Cherry-Evans had previously succeeded Cameron Smith<\/a>, meaning the players’ union will once again be led by a Maroons<\/a> representative as it prepares for delicate collective bargaining negotiations with the NRL<\/a>, discussions that will shape future player pay and conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels great,\u201d Kaufusi told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s something I’ve had to think about for a while.<\/p>\n “I didn’t jump at it straight away, knowing the weight it carries.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaufusi said his focus will be on ensuring players’ voices are heard and respected at the table.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just having a voice, being able to stand tall, stand up for what we’re fighting for, and being able to draw the line and be there on behalf of our players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The 33-year-old also paid tribute to Cherry-Evans and said he wouldn’t hesitate to seek guidance from his former Queensland Origin teammate.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lucky enough to play with him at Origin level and have always admired him as a captain and a leader,\u201d Kaufusi said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I can lean on him for advice if I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"NRL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-1474100786-scaled.jpg.webp.webp\"\/)
NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 17: Tom Gilbert of the Dolphins and Felise Kaufusi of the Dolphins celebrate winning the round three NRL match between Newcastle Knights and Dolphins at McDonald Jones Stadium on March 17, 2023 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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Dolphins forward Felise Kaufusi, renowned for his leadership, has been appointed general president of the Rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-328660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}