Bad boy Fifita welcomed back to fold
ANDREW Fifita’s Kangaroos exile is over.
The barnstorming Cronulla prop has been called into Mal Meninga’s squad as a replacement for Wests Tigers captain Aaron Woods, who suffered groin and hamstring injuries in Saturday night’s 22-16 loss to the Sharks.
Fifita (pictured) has made six appearances for Australia, but adding a seventh seemed unlikely when the front-rower was banned from national duty just seven months ago.
That ban was issued because of Fifita’s on-field support of his friend, one-punch killer Kieran Loveridge.
Fifita also copped a $20,000 fine for repeatedly wearing strapping with “FKL” written in Josh Papalii following his texta – widely believed to stand for ‘Free Kieran Loveridge’ or ‘For Kieran Loveridge’.
But the injury to Woods and standing down of Canberra’s drink-driving conviction, have opened the door for Fifita and put him firmly in the frame to take on New Zealand in Canberra on Friday.
The make-up of the team remains in flux, with Shannon Boyd also in doubt after sustaining a leg injury against the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
That in turn may see Manly’s Jake Trbojevic earn a start, after he was promoted to 18th man following Papalii’s omission.
Fifita’s promotion is a blow for Tonga, who had named the Clive Churchill medal winner as one of the drawcards of their star-studded line-up ahead of a mouth-watering clash with Fiji.