Tevita Pangai Junior will join Catalans next season and has Wayne Bennett's blessing to do so, as the Dolphins coach revealed the Tongan international was never in his sights at South Sydney for 2025.
The top-eight hopes of the Dolphins received a boost with Pangai Jnr on track to play against the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday after missing last week's loss to Sydney Roosters in Perth with a calf injury.
Winger Jamayne Isaako has also recovered from an ankle injury that forced him off the field against the Roosters. Both Pangai and Isaako completed the captain's run on Saturday.
"We are as per program. They will all play," Bennett said.
"Jamayne had a pretty swollen ankle after the (Roosters) game and sat up all night in Perth and kept it on ice. That is the only reason why he is playing here tomorrow because of the way he looked after himself and the sacrifices he made to make sure he was right. He is very dedicated. I can’t fault Jamayne. "We missed (five-eighth) Kodi Nikorima too last week. Kodi will play. He was sick in Perth. We put him in isolation and he was too sick to play."
Pangai Jnr, 28, joined the Dolphins in June to reunite with his mentor Bennett, who is all for him having a crack in the Super League.
Bennett said he was comfortable saying "au revoir" to Pangai Jnr, whom he signed on a one-year deal with the Dragons. "I am really pleased for Tevita. He is a young man and it is a good club Catalans. He has got his head back on his shoulders and knows what he wants now," Bennett said.
"He wants to play rugby league and I am sure he will come back and play in Australia at a later date.
"The English league is tough amongst the top teams and I am sure he will enjoy his time there." Bennett will coach South Sydney next year but said reports linking Pangai Jnr to a Rabbitohs move had been wrong. "That was you guys going on about that. I never spoke about that and we never spoke about it. It was never on (Souths') agenda," Bennett said.
"I am sure the club would have liked him to stay here (at the Dolphins) as well but we will see how he plays in France."
The Dolphins have lost seven of their last nine games to slip outside the top eight and must fix their second-half fadeouts. "It is a process," Bennett said.
"We just have got to stay at it. We have got our game pretty well together and know what works for us and what doesn’t work."
