Jersey Flegg: Anthony Mundine’s son ‘firing’ for Tigers debut while in fight camp

Just like his old man, CJ Mundine is set to blaze a unique trail this Sunday in his remarkable comeback from a horrific hip dislocation.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH – FAMOUS SPORTING FAMILIES – The Mundine family have a strong sporting background running through 3 generations with Tony Mundine Snr (boxing), Anthony Mundine (NRL and Boxing), Anthony Mundine Jnr (L, basketball) and Rahim CJ Mundine (2nd from L, NRL) all featuring prominently in their chosen sports. Picture: Toby Zerna

CJ Mundine will showcase the versatility that made his old man famous this Sunday, making his Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg debut while already in a boxing fight camp.

Still only 20, the son of Australian boxing great Anthony Mundine will wear No.1 into the Tigers season opener against Victoria Thunderbolts at Waminda Oval, Campbelltown.

The young fullback’s club debut comes just weeks before also appearing on the undercard of Sonny Bill Williams’ heavyweight clash against retired AFL star Barry Hall.

Despite the unlikely sporting conflict, Tigers head coach Scott Kenna says Mundine Jnr had been “firing” in pre-season and won’t be adversely impacted by any weight cut.

In fact, with Mundine Jnr expected to fight at light heavyweight, Kenna said he was “already close to the weight he’ll be fighting” in Sydney on March 23.

Apart from being coached by his famous grandfather Tony, CJ will also have dad in his corner for his professional boxing debut.

The Mundine Factor: CJ Mundine (2nd from left) is carrying the family name into Jersey Flegg this weekend. Picture: Toby Zerna

“And we knew coming here that CJ would be fighting,” Kenna said. “So we’re happy to let him do that.

“Right now, he’s still sticking to our training program.

“Even though he’s boxing, it isn’t like he has had to stop doing anything to make weight.

“Then when he fights, we’ll just wait to see how hard it is before deciding if he plays the next week or not.

“So we’re flexible. We’ve planned around it.”

Asked if CJ shared any attributes of the old man, Kenna continued: “He’s fairly quiet when you first meet him.

“But once you get to know him, yeah, every now and then a little bit of Mundine comes out and he just laughs at you.

Anthony Mundine with sons CJ (L) and Anthony Mundine III in Redfern. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

“Almost plays with it.

“So he really is an awesome kid.

“He’s a little bit cheeky at times which you need in your side.

“But he’s also very respectful.

“And a skilful footballer who is really intelligent, too.”

After stints with both South Sydney and St George Illawarra, Mundine arrived at Wests Tigers in pre-season having overcome a hip dislocation.

“So he was a bit slow first couple of weeks as expected,” Kenna said.

“But he’s firing now.

“Got through all the trials really well.

Anthony Mundine and son CJ. Pic: Supplied

“He’s definitely one of the players we’re looking to develop.”

Apart from Mundine, two other Tigers to keep a close eye on are centre pairing Junior Tupou and Trey Peni.

“Junior is in the Tigers fulltime squad already and Trey has been training with them (all summer),” Kenna said.

“And coming back to us now, they’re bringing a lot of confidence and knowledge.

“Because of their leadership too, those traits are bleeding into the rest of the squad. So we’re getting a lot of experience from them being up with the NRL players.”

Originally published as Jersey Flegg: Anthony Mundine’s son ‘firing’ for Tigers debut while in fight camp