Willie Tonga’s time at Leigh Centurions came to an end on Wednesday when the club announced he had been released from his contract.
The former Catalans centre is now a free agent – but a player of his quality surely won’t be on the open market for too long. With that in mind, we’ve thrown together four potential destinations for Tonga mid-season to provide someone with a timely boost ahead of the split for the Super 8s.
Wakefield Trinity
They are Super League’s lowest spenders and certainly have room on the salary cap – and with injuries starting to bite, could Wakefield bring in Tonga to boost their backline and keep their top-four push alive? He may have been struggling with injuries himself but when fully-fit, there’s no doubting what a player of Tonga’s ability could bring to a Super League club. And Wakefield may not be the only Super League club, too.
Widnes Vikings
The Vikings are in a battle to avoid the Qualifiers as things stand, much like Leigh – so the availability of Tonga will have surely alerted them. The Vikings are not struggling for outside backs by any stretch of the imagination but if Tonga was open to a move to Widnes, you would suspect the Vikings to at least take a look.
Hull Kingston Rovers
Rovers are certainly starting to do more and more business ahead of the Qualifiers with Justin Carney and Lee Jewitt arriving on Humberside – but do they have room for Tonga? They’ve got some fantastic centres and outside backs already, but perhaps the opportunity to link up with an iconic coach like Tim Sheens would be a great move for Tonga as he looks to revive his career in England.
London Broncos
The Broncos are undoubtedly the leading side breathing down Hull KR’s neck in the Championship and, on a run of nine straight wins in the league, are beginning to look like a credible and realistic threat to the four Super League sides who will be in the Qualifiers this summer. If they’re looking to do any business before the split, could Tonga be the ideal recruit?
