How a fighting loss produced a key gain for Wests Tigers

Sunia Turuva has revealed the Wests Tigers’ refusal to give up against premiers Penrith in Bathurst last month convinced him to sign a three-year $1.3 million deal with the club.

Panthers flyer Turuva said he was also close to joining St George Illawarra, but there was too much upside to Benji Marshall’s team to turn down.

He said the only drawback would be if the Tigers committed to calling Accor Stadium home from next year, with the venue so empty and quiet during the Panthers’ victory over Souths on Thursday that players could hear each other talk on the field.

“Watching their [Tigers] footy this year, you can tell they’re heading in the right direction,” Turuva said.

“I know results haven’t been going their way, but they’ve been hanging in there for 80 minutes – the last couple of years they would have given up at half-time or with 20 minutes to go.

“I can definitely see, from the outside looking in, they’re heading in the right direction, and that’s something that encouraged me to go with them.

“The scoreboard might not have shown it, but they made us fight for it [in Bathurst].

“I hadn’t decided by then, and it wasn’t until coach [Ivan Cleary] gave me the week off; it was good not to focus on the footy and just focus on the contract. Big ups to ‘Ive’ for letting me have that week off to deal with that stuff.”

Turuva met Dragons coach Shane Flanagan and Tigers counterpart Marshall, whose laid-back approach reminded him of Cleary.

He also heard good reports about the club from Api Koroisau and Panthers teammate Daine Laurie, while Penrith favourite Jarome Luai will make the switch at the end of this year.

Turuva scored one try and set up two in the win over Souths, and spent the final minutes at fullback.

The Fijian is open to remaining on the wing at the Tigers, but knows he can slot into fullback and even the centres if required.

The win over Souths was played in front of 8000 fans, which skipper Isaah Yeo said felt more like 4000 fans.

“Hopefully, we can pack it out a bit more than they [Souths] did on Thursday night,” Turuva said when reminded the Tigers could be playing at the Sydney Olympic Park site permanently.

“When we went out there, we could hear each other talking. In a packed-out stadium, you can’t talk to the guys next to you. It was a bit of a weird one.”

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