Peta Hiku to join North Queensland Cowboys

New Zealand Warriors back Peta Hiku will join North Queensland Cowboys on a two-year deal from 2022.

The 28-year-old centre, winger or full-back has scored 52 tries in 147 NRL games for Manly Sea Eagles, Penrith Panthers and the Warriors.

Hiku, who has won 11 caps for New Zealand, enjoyed a stint with Warrington in Super League in 2017, scoring 10 tries in 11 games for the Wolves.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten said: “Peta is a smart and experienced centre, who has also shown he can play full-back and in the halves.

“He’s really creative for his outside men, he’s a try scorer himself and he’s a good family man who is going to add value to the club on and off the field.”

Cowboys head of football Michael Luck added: “We’ve made no secret of our desire to add leadership to our exciting young playing roster and Peta is a guy who has experience in high-performing systems over a long period of time.

“We feel Peta has some great football ahead of him and he is excited at the prospect of showing our young outside-backs what it takes to be successful in the NRL.”