Ready to beef up Roosters pack
Sydney Roosters forward Frank-Paul Nuuausala has vowed to make the most of his return to the NRL club following his surprise move from the Super League.
Nuuausala thought he had farewelled the NRL for good when he left Canberra and signed a three-year deal to join Wigan late in 2016.
However, the former New Zealand international was a notable absentee during Wigan’s trial against South Sydney last month, before eventually being granted a release from his contract.
His return followed months of negotiations with the Roosters and allowed him to re-unite with his wife and son, who had moved back to Australia late last year.
‘‘I missed Australia. It was just different really. I just took the opportunity to play in Wigan and a couple of things were there but nothing beats home. It’s where the heart is,’’ he said.
‘‘Five months – it was pretty tough. But I give credit to [my wife] because she’s been a single mum for five months looking after my son and trying to organise our lives over here.
‘‘But they gave me extra motivation, to be honest.
‘‘I could’ve cracked under pressure and just walked away. But I’m not that type of person to give up and I’ll be disappointed if I did.’’
Nuuausala, who was part of the club’s breakthrough premiership in 2013, will add some extra beef to a forward pack that were outhustled in a loss to the Wests Tigers in round one.
The 31-year-old declared himself ready to repay the club for a chance to finish his career where it started in 2007, before going on to play 154 games in the red, white and blue.
‘‘I never thought I’d get an opportunity to come back when I left in 2014. Not many people get to come back to the club they love and where they started,’’ he said.
‘‘To come back home is a blessing and I’ll take the opportunity. I won’t take it for granted.’’
The Roosters are likely to welcome back five-eighth Luke Keary for Friday’s clash with Canterbury after he was kept out of their season-opener with a broken jaw.
It is believed Keary has also been battling headaches since the surgery, however Roosters captain Boyd Cordner said the club would take no risks with his health. ‘‘It is pretty scary. ‘‘His health is the most important thing to us and the club. We want to make sure he’s 100 per cent right because you don’t want to muck around with that injury,’’ he said.