The Canterbury Bulldogs have suffered another injury blow for the opening match of the season against the St George Illawarra Dragons, with a new recruit still on the sidelines with an injury.
After it was confirmed on Tuesday that outside backs Enari Tuala and Jacob Kiraz will miss the start of the 2025 NRL season, the Bulldogs' injury woes have continued.
In what is another injury blow for the club, Phil Gould has revealed that recruit Sitili Tupouniua will still be out for a month and will hopefully be available for Round 2.
This means he will miss the team's opening match of the season against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
"Sitili has been in rehab for about a month with an injury...He won't play in trials...Hopefully available for Round 2," Gould wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
After seven seasons and 106 matches with the Sydney Roosters, 2025 will mark Tupouniua's first at Belmore after signing a four-year contract with them until the end of the 2028 NRL season.
A three-time Tongan international, Tupouniua attracted the interest of the Manly Sea Eagles, Newcastle Knights and The Dolphins before agreeing to terms with the Bulldogs and is likely to come off the interchange bench when he is available and push his case for a spot in the starting team.
Projected Round 1 Team: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Marcelo Montoya 3. Bronson Xerri 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Blake Wilson 6. Matt Burton 7. Toby Sexton 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Samuel Hughes 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Kurt Mann 14. Bailey Hayward 15. Jaeman Salmon 16. Tom Amone 17. Josh Curran
