Tevita Pangai Junior set for another stunning NRL backflip amid major Wayne Bennett revelation
TPJ is reportedly set to follow Dolphins coach and mentor Bennett to Souths.
When Tevita Pangai Junior walked away from his $750,000 deal at Canterbury to take up boxing last year, he made clear his thoughts on the place he was leaving behind. "To be honest, I just hated Sydney. I didn’t enjoy the city," he said at the time.
"There’s a reason my parents moved out of Sydney when I was 12. The place sucks. I will never move back. My big thing was being in Brisbane. People don’t understand how much I love being back home with my wife’s family and being able to work with my (boxing) trainer in Brisbane."
Fast forward a year and TPJ is now reportedly eyeing a return to Sydney, following his Dolphins coach and mentor Wayne Bennett to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2025. "I will never move back" has seemingly been repurposed to "the joint's not that bad after all" as the front-row enforcer looks to play under Bennett at a third different club.
Tevita Pangai Jnr to follow Wayne Bennett to Souths?
The Dolphins appear resigned to losing the former Origin forward, who has provided good value since leaving boxing to return to the NRL last month. "We’ve got a salary cap and maximum amount of spots. There’s a lot to go through before we get to the end of what that might look like," CEO Terry Reader told News Corp.
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"I wouldn’t say everything's been ticked off. (This year) was all about Tevita deciding he wanted to be a footballer again. Wayne told him that. Tevita has done a fair bit in the game and as he said, he was only out for a year. His biggest thing was showing everyone he wants to be a footballer and letting his football do the talking. His attitude has been great and he's making sure he's doing his talking on the football field."
Before his Dolphins debut against Melbourne in round 16, Pangai was asked what the future held given Bennett was on the move in 2025. He replied: "When I look too far ahead that's when I've run into a lot of dramas so I'm just worried about the Storm and we'll see how we go after that.
"Obviously I play my best footy under Wayne, we'll see what happens. I can't say right now (what next year holds). I'm just happy to be back under Wayne and if it's only for three months I'll enjoy it as much as I can." The Dolphins are looking to lock down a maiden finals berth in just their second season, battling a host of teams just inside and out of the top eight.
