Behind a pay wall :/
While it’s good getting him next year it kinda sucks we won’t get to see him develope. But on the flip side, it means he won’t get to impress @ Parramatta and possibly negate on his tigers contract
Stefano Utoikamanu is doing this as much for his brother as for himself.
The drive that has made him a potential Blues Origin bolter and the subject of a tug-of-war between two rival NRL clubs – before he has even made a single first-grade appearance – comes from a source very close to home.
The teenage sensation’s dream is to make it in the NRL, one that he will likely fulfil this season at Parramatta, rather than his future employers at Wests Tigers. It was an ambition once shared by his older brother Filia, who was also a gun junior coming through the Eels ranks.
However, Filia’s rugby league career came to a shattering halt in 2017 when he broke his neck in a lower-grade fixture. It was a huge setback for the family and ended any hopes of the siblings running onto the field together at the highest level.
toikamanu is using it as motivation to fulfil his undoubted potential and become one of the game’s most promising prospects.
“Hopefully I can get a debut for him, it’s really important for me,” Utoikamanu told the
Herald last year in his first interview.
“He was supposed to be here with me. It’s hard because I’d always been training with him, we’d always pushed each other. It’s been really tough without him. He gives me strength.
“He was training really hard and then he was told he wouldn’t be able to play rugby league again. It’s pretty tough.
“He broke his neck and one of the arteries got cut off, so there’s only one artery that was pumping blood to his brain, and when something happens to that it’s no good.
“Mentally, it was a big shock because he took rugby league for granted as well. It’s tough when somebody tells you you can’t do something you love.
“It’s a big motivation for me. I know he wanted to be here. It’s good for me, to be playing for him. That’s very big for me.”
To date, Utoikamanu is that guy many league fans have heard of but not seen play. Good judges have likened him to Brisbane powerhouse Payne Haas and the hype went to another level on Tuesday when NSW coach Brad Fittler earmarked him as one of eight Eels on his radar for the upcoming Origin series.
Parramatta had planned for Utoikamanu to be a mainstay of their forward pack, but the Tigers snuck under their guard with a three-year, $800,000 deal beginning from next season. The joint-venture outfit figured his signature would pressure the Eels into an early release, but they responded by upgrading his contract to top-30 status, paving the way for an NRL debut this year.
Up until now, few have been privy to Utoikamanu’s backstory. But now that the junior Blues star is set to be thrust into the limelight, it’s an opportune time to reveal other setbacks he has overcome on his journey. Like the two shoulder operations that wrote off two entire seasons.
“I did my left shoulder twice, in 2016 and ‘17,” he said. “It was two seasons on the sidelines. [Retirement] thoughts started popping into my head when I did it the second time.
“The first time I was rehabbing really well and in my very first game back, it popped out straight away. I got another op, started working really hard, came back and was just trying to think positive, work hard and see where I get to.”
Those challenges appear to have steeled Utoikamanu. The Westfield Sports High School product will run out for the Eels this year before switching to the Tigers, although he supported neither of those teams while growing up.
“When I was younger I was on the bandwagon, I used to go for the Storm,” he said.
It would've been great to have him this season. With the COVID-19 this season it's turned into a shit show. Hopefully for his sake and the Tigers he can remain injury free because he has huge potential. I saw him play a few games last year for Wenty in the NSW Cup. He's a weapon!
