Ex-Leeds Rhinos prop Zane Tetevano set to make NRL return – reports
Zane Tetevano warms up ahead of a Leeds Rhinos game in 2023 - Alamy
Reports Down Under suggest that ex-Leeds ace Zane Tetevano will make a return at club level with NRL outfit Canterbury Bulldogs following the stroke which led to his Rhinos exit last year.
Down Under, ‘The Daily Telegraph‘ broke the story earlier today.
Zane Tetevano has been handed an NRL lifeline just months after suffering a stroke while training in England last year https://t.co/xrGHvG6cdC with @FatimaKdouh_ pic.twitter.com/NJKz1lHdO8
— Michael Carayannis (@MCarayannis) February 23, 2024
Tetevano – who had been with Leeds since 2021 – suffered his stroke while training last June, requiring surgery in the aftermath with a hole in his heart discovered.
Just a few weeks after the stroke, having been allowed to continue non-impact aerobic training in order to maintain his fitness, the Cook Islands international would run a 10k for charity in Leeds, though he still had to wait to be cleared to return to contact sport.
Eventually, in early September, Tetevano bid farewell to Headingley via social media with the Rhinos confirming they’d granted him an early release from his contract to return home to New Zealand.
It didn’t take long for the 33-year-old to return to action however, featuring twice for the Cook Islands in the autumn Pacific Championships, appearing against both Papua New Guinea & Fiji.
And now, providing that the reports in the Australian press are to be believed, it appears that Tetevano has secured an NRL gig with the Bulldogs ahead of the start of the new season next month.
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Ex-Leeds Rhinos prop Zane Tetevano set to make NRL return – reports
The Tokoroa-born ace already has more than 100 appearances among the Australian elite to his name, pulling on a shirt for Newcastle Knights, Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers before linking up with Leeds.
While with the Roosters, the prop was twice crowned an NRL champion, starring in the 2018 Grand Final triumph against Melbourne Storm before watching on from the sidelines a year later as his team-mates saw off Canberra Raiders.
In the Bulldogs, Tetevano will link up with a side which finished 15th last term, failing to make the end-of-season play-offs for the seventh year on the spin.