BY VIV

The Canberra Raiders announced that they have signed Leianne Tufuga on a three-year deal. Tufuga has spent the last two seasons at the Wests Tigers, the centre being a brighter light in a lacklustre franchise.

While only 23 years old, Tufuga has played 28 games over 4 seasons in NRLW, including winning a premiership with the Roosters in 2021, and six tests for the Kiwi Ferns. 2023 was a breakout year for her scoring 5 tries and averaging 128m per game. 2024 only had one try but was able to find 26 tackle breaks in a season where the Tigers only had two wins. Raiders fans might remember Leianne for scoring two tries against us in five minutes back in 2023.

There are a few reasons to be excited about this signing Tufuga has played at both wing and centre at NRLW giving us versatility to our back line. Does Tufuga slot on the wing and Shak go to fullback? Does she slot in at centre and Wiki goes to fullback (real ones will obviously remember Wiki played fullback once for the Cook Islands in the 2022 World Cup going down 74-0 loss to Australia) Shak Tungai has not been announced as part of the Raiders squad in 2025, does Leianne take that wing spot giving some of our rookies more time to develop in Harvey Norman/BMD competitions. Another thought, is Tufuga a future-proofing option in case Cheyelle Robins-Reti decides to return to New Zealand when her contract ends in 2025?  

Signing a starting Kiwi Fern shows that the Raiders NRLW team may not struggle with the location of Canberra as the men. The shorter season allows players to go home when football is done reducing the perceived risk of a capital move. As Tufuga said herself in the announcement “Not everyone is open to embracing the unique lifestyle here, but I’m excited to take on this new challenge and shift that perspective—both for myself and others” I guess the Sydney glamour clubs can’t compete with Summernats and Floriade.

In other signing news, Hollie-Mae Dodd has signed for another two years and Chloe Saunders for 3 years. Saunders has been playing for the Sharks for the last two years as a bench forward. Before NRLW Saunders had played some 7s for the University of New England and New South Wales. She will be a good option to provide some agility off the bench in later stages of games.

Our forward pack likely to look like Kemp, Holyman, Chante Temara, Dodd, Soliola and Taufa. Tommaya Kelly-Sines’ future is unconfirmed for 2025 and after a quiet year you wonder if the Saunders signing is to cover that spot. The signing also gives our youth crew of Faleono, and Finau some time to develop their game in the lower grades that will run alongside NRLW this year.

Ua Ravu was also announced on a one-year deal. Ravu debuted in NRLW in 2023 as a bench utility before dropping back to being a training partner in 2024. She was the halfback for Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Championships although it’s hard to gauge her effectiveness in a side that never stood a chance against the Jillaroos or Ferns. This signing is more of a mystery, we already have a utility spine player in Sereana Naitokatoka signed for two years that can plug these gaps. Is Naitokatoka or Ravu going to be our halfback in 2025? I’m not sure they’re the answer, however, the only unsigned halves with experience are Pauline Piliae-Rasabale or Taliah Fuimaono. Watch this space.

To get more of Viv’s takes follow her on Twitter here, or like our page on Facebook. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.