‘I never thought I’d be back’: How Siosiua Taukeiaho bounced back from a failed medical and a terminated contract to revive his NRL career

Veteran front-rower Siosiua Taukeiaho thought his rugby league career was over after he was sacked by Catalans last year for attending a concert, while he also battled a serious foot injury that derailed a potential move to the Bulldogs.

Taukeiaho never thought he’d be back in the NRL after moving to the Super League at the end of the 2022 season, but he’s been handed a lifeline by the Sea Eagles and has been locked in to start their first game against the Cowboys.

It caps an arduous journey for the two-time premiership winner at the Roosters who battled a serious foot injury before Catalans terminated his contract after he skipped training to attend a concert with a couple of teammates.

“I never thought I’d be back in the NRL. You can’t really predict the future, but here I am,” Taukeiaho said.

“I didn’t play many games over there. I had a Lisfranc injury that I struggled a lot with while in France.

“Rehab felt like it was going really well, but I don’t know if I came back early. I kept rupturing the ligaments and the joints which made it worse.

“I struggled a lot over there with my injury and then I had the incident in my last year where I went to a concert (that I shouldn’t have).

“Everyone found out a couple of weeks later and my contract got terminated, so I wanted to come back to Australia to sort my injury out and do my rehab here.”

There was every chance that his footy career was over, but he felt like he had more to give and was rewarded with a train-and-trial deal by Manly.

Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold had no problem offering him a lifeline given he saw Nathan Brown make the most of his opportunity at the club and became a “cult hero” on the northern beaches.

“I like to give players a second chance and I am happy to give players a second chance, but they also need to take it. And Siosiua has taken that,” Seibold said.

“He will start for us in the first game. He has earned that through his performances at training. He has twice won our trainer of the week.

“He is a winner, and he has been great with our younger boys, particularly the Pacific Islander boys. He has been excellent there.

“I saw a hunger and desire there. He wants to prove himself right in a lot of ways because it didn’t end the way he wanted it to end.”

Taukeiaho is fully fit after finally overcoming a persistent foot injury that he picked up while returning a kick-off.

His family was in France when it happened, but he was all alone for much of 2024 after he failed the medical with the Bulldogs who were worried about the injury that he played through in the 2023 Super League grand final.

Taukeiaho said it was a “depressing time” as he battled the pain while having to learn a new culture, and it’s why he thought an NRL return was dead and buried once the Bulldogs turned him down.

“I thought that footy was probably done for me because of the injury,” he said.

“I struggled to even put weight on it and run when I came back, plus I was getting older, so I thought that was it.

“I was just grateful that Gus (Phil Gould), Cameron Ciraldo and Travis Touma (Bulldogs trainer) accepted me at the Bulldogs to help me with my rehab because that helped me strengthen everything.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity given me to come back to the NRL, especially Manly because I’m only five minutes up the road at Beacon Hill.

“I’ve been in the game for eight or nine years and won two premierships at the Roosters, so the best thing I can do is come here and bring my leadership and experience to help some of the younger players.”