The St George Illawarra Dragons are poised to announce the signature of injury-ravaged centre Tautau Moga from the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The 27-year-old has had a horror run with injuries over the years, only playing 74 games between 2012 and 2020 despite his prodigious talent.
Starting at the Sydney Roosters in 2012, he has then gone on to play for the North Queensland Cowboys, Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights and finally the Rabbitohs where he played just a single game during 2021.
Moga has also played three games at international level for Samoa. He previously represented the Queensland under-20s in the inaugural match at that level alongside the likes of Hymel Hunt, Edrick Lee, Kurt Man, Ben Hampton, Korbin Sims, Dylan Napa, Moses Mbye and Corey Oates, and against a New South Wales team featuring the likes of Chanel Mata'utia, Michael Lichaa, Kane Evans, Alex McKinnon and at the time future Blues senior captain Boyd Cordner.
The Dragons recently signed Moses Suli from the Manly Sea Eagles, making this their second centre signature in a week, while the Rabbitohs confirmed ten players were departing the club.
That number has now risen to 11 should these reports prove correct, with Moga to join Adam Reynolds (Brisbane Broncos), Dane Gagai (Newcastle Knights), Jaydn Su'A (St George Illawarra Dragons), Braidon Burns (Canterbury Bulldogs), Joshua Cook (Canterbury Bulldogs), Patrick Mago (Wigan Warriors) and Benji Marshall (retirement), as well as Brock Gardner, Troy Dargan and Steven Marsters.
The Daily Telegraph are reporting that Moga agreed to terms with the Dragons on a one-year deal on Monday and will link up with the Wollongong-based outfit ahead of the pre-season.
While the clubs are yet to confirm the news, Dragons coach Anthony Griffin told the publication that he will bring depth and experience to the Dragons squad.
“He will bring depth and experience,” said Griffin.
“Tautau is only 27 so, potentially, he has his best footy in front of him.
“He has had a run of outs with knee injuries but we think we can get him back to his best.
“Tautau has been to a few clubs but he is a big body and has played some good football, even though he had injuries over the years.
“He had a great season for Brisbane about three, four years ago (2017) but has just had a terrible run, a little bit like Jack Bird.”