Radford signs World Cup winner to bolster Hull forwards

HULL FC have fought off competition from leading Super League sides and the NRL to secure New Zealand World Cup winner Sika Manu from Penrith Panthers.
New Zealand's Sika Manu, who has signed for Hull FC.New Zealand's Sika Manu, who has signed for Hull FC.
New Zealand's Sika Manu, who has signed for Hull FC.

The Airlie Birds, battling to keep their Super 8s hopes alive when they head to St Helens tomorrow night, have now brought in four players from the Australian competition for next season.

Manu, a 28-year-old second-row who won the 2012 NRL Grand Final with Melbourne Storm, is seen as someone who will bring further power and experience to the Hull pack as head coach Lee Radford’s recruitment takes an obvious direction.

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Manu follows former Kiwi team-mate and Canterbury Bulldogs forward Frank Pritchard, ex-Melbourne colleague Mahe Fonua and Newcastle Knights’ Samoa winger Carlos Tuimivave in switching Australia for East Yorkshire in 2016.

He has more than 150 NRL appearances to his name and agreed a three-year deal.

Radford admitted: “Sika’s quality speaks for itself.

“He has 14 caps for New Zealand, is a World Cup winner (in 2008) and is a current Tonga international. He will fit into our squad perfectly and is a fantastic ball carrier with plenty more football in him.

“In defence, he will be massive in controlling the ruck and will help us improve with his energy and structurally. He came through at Melbourne in their heyday and is now a senior player who everyone I have spoken to has had nothing but good words.

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“The fact we have had to fight off competition from a top-four club over here for him shows he has come not for financial reasons.”

Huddersfield Giants head coach Paul Anderson admits being “disappointed” that ever-present loan player Jack Hughes has turned them down for Warrington Wolves in 2016.

The England Knights second-row has been on a season-long loan deal from Wigan Warriors and played 25 games for the Fartowners, starting all but one, scoring four tries.

Hughes, 23, had the option of making the move permanent but, instead, has chosen to join Warrington on a two-year deal.

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In a good day for Bradford Bulls yesterday they announced influential full-back Jake Mullaney has extended his stay until the end of 2017 and their appeal against an RFL decision to hand down an “official warning for prejudicial conduct” against the club has been successful.

Bulls were furious when the governing body decreed in April that some of its staff had behaved badly during and after the heated opening game of the Championship season at Leigh Centurions.

However, an independent tribunal has since ruled they were “not comfortably satisfied that the charges brought against Bradford could be proved.”