Holding no grudge
Four years a Cowboy but Kaufusi has moved on
“YOU’RE doubting yourself, and it’s tough mentally, because you’re knocking on the door but you’re not there.”
Melbourne Storm forward Felise Kaufusi holds no grudges towards the North Queensland Cowboys, but come Sunday he will be aiming to inflict grand final pain on the club where he spent one season of first grade but failed to play a single NRL game.
His time at North Queensland goes back further than that however, having played under- 20s for the Cowboys between 2010 and 2012.
In 2011, he played alongside current Cowboys stars Michael Morgan, Jason Taumalolo and Kyle Feldt in the now infamous 2011 NYC grand final, with Kaufusi starting at No. 10 alongside Taumalolo – then a second rower – and Morgan at halfback.
Feldt played where he still is now, on the wing in the No. 2 jumper.
The four players experienced fulltime heartache with the Warriors winning 31- 30 in extra- time despite the young Cowboys mounting a comeback from 14 points down.
“I’ve still got plenty of good friends there,” Kaufusi said of the Cowboys.
“Playing under- 20s with that team was a special part of my life and it’s great to see some of those boys kick on. “I guess it will be a bit of funny one to be playing against those boys in an NRL grand final. That’s just the way life goes sometimes.”
Kaufusi’s brother Patrick will join him at the Storm next year, but for now the siblings will be club rivals as Patrick sees out the end of his current Cowboys contract. His eldest brother Antonio, now retired, played 151 NRL games for the Storm, Cowboys, Knights and Bulldogs, along with three seasons in the Super League.
“I’ll still be expecting to see the family wearing purple,” Kaufusi said, tongue in cheek.
“There’s been no real banter though, I’ve been going about my business this week and the same goes for Pat. “He’s coming here at the end of the year and it will be great to have him, but that’s happening later. Right now it’s all about this grand final.”
Kaufusi graduated from the Cowboys under- 20s system with a oneyear deal, but all that time was spent playing for feeder team the Northern Pride. In front of him were the likes of James Tamou, Matthew Scott, Tariq Sims and Gavin Cooper. “It’s a hard one,” Kaufusi said. “Just the uncertainty can be frustrating, but you just keep working hard and wait for an opportunity.”
Kaufusi stuck with the Pride throughout 2013 and during his time in Queensland Cup the Storm offered him a one- year contract. He didn’t play an NRL game in his first year at Melbourne but was re- signed nonetheless and from the opening round of 2015 Kaufusi has become a mainstay of arguably the NRL’s most potent and efficient outfit.
Kaufusi has started in all of Melbourne’s 26 games this year and has averaged more than 90m a game.
It was that consistency that almost landed him a Queensland State of Origin call- up.