{"id":372044,"date":"2025-12-26T01:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T01:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372044\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T01:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T01:41:08","slug":"hoskins-sotutu-signs-three-year-deal-with-newcastle-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372044\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoskins Sotutu signs three-year deal with Newcastle Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

14-Test former All Black loose forward Hoskins Sotutu<\/a> has inked a new three-year deal with the Newcastle Bulls<\/a> in the Gallagher Premiership.<\/p>\n

The deal will commence after the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> season, during which Sotutu will play his final campaign with the franchise, for which he has played 79 games.<\/p>\n

Sotutu, who can represent Fiji<\/a> through his father Waisake, as well as England<\/a> through his mother Adelita, will become eligible for an allegiance switch after not playing for the All Blacks<\/a> since 2022.<\/p>\n

The blockbusting No.8 has scored 31 tries in his Blues<\/a> career, and will join former Crusaders<\/a> loose-forward Tom Christie<\/a> at the Bulls.<\/p>\n

As the 27-year-old hasn\u2019t been selected by Scott Robertson<\/a> and his coaching staff, Sotutu\u2019s move appears to give him an opportunity to continue his international career going forward.<\/p>\n

Sotutu was named the Super Rugby Pacific player of the year in 2024, before being overlooked by Robertson and his coaching staff in the initial All Blacks squad for the France<\/a> series in July.<\/p>\n

The latest Newcastle<\/a> Bulls signing said he\u2019s excited to be a part of the new project, while also being challenged in a new league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited to be committing to Newcastle Red Bulls\u2019 project moving forward, and coming to compete in the Gallagher PREM week in, week out,\u201d Sotutu said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club made it clear to me how ambitious they are, and I am looking forward to getting started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have enjoyed my time at the Blues and am looking to finish on a high before hitting the ground running in the North East of England.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sotutu explained that the Auckland-based Super Rugby Pacific franchise has been his home since the start of his professional career, and a place where he has many great memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis club means a lot to me. The Blues has been my home for a long time and I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve achieved,\u201d Sotutu said on the\u00a0Blues statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful to the coaching staff, teammates and our fans for the support over the years and look forward to one more season with the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle Bulls Sporting general manager Neil McIlroy was full of praise for the 27-year-old, believing the signing shows the club really means business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge signing which brings major firepower into the club, and sends a message around the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoskins is a player who was very much in demand from other teams, but he has seen what is being planned at Newcastle Red Bulls and wants to be part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an X-factor player who will make a big impact on the field, and the way he plays will get people off their seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe profile of the club and the Gallagher PREM as a whole will grow massively as a result of him joining us, and this is a signing which shows we really mean business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"14-Test former All Black loose forward Hoskins Sotutu has inked a new three-year deal with the Newcastle Bulls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-372044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372044","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=372044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}