Young gun forward Kitione Kautoga has officially made a surprise switch to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The first mention of his move to Belmore was his naming in the club's NSW Cup team for this weekend's match against the New Zealand Warriors, which will be played in Auckland on Sunday.
Kautoga is listed as a prop, but can also play on the edge, and that's where he will line up for the Bulldogs this weekend in reserve grade alongside Reece Hoffman (provided he gains travel clearance to New Zealand), who has recently been promoted to Canterbury's Top 30 squad.
The Bulldogs have confirmed on Thursday that he has been signed to a development deal this year, and will join the club's top 30 next year, signing a deal which will keep him at Belmore until at least the end of 2025.
Kautoga made his NRL debut with the Wests Tigers last season shy of his 20th birthday, playing a single game during Round 24 off the bench against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Born in Fiji, Katuoga is viewed as a future representative of the Island nation, and has been earmarked for big things in the NRL, with the forward already standing at 107 kilograms and 187 centimetres.
In two NSW Cup performances so far this season for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Kautoga lined up in the second-row on both occasions, scoring a hat-trick against the Sydney Roosters in Round 1 and another try against the Newcastle Knights in Round 2. He has made 11 tackle breaks and defended strongly in both games, which went down as wins for the Tigers' feeder side.
Alongside Kautoga, the Bulldogs' NSW Cup side also features players with NRL experience in Declan Casey, Braidon Burns, Josh Reynolds, Andrew Davey, Reece Hoffman and Harrison Edwards, as well as young gun Karl Oloapu, who signed with the club after a long-running contract feud with the Brisbane Broncos during the most recently completed off-season.
The Warriors and Bulldogs' NSW Cup match will be televised on Fox Sports from 11:30am (AEDT) on Sunday ahead of the NRL match between the same clubs at 2pm (AEDT).
