Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter has exclusively revealed to Members a key inclusion for Monday nights clash with the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
Dual international Lote Tuqiri will make his long awaited return to the NRL from an arm injury sustained in July last year.
Following injuries to Marika Koroibete and Matt Utai last weekend, the door opened for Tuqiri to make his return after playing one game with the NSW Cup side.
Its been a long time coming for both Lote and our fans, its a welcome return, Potter said.
He has been outstanding at training for a long time and given his injury has taken so long to heal he has been nothing but professional.
Tuqiri played the full game of NSW Cup in the centres last weekend against the top of the table Sharks, with limited attacking opportunities in the sides heavy 46-6 loss.
Lotes performance in NSW Cup was solid and you could sense that the players around him felt more comfortable with his experience and talk.
We didnt get to see a lot of what he could do with the ball and this week he will line-up on the wing outside Tim Simona who I think is going well at centre.
Simona has really good evasion which I think will help Lote out a bit and vice-versa.
Lote has a presence about him and his experience will be very welcome.
The word unfortunate probably understates the injury toll we have at the moment but it creates an opportunity this time not for a younger player but an experienced player to make a return.
Facing the league leading Sydney Roosters on Monday night will no doubt we a challenge as the Wests Tigers look to break a five-game losing streak.
They will be difficult but its not impossible, I think we have found a couple of little chinks, Potter said
We need to exploit them and be tough enough to handle what they throw at us.
Im confident we can do well.
Stay tuned for the full team announcement on weststigers.com.au later this afternoon.
Dual international Lote Tuqiri will make his long awaited return to the NRL from an arm injury sustained in July last year.
Following injuries to Marika Koroibete and Matt Utai last weekend, the door opened for Tuqiri to make his return after playing one game with the NSW Cup side.
Its been a long time coming for both Lote and our fans, its a welcome return, Potter said.
He has been outstanding at training for a long time and given his injury has taken so long to heal he has been nothing but professional.
Tuqiri played the full game of NSW Cup in the centres last weekend against the top of the table Sharks, with limited attacking opportunities in the sides heavy 46-6 loss.
Lotes performance in NSW Cup was solid and you could sense that the players around him felt more comfortable with his experience and talk.
We didnt get to see a lot of what he could do with the ball and this week he will line-up on the wing outside Tim Simona who I think is going well at centre.
Simona has really good evasion which I think will help Lote out a bit and vice-versa.
Lote has a presence about him and his experience will be very welcome.
The word unfortunate probably understates the injury toll we have at the moment but it creates an opportunity this time not for a younger player but an experienced player to make a return.
Facing the league leading Sydney Roosters on Monday night will no doubt we a challenge as the Wests Tigers look to break a five-game losing streak.
They will be difficult but its not impossible, I think we have found a couple of little chinks, Potter said
We need to exploit them and be tough enough to handle what they throw at us.
Im confident we can do well.
Stay tuned for the full team announcement on weststigers.com.au later this afternoon.
