Written by Callum Walker
He’s only 28, but Hull star Carlos Tuimavave seems to have been around for decades. Joining the black and whites from NRL side Newcastle Knights in 2016, the Samoan international has gone on to play over 100 Super League games for FC, winning the Challenge Cup on two occasions and becoming a firm fans’ favourite.
His performance in Sunday’s Challenge Cup victory over Castleford – in which he scored twice – earned him the man-of-the-match award, just after hours after signing a new four-year deal with the Airlie Birds.
Having not played in Thursday’s narrow win over Wakefield, Tuimavave was raring to go and arguably made the decisive play of the game, intercepting a ball in his own half on the stroke of half-time.
But, it’s been his overall play and enthusiasm since joining that has endeared him to the Hull faithful. His metre-eating yards out of defence and athletic ability has made him one of the most underrated players in Super League.
And, with a utility factor that has seen the Samoan play anywhere in the back line, he has become an incredibly important player for the black and whites in recent years, often deputizing at halfback in the absence of Albert Kelly or Marc Sneyd.
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🗣️ “Hopefully this can be the start of another cup run! It is early days yet and we’re only one step of the way on the journey to Wembley so our attention is firmly on that quarter-final next week.”
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— Hull FC (@hullfcofficial) September 14, 2020
Having made just 14 NRL appearances in four seasons, the capture of Tuimavave may well have been classed as a risk, but at the age of 24 he still had a good few years left in him. And, Hull have certainly reaped the rewards of someone who is in the form of his life and who has settled into the city seamlessly.
A four-year contract will take the rangy three-quarter to the age of 32, but even then don’t rule him out for another deal which will see him retire at Hull.
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