Newcastle Wildfires are playing catch-up ahead of their return to the Sydney Shield Shield in a fortnight but coach Scott Coleman has filled a major piece of the puzzle with the recruitment of "gun" NSW Country scrum half Mahe Fangupo.
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Fangupo, a former Tongan representative, has joined the Wildfires from Forbes, where he dominated the Central West competition, and will play in an intraclub trial at Passmore Oval on Saturday.
In a further boost, leading local halfbacks Max Stafford (Wanderers) and Liam Kearney (Maitland) will be at training this week after being unavailable previously due work commitments out of the region.
What was a trouble spot is now shaping as a strength.
Fangupo has played four Tests for Tonga, the last in 2010, and was previously with Randwick before heading to Parkes in 2011 and on to Forbes - leading both clubs to Central West premierships.
The 31-year-old has also played fly-half for Tonga A, but is most dangerous with the No.9 on his back.
An astute kicker with a bullet pass, he has been a step ahead of most in the Central West competition. He was the player of the tournament at the NSW Country championships in 2018 and has led the Cockatoos for the past two seasons.
"He is a gun," Coleman said. "He came out to play for Randwick a few years ago and ended up out in Parkes through another Tongan.
"I have been trying to get him across here for a couple of years. He played for the Newcastle invitational side against the Western Force in February and was one of our better players.
"He has a good job in Forbes and a girlfriend, but he is keen to come and have a crack at Shute Shield for the 16 weeks. We got him some work with Gollan's Logistics "
Fangupo's arrival follows the addition of Melbourne Rising breakaway Shawn Ingles.
Both will feature in an internal hit out in which Coleman hopes to "get rid of some cobwebs and start to form combinations".
"I was half-tempted to play a full trial against another club, but we are just not ready for that re contact," he said. "This way, I can pull the game up where I like. We want to try the things we have been working on for the past two weeks in a game scenario. There has been a focus on our set piece, defensive structure and exits out of our own end.
"The whole squad has trained really hard for four weeks. They have been absolutely flogged, harder than I have done any club training. They are loving it, which is good. We have a trial against Penrith next week at home and then it's round one against Randwick at Coogee. We haven't got much time."
