NEW Castleford signing Quentin Laulu-Togagae is in line to make his debut for the Tigers on Friday.
But he has lifted the lid on how it could have all been so different, having almost joined Friday’s opponents, Warrington, several years ago.
The Samoan international finally got his crack at Super League when he joined Cas last week, after almost eight years in the lower leagues.
However, he revealed that it wasn’t the first interest he’d had from Super League, and nearly joined the Wolves in a shock move all the way back in 2014.
“I was close to signing with Warrington,” he revealed.
“I had a meeting with Tony Smith and we had agreed a deal. But the visa I was on fell through as he couldn’t guarantee me a spot. If I wasn’t playing Super League I needed to play in the Championship, so because of my visa I wasn’t able to join Warrington.
“I was disheartened. But what can you do? It’s out of your hands. After that I signed an extension for Sheffield and then years later Castleford have come in for me.”
And he also confirmed that he very nearly didn’t even join Castleford this time around, after almost signing for Salford.
In fact, his move to Salford was so close to being completed, he thought he was joining the Red Devils less than 24 hours before he was first notified of any interest from Castleford.
“On Sunday I got a call from my manager saying Salford had come in and shown interest,” he explained.
“I was happy with that and on Wednesday he kind of confirmed Salford had offered me a contract.
“I said yeah, it’s a Super League team, I’d love to go. But at the last minute Castleford came in for me on Wednesday night and it was a no-brainer. Obviously, I want to play Super League, but I was over the moon that a top Super League team had come in.”
And now QLT insists he is going to enjoy every minute of his time in Super League.
“Of course, I had aspirations to play Super League when I first came over,” he said.
“But after that I was just worried about playing well for the teams I was with. It’s always at the back of your mind, getting a Super League contract, and I’m just so happy I’ve gotten one now.
“I can show now what I’ve got and I’m full of confidence, so if I do get picked to play for Castleford I want to show everyone I can mix it up with the Super League boys.
“There’s no pressure on me. I’m going to go out there and enjoy myself, and that will show with the way I play. Hopefully I can fix up that fullback spot and help them with the attacking and defensive side of things.
“They love their expansive footy and that’s my kind of game. I love attacking and broken play. When I do get my chance hopefully I can show it.”
