TUI NEXT TO GO
Warriors ready to sanction Lolohea departure -
Tuimoala Lolohea could be given an early release from his Warriors contract, but not until next year.
He is signed with the club until the end of the 2019 season and was once regarded as the future for the Warriors in the halves. But now the 22-year-old is languishing in the reserves, playing on the wing.
It’s been a mighty fall from grace for the one-test Kiwi, with the ultimate snub coming for Sunday’s game against the Roosters. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was named ahead of him to play on the wing.
Clearly he doesn’t figure in the Warriors future plans and it’s believed they’re chasing Te Maire Martin, a player Stephen Kearney rated highly when he was with the Kiwis, but has fallen out of favour at the Panthers in recent times. Martin is signed with the Panthers for next season, so would need the Panthers to give him an early release to return to New Zealand.
There are at least five NRL clubs keen on taking Lolohea straight away and want to play him in the halves and that’s where he’ll appear for Tonga in next month’s test against Samoa.
But the Warriors aren’t keen on giving him an immediate release as they don’t want to leave themselves unprotected if there’s an injury crisis.
That’s not good for Lolohea, who’s career is going nowhere and the current interest in him may be gone if he has to wait until the end of the season.
It’s been the Warriors’ policy for a few years not to give players an early release from their contracts unless there is a suitable replacement coming in. They allowed Sam Tomkins to skip the last year of his contract because they could get Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for similar money.
It doesn’t always work out as they plan however. Last year they allowed Raymond Faitala-Mariner to go to the Bulldogs in return for Shaun Lane, who was a flop - he played just one game for the Warriors and wasn’t offered a new contract - while FaitalaMariner is a regular in Des Hasler’s side.
There has always been that concern at the Warriors that they could be letting a player who could go onto be one of the best in the NRL in Lolohea.