Dragons star Christian Tuipulotu defies his coach with ‘cash’ celebration
A star Dragon has risked the wrath of his coach after bringing back his controversial “banned” try celebration against the Titans.
You can only keep a showman down for so long.
Flamboyant winger Christian Tuipulotu was back in the spotlight during the Dragons’ dominant 38-16 win over the Titans on Friday night.
Tuipulotu has made plenty of headlines so far this NRL season, partly for his tryscoring feats but mostly for his post-try celebrations.
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The hulking 24-year-old with the long locks had a penchant for pulling out the “show me the money” celebrations after crossing the line, which many speculated was due to the fact he was off contract at St George Illawarra after this season.
While coach Shane Flanagan said he planned to ban the celebration and greats like Andrew Johns told Tuipulotu to pick his moments, the winger got his wish after signing a new one-year deal for 2026 this week.
Watch Tuipulotu’s two celebrations in the video player above
So all eyes were on the 106kg winger when he opened the scoring in the ninth minute, which came right after the Titans looked like scoring only for newcomer Clint Gutherson to pull off a try-saving tackle on Gold Coast lock Chris Randall.
St George Illawarra quickly went up the other end of the field, with some quick hands ending with Valentine Holmes’ pass to Tuipulotu, who took care of the rest and scored in the corner.
It was his sixth try in just five games so far this season and, much to the disappointment of some watching on, there was no recreation of the money-making celebrations.
Not yet, anyway.
Instead Tuipulotu just opened his arms wide and screamed before punching the air and getting mobbed by his teammates.
Fox League commentator Andrew Voss was one of those expressing his frustrations with both the lack of celebration and Flanagan’s approach to the move.
“Holmes this time, show us the money, Christian Tuipulotu scores in the corner,” Voss yelled.
“He’s got something for us. See I’m not with coach Flanagan, bring it on Christian, put on a show.
“(It’s) his 50th NRL game and has now scored in his past five games here at this venue.
“So he’s put away the ‘show me the money’ and he’s gone into a whole routine there.
“See I don’t mind saying, he’s a couple of boxes away from us, coach Flanagan you grumpy old man.
“I mean get in the spirit of things. We’re in the entertainment business and this guy has scored a good try and watch his reaction.
“I love it.”
Fellow commentator and NRL great Michael Ennis implored Tuipulotu to “bring it back” in reference to his old celebration before adding: “He’s enjoying his time.
“Signed a one-year extension during the week for Shane Flanagan to remain with the Dragons and has six tries in five games the big fella. He’s on fire.”
But you can only contain an extrovert for so long and the next time Tuipulotu crossed the line, Voss and plenty watching on got their wish.
The giant winger scored the first try of the second half and you guessed it, both of his cash gestures were back as the home fans went wild.
“He’s over again, Tuipulotu, he’s given us a little bit!” Voss said. “There you go Flanagan, he’s back. He’s back and let him go.”
Ennis added: “My word, the money man is back.
“What about the ball from Flanagan, he’s putting in a stellar performance Kyle Flanagan.
“The pass superb from Flanagan … and the money man Tuipulotu gets his second. Here it is Vossy, here comes the paper.”
Voss took a moment to wonder how the Dragons coach would feel about the incident.
“That’s two (tries), it’s seven for the year. So that means your old coach, has he gone outside the wishes of the coach there or is he allowed to do that at 28-4?” he asked.
“What’s happening, what’s old grumpy pants up to.
“I love it … if that’s your schtick, that’s your schtick, you know?”
He showed the moves are well and truly back when he even pulled them out from the bench after Dylan Egan’s 72nd minute try and Voss was loving it.
Tuipulotu burst out of the blocks this season with four tries from two matches, including a hat-trick against the Bulldogs in round one, regularly busting out his then-trademark move.
Sadly for Dragons fans, the club lost its opening two games against the Dogs and Souths, so the try celebrations fell flat according to some.
The situation went so far that Flanagan vowed to ban the celebration going forward.
“He won’t be doing them again, trust me,” Flanagan told CODE Sports last month.
“He will be told, don’t you worry. I don’t know where it’s coming from but it won’t be happening anymore. We’ll address it.”
While Immortal Johns doesn’t want players to suppress their personalities out on the field, he felt there is a time and place for overt celebrations.
“Look, if you win a big game and there’s a real big moment and you ice the game, pressure on, I can understand it then,” Johns said on Channel 9’s Immortal Behaviour.
“But in round one, when they were behind by 18, I was like Christian, what are you doing mate? Read the room.
“You can’t be doing this rubbish when you’re down by 18 (points).”
Former Bulldog Michael Ennis had the same reaction, saying on Fox League: “Interesting celebration when you’re down by 18.”
Born in Auckland, Tuipulotu spent one season at the Roosters before shifting to the Sea Eagles from 2021-2023.
Linking up with Red V last season, the Kiwi has a solid try-scoring record, now moving to 29 from his 50 appearances at the top level.
Johns said it’s a balancing act learning how to deal with players with Tuipulotu’s flamboyance.
“It’s a fine line because he’s obviously extroverted and that’s his personality,” he said.
The Dragons took a dominant 24-4 lead into halftime against the Titans and Tuipulotu couldn’t help himself as the famous gestures roared back at WIN Stadium.
They were back in his second-half try and again from the bench, the latter with a huge grin across his face.
It ended up a satisfying night for the Dragons, who picked up their second win of the year, while the Titans are also now 2-3 for the season.
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