Super League clubs alerted to availability of Tongan international for 2025
Dolphins centre and Tongan international Tesi Niu has arrived onto the radar of Super League clubs in regards to a potential move to England for 2025, Love Rugby League has learned.
With the transfer market beginning to stir into life on both sides of the world, NRL players and their management are beginning to make their availability known to top-flight English clubs keen to strengthen their squads for 2025 and beyond.
And one player who has emerged as a possible target is Dolphins three-quarter Niu, Love Rugby League has been told. His contract with Wayne Bennett’s side expires at the end of this season, and he and his management are testing the waters in regards to possible interest from English clubs for next year.
Still only 22 years of age, Niu has plenty of experience at both domestic and international level already. Capable of playing fullback, wing or centre, he has featured over 50 times in the NRL since making his debut for Brisbane in the 2020 season.
He transferred to the Dolphins ahead of their first season in the NRL last year, making 17 appearances for the club, scoring five times. He was handed a one-year extension to his contract last summer.
At the time of his renewal last season, Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said: “He is a Brisbane-born boy and that sits well with the Dolphins’ purpose of providing young Queenslanders a place to play NRL in their home city.
“His NRL career is only just starting and we know that Tesi has long future in the game.”
But Super League clubs have been alerted to Niu’s potential availability as he nears the end of his current deal with the NRL club.
Niu has also played three Tests for Tonga and was part of their squad for the 2022 Rugby League World Cup. Two of those appearances came during the tournament, when he played at fullback against Wales and Cook Islands, scoring four tries.