me into the 80 minute player that I am.”

Tuilagi and Leilua looked very good together for the Tigers in Round One, but the combination won’t be together after 2022. Picture: NCA Newswire.
Impressive in the trials series, Leilua has carried that form into the start of the season on the right edge.

It’s been a similar story on the left side for Tuilagi.

After five games off the bench last season, Tuilagi has claimed a starting spot and is primed for a breakout season.

Tuilagi’s physicality is already causing problems for opposition defences with his line-bending runs and offloading ability.

“He’s a man of few words, he can be funny when you get to know him … he’s impressed me with just how physical he is … we don‘t really see it at training. He is the nice guy,” Leilua said.

“And then on the field, he’s putting on shots, he’s got line speed. He’s menacing.”

But Tuilagi is more reluctant than Leilua to take on the tag as the club’s newest ‘bash brothers’.

“I’ll leave the bashing to Luce. I’m a lover, I’m not a basher,” Tuilagi laughed.

“Everyone looks at me and sees someone who doesn’t say much, whether it’s on the field or off the field … on the field, I’m a quiet and shy dude.

“I keep telling myself I don’t need to say anything, just let your actions talk.

“From how I play, people think I’m aggressive but deep down. I’m not.”

The dynamic duo have pledged to do everything they can to help return the Tigers to the finals for first time since 2011 before departing the club.

“Everyone says it … but I desperately want to make the finals,” Leilua said.

“I want to have a good time here. When you’re having a good time you’re winning games. I want to win games.

“We’re also from the same village in Samoa, Fatausi. That would make the finals even more special,” Leilua said.

While the Tigers lose Leilua and Tuilagi, the club has signed Parramatta backrower Isaiah Papali’i from season 2023.

 

[The_Patriot]

Good start to the season.

Im sure there is a plan but the fans would like to see it come together pretty quickly. At the moment it just looks like another talented player thought he would be better off at a bigger club.