FORMER St Helens and Super League star Sia Soliola has made a shock return to rugby league just a year after retiring from the game.
The 36-year-old played over 100 games for Saints between 2010 and 2014, winning the Grand Final before making the move back to Australia to sign for the Canberra Raiders.
There he struck up a great friendship with halfback Sam Williams – who also had a spell in Super League with Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity – with that friendship now the driving force behind Soliola’s return to the game.
Both men will play for the Queanbeyan Kangaroos in the Canberra Raiders Cup in 2023.
“I didn’t really have any intentions of returning to the game at any level to be honest,” Soliola told The Canberra Times.
“I was actually enjoying retirement, but Samuel was the biggest influence in the decision.
“Obviously the connection that we have and the history we have was the biggest one.”
Soliola’s biggest challenge, according to the 36-year-old, will be actually making it to training.
“Making the time and effort to get out to training will probably be my biggest challenge right now,” he continued.
“We’d like to think that with the distribution of a couple of our squad players throughout the region it will definitely lift the level of football to a really good standard that a lot of people can enjoy.”
