After several long rounds of negotiations, Benji Marshall and the Wests Tigers have successfully re-signed Samuela Fainu, locking the young gun in with a $1.6 million deal that will keep him in Concord until 2029.
Other NRL clubs had been looking at Fainu, and there had been some fears within Wests headquarters that a cap squeeze could cost them the breakout second-rower. The club had just recently re-signed Terrell and Taylan May, Sunia Turuva, and Heamasi Makasini, and cleared out Jahream Bula’s get-out clauses.
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Marshall also put most of his chips on Adam Doueihi earlier in the year, handing him a three-year extension and crowning him the club’s starting halfback long-term.
Fainu eventually decided to stay too, and on a little less coin than he could have got out on the open market, because he believes in what the team — and especially Benji — are building at the long-suffering club.
“The club has looked after me, my family, and my brothers very well. I love playing alongside these boys, so to get to do it for two more years makes me very excited about what’s to come,” the second-rower said Friday.
“Benji values family and that’s one of the most important things in my life. He wants me to be the best version of myself off the field. That’s something you can’t find in many places.”
The 22-year-old said he already has a great feeling about the roster and the project the Tigers have been building over the last few seasons, and wants to see where it can take them into the late 2020s and beyond.
“Within the group, we have achieved so much already. You can see the changes we’ve made, and I truly feel we are building towards something very special here. As a player, I have learnt so much here, and I know I still have more to learn, but I’m eager to lead and guide the younger boys,” he said.
With Fainu locked in, the Tigers retention team will focus on his brother Latu. He’s desperate to stay, but no meaningful negotiations have taken place just yet.
His best chip in those talks will be that he could now be the starting five-eight from 2027.
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