Melbourne Storm winger Sisa Waqa rang the Canberra Raiders on Thursday to reaffirm his commitment to the club, dousing social media rumours he was planning to renege on his two-year deal to instead join French rugby union.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Speculation of another potential backflip had Raiders fans jumping up and down, fearing a repeat of when marquee recruit James Tedesco backed out of a three-year deal worth almost $2 million to remain at the West Tigers.
Rugby league commentator Andrew Voss suggested on Twitter on Thursday morning that Waqa had an out-clause in his Raiders contract to join French rugby.
Waqa's manager George Christodoulou dismissed the claim as "rubbish" and said the 27-year-old, who had been preparing for Friday night's match against the Brisbane Broncos, rang Raiders manager John Bonasera to reassure the club.
"I rang to Sisa just to make sure no one else had gone to him and he said, 'It's all rubbish,' " Christodoulou said. "He rang the Raiders himself just to say, 'I don't know where this has come from, I can't wait to come, I'm 100 per cent committed.' The Raiders were happy with that.
"There's no out-clause. Our stable doesn't play games. If you commit, if you put pen to paper, that's it."
Bonasera admitted his surprise that Waqa had called to give a personal guarantee.
"I spoke to his manager but then Sisa called me direct. I didn't expect a call from him on game day, especially before such a big game leading into the finals, but he wanted to assure me there was no truth to it. He said, 'I wanted you to hear it directly from me.' "
The Raiders could be forgiven for being nervous. Tedesco isn't the only big scalp the Raiders have missed out on in their aggressive recruitment campaign.
Melbourne's Kevin Proctor had made a handshake agreement with coach Ricky Stuart to join the Raiders, before recommitting to the Storm.
The Raiders had also been confident of securing St George Illawarra forward Joel Thompson, given he approached them about a return mid-season, but he has since had a change of heart and will remain at the Dragons. Penrith's Josh Mansour was another target the Raiders missed out on.
The Raiders remain in the market for more additions before next season, with Manly fullback Brett Stewart, Tigers half Blake Austin, Newcastle winger Akuila Uate and Brisbane fullback Josh Hoffman linked to Canberra.
Waqa has a strong history in rugby union. He first represented Fiji as a 17-year-old and came to Australia to play Shute Shield with Sydney club Gordon, before signing with the ACT Brumbies.
But that deal fell through when he was classed as a foreign recruit, the Brumbies already at the limit of their import allowance.
Waqa has since played 72 NRL matches, at the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm, hitting his peak in the past two seasons. He has scored 17 tries this season, and 29 in his past 44 games.
Christodoulou said Waqa had signed with a French club before joining the NRL in 2009, but the club then went broke.
He said he had not spoken to a French club since, although it remained an option after his two-year deal at the Raiders.
"There'll probably be a time and a place for it, but he's got a young family that are happy living in Australia. He wants to finalise his permanent residency, which should be done soon; the application's already done.
"Post his few years at the Raiders, there may be a swansong for a couple of years over in Europe. But his partner didn't want to leave Australia. They're happy here, they have a boy who has just started school. [Overseas] wasn't even an option."
