{"id":36255,"date":"2025-09-22T07:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T07:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/36255\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T07:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T07:25:07","slug":"siosifa-talakai-was-as-shocked-as-anyone-when-he-read-a-report-suggesting-he-wouldnt-be-at-the-sharks-finals-series-news-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/36255\/","title":{"rendered":"Siosifa Talakai was as shocked as anyone when he read a report suggesting he wouldn\u2019t be at the Sharks, finals series, news, video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Powerhouse forward Siosifa Talakai was as shocked as anyone when he read a report suggesting he wouldn\u2019t be at the Sharks next year, but the cult hero remains confident he\u2019ll see out his contract in the Shire.<\/p>\n

Talakai still has another year to run on his deal but was blindsided back in July when it was reported that he and teammate Braden Hamlin-Uele would be squeezed out due to salary cap pressures.<\/p>\n

The powerful forward reached out to coach Craig Fitzgibbon and football manager Darren Mooney, who assured him he wasn\u2019t going anywhere, with Talakai\u2019s ability to play in the middle, the back row or in the centres a huge asset for the club.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell, I\u2019ve signed for next so it was a bit of a shock to me when that speculation came out during the year,\u201d Talakai told the NewsWire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI messaged my manager and then my manager rang \u2018Fitzy\u2019. Fitzy and Darren Mooney reached out and reassured me that nothing was going on, so as far as I\u2019m concerned, I\u2019m here for another year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a bit of a shock and I was a bit worried. I was talking to my partner about it and said \u2018I didn\u2019t think this would ever happen\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never look too far ahead and I just make sure that I do my job to the best of my ability. It was a bit of a shock, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a bit of truth behind it because our club is facing a bit of salary cap pressure. All I can do is play my best brand of footy and do all I can to make sure we secure a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Talakai looks set to stay, fullback Will Kennedy\u2019s future is far more uncertain with the club unable to match his asking price.<\/p>\n

The reliable fullback is off contract at the end of the season and may be forced out even though his preference is to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing has changed from last week. Whatever happens will happen, but I\u2019m just focused on my footy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m used to the questions because I\u2019ve been asked about it the past few weeks, so I\u2019m not too fazed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wants to leave this club. I\u2019ve been here since the under-18s, so this club is a special place for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to look forward and try to secure what\u2019s best for me and my family. Right now I\u2019m just focused on footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The contract chat hasn\u2019t been a distraction for the Sharks who are a win away from a spot in the grand final after wins over the Roosters and Raiders.<\/p>\n

Talakai has been strong coming off the bench in the middle of the field after filling in at left centre throughout his six seasons in the Shire, and he says confidence has never been higher in the playing group ahead of their trip to Melbourne. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us have played together for the last few years so we know each other\u2019s games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that when we\u2019re on, there\u2019s no one that can match us.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing our worth and all the work we\u2019ve done over the years, we just know what we can bring. We\u2019re still yet to hit our peak and there\u2019s a lot of potential that we haven\u2019t tapped in to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know our worth and this is where we belong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Powerhouse forward Siosifa Talakai was as shocked as anyone when he read a report suggesting he wouldn\u2019t be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,2652,33591,33603,33598,33600,31686,33595,33596,33602,33604,33599,5623,33594,33592,33593,33590,123,111,139,69,2659,33601,33597,213,13903,2821],"class_list":{"0":"post-36255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","10":"tag-blayke-brailey","11":"tag-braden-hamlin-uele","12":"tag-cap-pressures","13":"tag-contract-chat","14":"tag-craig-fitzgibbon","15":"tag-cult-hero","16":"tag-darren-mooney","17":"tag-face-dilemma","18":"tag-fans-apology","19":"tag-finals-masterclass","20":"tag-finals-series","21":"tag-football-manager","22":"tag-honest-reaction","23":"tag-looks-set","24":"tag-martin-gabor","25":"tag-melbourne","26":"tag-new-zealand","27":"tag-newzealand","28":"tag-nz","29":"tag-oceania","30":"tag-salary-cap","31":"tag-salary-cap-pressure","32":"tag-sports","33":"tag-team-tips","34":"tag-victoria"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}