NRL 2020: Wests Tigers eye Curtis Sironen after signing James Roberts
Wests Tigers have bolstered their backline with a former Origin star and are now looking to bring the son of a legend back home.
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Wests Tigers have landed wayward star James Roberts on a two-year deal.
The Tigers signed Roberts after meeting him last week.
The Roberts contract will have multiple behavioral clauses to ensure any mark against his name results in an automatic sacking. It is understood he could earn about $150,000 — well down from his former asking price of about $500,000. The NRL needed to approve the deal,
Roberts’ contract has an option in the club’s favour for the second season.
Roberts said he was excited for the opportunity to join Wests Tigers and thanked the tremendous support he had received.
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“I’m very excited to be a part of a quality club which is obviously on the rise,” Roberts said. “The opportunity to reunite with Michael Maguire is too good to pass up and I’m looking forward to working closely with him again.
“I’m also really impressed with the work Wests Tigers are doing in creating pathways for Aboriginal people and it’s something I’m really passionate about.
“I’d like to thank South Sydney for the support they’ve given me and my family over the past two years and I can’t wait to start my new chapter with Wests Tigers.”
Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe welcomed Roberts to the club and commended his attitude throughout the negotiation process in recent weeks.
“James is a phenomenal athlete and provides another x-factor to our outside backs,” Pascoe said.
“We firmly believe that the NRL is better off having talents like James in the competition and we’re looking forward to working closely with him both on and off the field.
“James understands the responsibility he has to his teammates, the Wests Tigers members and all those associated with the club and is extremely determined to ensure this opportunity directly contributes to the success of Wests Tigers.”
Wests Tigers are also considering making a play for a Curtis Sironen homecoming as part of a potential swap deal between Manly and Sironen’s former club.
The move could mean Sironen returns to the Tigers which would allow disgruntled prop Josh Aloiai to switch to the Sea Eagles immediately. The Tigers are steadfast in their belief they will not release Aloiai unless they find a suitable replacement and expect him back at training on November 30.
Tigers back-rower Luke Garner could also be part of any trade deal although Tigers officials are adamant he will fulfil the final two years of his deal.
Sironen is off-contract at the end of next year and it is understood the Sea Eagles would consider an opportunity for the 27-year-old to return to the Tigers on a long-term deal.
The Sironen name is synonymous with the Tigers after Curtis’s dad Paul was a star at the club in the 1980s and 1990s.
Curtis made his debut for the Tigers in 2012 and played 65 games before joining Manly in 2017 where he has established himself as an edge back-rower while Garner played under-20s at the Sea Eagles before making his debut at the Tigers. Aloiai has had a highly publicised fallout with his current club and the situation is now untenable. The Tigers are privately shocked how quickly the relationship has soured given how popular Aloiai has been with his contributions on and off the field. He was thought of as a potential captaincy option with suggestions Moses Mbye will stand down from the role.
ORIGIN REMATCH ON THE CARDS
Blues prop Junior Paulo is gearing up for a fight but it may not be against Maroons counterpart Josh Papalii.
Paulo is keen to step back into the ring and has held discussions with Eels management about allowing him to do so.
“Jumping in the ring - I want to do it,” Paulo said. “Josh and I would have to speak about (fighting) but we’re good mates off the field.
“We’ve done a bit of training off the field when we were in Canberra. We did a bit of boxing with one of the trainers. He can throw them. His uncle is Alex Leapai who has been on the biggest stage, he has a bit of Alex to him.”
Paulo last fought in 2016 when he lost to Paul Gallen.
FOXX READY TO BURST BUBBLE
The Josh Addo-Carr road train heads to Sydney next week with the representative winger expected to speak with a handful of clubs as he considers his future for 2022. Addo-Carr will leave the bubble for the first time this year this week and will spend his first week off speaking with potential suitors. It is expected that Canterbury and the Tigers will be among those lining up for his services.
CLEARY’S OFF SEASON SURGERY
Ivan Cleary watched the Blues Origin match from his hospital bed by himself on Wednesday night. The Penrith coach was bedridden after having a hip replacement to fix an old footy injury this week forcing him to watch son Nathan from hospital. We can report he is in good spirits and recuperating.
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BIDING HIS TIME
Cameron McInnes did not play an Origin match but lost no admirers for the way he has carried himself in recent weeks. The Blues hierarchy were desperate to reward the Dragons captain with a game but were unable to find a way to work him into the 17. Regardless, he has been earmarked as an Origin player in waiting. “If you had to give points out for best trainers or most committed,” Blues coach Brad Fittler said. “Cam McInnes just wins. He is a machine.”
NEWCASTLE BOLSTER FORWARD PACK
The Knights have signed former Canterbury and Tigers prop Sauaso Sue. Sue, 28, played 26 games for the Bulldogs in the past two seasons after playing 116 games for the Tigers.
FLASHBACK
James Roberts dominated headlines again on this day five years ago. Gold Coast football manager Scott Clark resigned after he was found to have forged Roberts’ signature on his playing contract. Roberts’ contract, which was registered with the NRL in July, was voided making him a free agent. He later signed with Brisbane.
THAT ORIGIN MEMORY
Robbie Farah (16 games for NSW between 2009-16)
Robbie Farah played more than 50 minutes of Origin with complete rupture of his AC joint in his left shoulder. The injury is meant to sideline you for up to three months. Instead the Blues skipper finished the match with a game high 51 tackles and remarkably did not miss one as NSW lost 11-10 in game one, 2015. It prompted Blues doctor Nathan Gibbs to describe Farah’s performance as “amazing” at the time.
Trouble struck for the dummy half when he was dumped on his shoulder by Justin Hodges after scooping up a loose play the ball.
“It was gone straight away,” Farah said. “I heard a massive crack. The most difficult thing was passing across my body. It’s pretty hard when the biggest part of my game was passing. It impacted that but I knew I couldn’t come off. We had no hooker or utility on the bench, I had to find a way to get through the game.”
By halftime Farah was in big trouble. He received treatment from Blues doctor Nathan Gibbs but the painkilling injections did not last long.
“I can’t remember the amount of needles I had,” Farah said. “They worked for about 10 minutes and the pain kept coming back.
“You get through on adrenaline and you do what you have to do because you can’t let the boys down.
“They kept running at me and tried to make me make as many tackles as they could. It wasn’t until after the game when you cool down and the adrenaline wears off that I was in complete agony.”
Farah returned three weeks later for the Blues and then broke his hand playing for the Tigers after the Origin II win to rule him out of the decider which NSW lost 52-6.
“The shoulder was the most painful injury I’ve had,” Farah said. “I broke my cheekbone in Origin I in 2013 and played on but that was a facial injury. “Whenever I passed left to right I cringed in pain.
“Passing was more painful than tackling because at least with tackling you can get your body in front and do what you have to do.”
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