Less than two months away from being able to speak with rivals at the beginning of November, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs star and international forward Viliame Kikau has reportedly caught the attention of multiple rugby union teams.
Arriving at Belmore in 2023 after back-to-back premierships with the Penrith Panthers, Kikau has been instrumental to the Bulldogs’ success over the past couple of seasons, which has seen them rise from the bottom of the ladder to the top-four.
In this season alone, he leads the NRL for most charge-downs (five), has the fifth most offloads in the competition (43) and is one of the best back-rowers with his aggression and explosiveness
On around $800,000, the 16-time Fijian international is set to garner a ton of interest in the next few months once he becomes available on the open market and is worthy of a wage increase.
However, he could very well find himself making the code switch to rugby union.
This comes as seven overseas clubs in the 15-man code are reportedly monitoring his future closely, and the temptation of playing in the Rugby World Cup might lure him to the sport.
“Viliame Kikau is reportedly in the sights of seven overseas rugby union clubs,” The Triple M Whisper said in a segment on Triple M Breakfast with Beau, Tarsh & Woodsy.
“Kikau is off-contract at the end of 2026 and the carrot of a Rugby World Cup in Australia representing Fiji might be big enough to persuade Kikau to make the code switch.”
The Fijian international is one of 12 Bulldogs players who are off-contract at the end of the 2026 NRL season.
Others include fullback Connor Tracey, four-time Indigenous All Stars representative Josh Curran and young forward trio Jack Todd, Lipoi Hopoi and Samuel Hughes.