Former England international Ben Te’o has switched back to rugby league and joined the Brisbane Broncos for the remainder of the 2020 season.
Te’o, a former Queensland State Of Origin backrower and NRL Premiership winner, returns to the Broncos having played 75 games for the club between 2009 and 2012.
Ben Te’o is backhttps://t.co/JXk3ERNGTk pic.twitter.com/pBmPrxv2Z8
— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) June 4, 2020
The 33-year-old played 152 NRL games in total for Brisbane, West Tigers and the Rabbitohs – where he won a premiership in 2014 – before shifting to rugby union where he played 16 Tests for England and twice for the British and Irish Lions.
Most recently, Te’o was playing Super Rugby with the Sunwolves but that franchise’s inability to join a competition in 2020 has opened the way for the damaging backrower to rejoin the Broncos for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season.
JOIN THE RUCK
Te’o said today: “It’s crazy how things work out but I’m just excited to get back playing rugby league and rip in with the boys and really work hard.
“Brisbane is home to me and the Broncos have always looked after me and I feel welcome here – this is the perfect place to let me play.
“The Club had a spot open and need some boys and I’m ready to come and help out and play my role for the Broncos.”
LINE-UP | A rugby union XIII that would dominate rugby league
With Sky Sports re-running the ‘Clash of the Codes’ matches between Wigan and Bath, RUCK feature writer Oliver Roby has trawled the globe to bring together an all-star team of Union players who’d dominate in rugby league.
1. Full Back – Romain Ntamack
A Rugby League full back needs to be adept in both attack and defence, so we’ve opted for France fly half Romain Ntamack.
His ability to play in the centres in union should see him stand up when required in defence, while his deft handling skills will come to the fore going forward, acting as the extra playmaker like so many of the great rugby league full backs in recent years.
2. Wing – Joe Cokanasiga
Much like their union counterparts, speed and finishing chances are very much part of the game as a winger. Perhaps the only quirk is that league wingers tend to take more carries out of their own half in league.
That’s why Bath powerhouse Joe Cokanasiga would be ideally suited to playing on the wing in rugby league.
3. Centre – Manu Tuilagi
Athletic, strong and extremely capable, Tuilagi would be able to make the union-league switch fairly comfortably as a centre. His physicality in defence would be useful, while his go-forward could well be in the mould of Keith Senior, a modern day great in league. A potentially fearsome partnership with Cokanasiga in either code.
4. Centre – Kurtley Beale
Beale is no stranger to rugby league having grown up playing the sport as a youngster. The union full back would offer a different style to that of Tuilagi, but his agility, soft hands and fine running game would suit rugby league well anywhere in the backs.
5. Wing – Denny Solomona
Something of an unimaginative pick given his recent association with league, but the Sale winger had an incredible strike rate in his days as a professional league player.
Though he was brought up on rugby union, the New Zealand-born England international lit up Super League during his time with Castleford Tigers. His last year in the code before what many viewed as a controversial switch saw him break the all-time Super League record for tries in a season as he scored 40.
Tigers fans would surely welcome him back in an instant given the opportunity.
