It took 19 seconds for Tigers to win Pearce-Paul over
Jasper Bruce |
It took 19 seconds and 100 metres on an August afternoon at Leichhardt Oval for Wests Tigers to convince Kai Pearce-Paul he’d made the right call in signing.
Now, the English international shapes as the missing piece in the Tigers’ roster puzzle that could take the rebuild under Benji Marshall to “another level”.
Pearce-Paul had already signed a three-year deal to leave eventual wooden spooners Newcastle when the Tigers hosted North Queensland on August 24 last season.
That afternoon, the Tigers pulled off a try that comes quickly to mind when Pearce-Paul is asked why he’s excited to join a team that has not played finals since 2011.
The Tigers went coast to coast in 19 seconds in the final minutes before half-time, with a Samuela Fainu intercept triggering a spectacular try.
Jarome Luai backed up in support and found Taylan May, who flicked inside to a flying Sunia Turuva with a pass reminiscent of Marshall’s to Pat Richards in the 2005 grand final triumph.
Star fullback Jahream Bula finished the job to the right of the uprights as the Leichhardt faithful erupted.
The Cowboys went on to clinch an ugly six-point victory and effectively end the Tigers’ slim hopes of finals.
None of that mattered to Pearce-Paul, who could see the groundwork for success being laid.
“That was just a prime example of exciting football that this team can produce. You look at that and think, ‘For me personally, I want to be a part of that’,” he told AAP.
“Some of those tries which this team scored last year were just so random. They were so off-the-cuff, play what you see kind of thing and offload.
“I feel like watching their style of footy and how easily guys like to throw the ball around and move the ball was really attracting for me.”
Five months on, and Pearce-Paul is preparing to start round one – coincidentally against the Cowboys at Leichhardt – as one of two Tigers second-rowers, opposite Samuela Fainu.
Fainu was a near-constant on one edge as the Tigers lifted from wooden spooners in 2024 to an 13th-placed finish after an improved campaign.
But Alex Seyfarth, Sione Fainu, Tony Sukkar and Jack Bird all shuffled around as second-rower on the right side as the Tigers searched for potency.
Given a middle rotation led by NSW candidate Terrell May, Luai marshalling the halves and a talented backline, second row had loomed as the chink in the armour in the Tigers’ rebuild .
In Pearce-Paul, the Tigers have a strapping back-rower who has garnered comparisons to Sonny Bill Williams for his skill and size.
“I’m happy that I can be here to play my part and hopefully lift this team to another level,” he said.
Pearce-Paul has not been discouraged by the latest boardroom circus that engulfed the Tigers late last year.
The club’s would-be white knight Shane Richardson resigned as chief executive following the sudden dismissal of four board members, three of whom returned days later.
“It doesn’t really concern us, to be honest, we’ve got a job, we have a vision as a team. Regardless of what happens up top, that doesn’t change for us,” Pearce-Paul said.
AAP
