NRL 2022: Eels forward will honour 2023 move to key rival

Contracts don’t quite mean what they once did, but an NRL club has received a much-needed boost with confirmation of a big move.

The Eels haven’t had a lot to celebrate lately. Picture; Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Marata Niukore has reassured the Warriors that he is not having any second thoughts ahead of his move across the ditch next season as teammate Shaun Lane declared the Eels had the game to trouble Penrith going into Friday’s battle of the west.

The Eels forward signed a four-year deal in 2021 to join the Warriors as the club looks to be competitive again after a few brutal years in Australia caused by the Covid pandemic.

While there are reports teammate Isaiah Papali’i is thinking twice about joining the Wests Tigers next season, Niukore says he’s committed to fulfilling his contract in a huge boost for the Warriors who have had to deal with a stack of players pulling out of their deals after the club was allowed to return home.

There are no guarantees Isaiah Papali'i will join the Tigers next year. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

“I’m pretty committed to my deal and I’ll honour that contract as it is at the moment. Nothing has changed (since I signed it),” Niukore said ahead of Friday’s game against the Panthers where he’ll likely bump into incoming Warriors coach Andrew Webster.

“My main focus is finishing my career at the Eels on a good note. Once that time comes, I’m looking forward to it.”

Niukore and the Eels have bigger things to worry about as they look to protect their place in the top eight.

The blue and golds have been defensively woeful in recent weeks and were picked apart by Brisbane in a massive wake-up call last week.

They now face the toughest test in all of rugby league when they play Penrith on Friday night, but they will take plenty of confidence from beating the reigning premiers earlier in the season.

Ryan Matterson celebrates a try in the round 9 upset in Penrith. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

That was Penrith’s only loss this year and Niukore said the key was to win the battle of the behemoths in the middle.

“We know what kind of team they are,” he said.

“We proved to ourselves last time that we played them that we can match it with them. Nothing is going to change from that game to how we prep for them this week.

“Their forwards lay a good platform for the outside backs to get involved in the game. I think if we can take it to their forward pack then we can eliminate most of the threat.”

The Sharks roughed up the Panthers last week and it looks as though teams have taken a leaf out of Queensland’s book after the Maroons opted for a brutal battle in the middle to blunt Penrith’s forwards to take time away from their key players.

Shaun Lane is ready to get down and dirty. Picture; Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

The defending premiers will be without Jarome Luai and Stephen Crichton for the battle of the west, and Shaun Lane says Parramatta will go for the jugular as they aim for back-to-back wins over their biggest rivals.

“It’s always a bit of innate confidence, a bit of subconscious confidence for the team going forward that we know we can beat them,” the lanky back-rower said.

“I think you can see by the last few games that we’ve played against them that this is a game that we always get up for. We’ll be putting everything into Friday night.

“I think the style of footy we play (troubles them).

“We’re a big, powerful team and they’re the same way. There are only a couple of teams that can match them physically in the competition, and we’re one of them.

“Although they may be able to be quite successful at that pretty much all the time, we are one of the teams that can stand up to them in that regard and make a real contest out of it.

“Our forward pack takes pride in our physicality.”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Eels forward will honour 2023 move to key rival