Thomas Mikaele rejoins Warrington Wolves ready to go again after "weird" year

02 August 2023 , 11:22

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Warrington Wolves' Thomas Mikaele scores against Castleford (Image: PA)

Thomas Mikaele is ready to kick-on after his “weird” year and re-ignite Warrington after rejoining the club.

The powerful prop lands in the country today after moving from Gold Coast Titans on a short-term deal for the remainder of the season. Mikaele only left Wolves for the NRL club in April due to family reasons. But after Titans boss Justin Holbrook was sacked, he’s struggled to make his mark.

Mikaele was a big crowd favourite at Halliwell Jones Stadium and helped them rise to the top of Super League when they won their opening eight games. But they have won just once in their last nine to drop to sixth and boss Daryl Powell was fired after Sunday’s dismal 42-6 loss at Wakefield. Mikaele - who could make his ‘second’ debut against Catalans on Friday - bolsters their cause arriving before this week’s transfer deadline.

He said: “It’s been a weird year for me so far. There’s been some changes and obviously things haven’t gone the way they were planned for me since returning to the NRL. But I’ve been given the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special that we had going on earlier in the year at Warrington.

“I’m happy my family is sorted back home and I’m excited to get back to the UK to reconnect with the lads and play in front of the Wire crowd again which I’ve missed. The whole club and town were good to me so it’s only fitting I get to return and contribute to a hopefully successful end to the year.”

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Warrington interim head coach Gary Chambers added: “We’re excited to welcome Thomas back in to the set-up. Every minor detail has been covered to ensure he’s as fresh as possible to give him the best chance of playing this Friday. We’ll assess on Thursday if he’s ready to go. He’s a handful for any defence. He’s a threat with the ball in hand and in defence as well. He was playing consistently well at the start of the year and hopefully he can find that form again for us over the next few months.”

David Craven