Warriors lead hunt to sign Fonua-Blake
Addin Fonua-Blake is on theWarriors’ radar for next season, with the prop being given permission by the Sea Eagles to find a new club for 2021.
The Tongan and Kiwis international would be just what theWarriors need next year, with the desire to sign one more big middle forward being at the top of the club’s priority list.
He’d join what would be a dynamic forward pack, which also includes Ben Murdoch-Masila, Eliesa Katoa and Kane Evans and will be the player that completes the jigsaw puzzle for the club.
The Sea Eagles have agreed to release Fonua-Blake from the last two years of his contract, but the 24-year-old only has permission to join clubs outside of Sydney, so he is limited to joining just seven NRL teams.
This leaves theWarriors in the box seat to sign him as none of the other clubs would have the salary space theWarriors have, unless they unloaded other players.
Havingmissed out on Jack de
Belin, who has decided to remain with the Dragons next year, if he successfully fights the sexual assault charges against him in court in November, Fonua-Blake could even be considered an upgrade on him.
It is believed Fonua-Blake is on $600,000 a season at the Sea-Eagles and theWarriors have the salary cap space and vacant spot on next year’s roster to slot him straight into the team. A deal could be done between his agent Tyran Smith and the club quickly.
The Sea Eagles said yesterday that they will allow Fonua-Blake to leave on compassionate grounds, with the official reason being given that he wants to bring up his family outside of Sydney. The Sea Eagles are looking for the move to be wrapped up quickly.
‘‘Whilst Addin is a senior and highly valued member of the Sea Eagles squad and would be a huge loss, out of respect to him and his circumstances, the club has today given its permission for the exploratory conversations to be conducted immediately,’’ the Sea Eagles said.
‘‘The club will look favourably upon a request to release Addin from the final two years of his contract on compassionate grounds as long as the Sea Eagles receive fair and reasonable compensation.
‘‘The club has advised Addin and his manager that this matter needs to be resolved promptly so that all parties can confidently plan for the future.’’
It’s unknown what the Sea Eaglesmean by ‘reasonable compensation’, but if they are looking to get a player back in return, theWarriors could offer them Bunty Afoa, who is contracted to theWarriors next season, but was told recently he could talk to other clubs as he wasn’t part of the club’s plans for 2021. Afoa chose to turn down that offer and see out his time at theWarriors, but if there was a chance to move to the Sea Eagles, he could be interested