Is Tuimoala Lolohea the man brought in to replace Mitchell Moses in the number six jersey at Wests Tigers?
Club fans may not have long to wait to find out.
Lolohea, who joins the Wests Tigers immediately from the Warriors, will be available for selection for the team’s round 13 clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons this Saturday afternoon at ANZ Stadium.
Lolohea, who has joined Wests Tigers until the end of the 2019 season, is known as a utility player, but five-eighth is always listed first.
The versatile 22 year old – the same age as Moses – has played 53 NRL games for the New Zealand Warriors since making his debut in 2014.
Wests Tigers head coach Ivan Cleary welcomed Lolohea to the club.
“On behalf of everyone at Wests Tigers I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Tui to the club,” Cleary said.
“Tui has shown that he is a player of tremendous natural talent.
“We look forward to helping him develop, and reach his true potential, in the coming years.’’
Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe said that Lolohea brings to Wests Tigers experience at both a club and international level.
“We look forward to having a player of Tui’s talent join Wests Tigers for the coming two and a half seasons,” Pascoe said.
“At just 22 years of age he’s already represented both New Zealand and Tonga and we’re keen to see him take his game to the next level here.”
Lolohea was a part of the Warriors’ 2014 Holden Cup premiership winning squad.
A year later in 2015 he was named the Warriors rookie of the year.
He was also named in the 2016 Auckland Nines team of the tournament.
♦ SNAPSHOT – Tuimoala Lolohea
Date of birth January 23, 1995;
Height 178cm;
Weight 90kg;
Position Five-eighth, fullback, centre, halfback, wing;
Junior club Marist Saints;
First grade debut Warriors v Manly, Mount Smart Stadium, July 27, 2014;
Rep honours 1 Test for New Zealand (2015), 2 Tests for Tonga (2015,17), Junior Kiwis (2013);
NRL (2014-17) 53 games, 17 tries, 18 goals, 104 points.
