Warriors centre Peta Hiku joins North Queensland

New Zealand Warriors centre Peta Hiku has signed a two-year deal with North Queensland starting from next season.

The Cowboys announced on Monday that Hiku will defect to Townsville for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, becoming the third future signing of the year for North Queensland.

The club have unveiled the signings of incoming halves duo Tom Dearden and Chad Townsend for next year, with Hiku the latest name to add to Todd Payten's list.

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“He’s really creative for his outside men, he’s a try scorer himself and he’s a good family man who is going to add value to the club on and off the field.”

— NQ Cowboys (@nthqldcowboys) May 23, 2021

“Peta is a smart and experienced centre, who has also shown he can play fullback and in the halves,” Payten said, per the club website.

“He’s really creative for his outside men, he’s a try scorer himself and he’s a good family man who is going to add value to the club on and off the field.”

Hiku has played 147 NRL games since making his debut in 2013 with Manly before enjoying spells with Penrith and New Zealand as well as featuring in 11 Tests with the Kiwis.

North Queensland Head of Football Michael Luck lauded Hiku's leadership acumen and stated his excitement to add the 28-year-old's wealth of experience to the club.

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“We’ve made no secret of our desire to add leadership to our exciting young playing roster and Peta is a guy who has experience in high-performing systems over a long period of time,” he said.

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“We feel Peta has some great football ahead of him and he is excited at the prospect of showing our young outside backs what it takes to be successful in the NRL.”

Hiku is currently sidelined through a shoulder injury and is unlikely to return before the end of the 2021 season.