Thomas Mikaele fell out of love with rugby league at Wests Tigers - but hopes to rekindle romance with wobbling Warrington.
The explosive prop, 24, only flew in from Australia a few days ago but aims to debut at Wakefield on Sunday. Having lost their last four games, Wolves need him to make an instant impact to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap. But Mikaele is just looking forward to getting a smile on his face again after things turned sour in Sydney.
He recalled: “I left school and Wests Tigers is all I’ve known. I had a good first year in the NRL and was happy. But then with Covid and the next few years I didn’t really enjoy footy. I haven’t really enjoyed playing for the last three years. That was a big reason for coming to Warrington: a fresh start. Little stuff happened, I wasn’t happy with where I was, it compiled over time - and it’s brought me to the other side of the world.”
Mikaele was named NRL Rookie of the Year in 2019 and played six games this season but was released early to move to Super League. Ironically, Wests coach Michael Maguire, the ex-Wigan boss, was sacked on Tuesday. Former Huddersfield chief Nathan Brown also parted company with Newcastle Knights - the first time in NRL history two coaches have lost their jobs on the same day.
But the only job uncapped Mikaele is interested in is getting Warrington back on track. Although born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, he moved to Queensland aged four. Mikaele played for the Australian Schoolboys in 2016 alongside future Kangaroos Nick Cotric and Payne Haas.
But asked about his international ambitions, he said: “With a World Cup here at the end of the year, and being a proud Samoan, I’d love to play for Samoa.
I’ve ambitions in the future to play State of Origin footy and hopefully maybe get a chance to play for Australia. That’s one of the things about coming to Warrington that could help me achieve that.
“I wasn’t really playing much this year with Wests. Playing some good footy here - I'm nowhere near my best yet - if I could make that Samoa team, happy days.
"But I just want to get on the field with Warrington and hopefully I can this weekend. I’m just getting over the jet-lag. The furthest I’d travelled before was four hours to Perth Nines - I didn’t really know what travelling far was until coming to the UK!”
Meanwhile, Wigan have confirmed England prop Mike Cooper, 33, will join them from Warrington at the end of the season. He will arrive on an initial 12-month deal with a further 12-month option.
