Recruit watch: Api Koroisau

The NRL market has been in full swing for 2023 with several stars switching clubs ahead of the new season.

NRL.com takes a look at the major transfers and how your club will benefit from a star arrival.

Api Koroisau (Wests Tigers)

• Age: 30
• Position they’ll fill: Hooker
• Contracted until: 2025 (mutual option)

What Koroisau can bring

For the majority of his career Koroisau has been part of successful sides who have won plenty of games.   

The Fijian dummy-half has played in four Grand Finals for two separate clubs, winning three of them, and across 170 first-grade appearances has come out on the winning side 62 percent of the time.  

That doesn't mean his signing will automatically turn a team who finished last in 2022 into premiership contenders in the space of 12 months, but there is no doubt his winning mindset and standards will be a good thing for his new teammates, many of whom haven't won a lot at NRL level so far. 

The club have also been crying out for a No.9 with experience ever since Robbie Farah retired in 2019, and since then they have tried a bunch of players in the position with varying levels of success.

Koroisau arrives with a track record of getting the job done at club, state and international level. 

Why it’ll work

Between the players they've added for 2023, and those they have been developing over the last season or two, the Wests Tigers have the makings of a strong forward pack.

They needed to make sure they had someone who could direct them around the park, and for at least the next two seasons they have that in Koroisau, who will also take a bunch of pressure off Luke Brooks and his likely halves partner Adam Doueihi on the attacking side of the ball. 

Koroisau was one of the senior figures at the Panthers as they blooded a bunch of young talent over the past three years, and as the Wests Tigers also bring through their next generation - with players like Fonua Pole, Justin Matamua and Jake Simpkin - he will play a key role in their development.