Penrith Panthers have swooped to sign young gun Patrick Moi Moi, the nephew of rugby league icon Fuifui, ahead of 2026.

Now 46, uncle Fuifui achieved cult hero status on both sides of the globe during his 19-season playing career.

After racking up over 200 first-grade appearances for Parramatta, and scoring a try in the Eels’ narrow 2009 NRL Grand Final defeat to Melbourne Storm, the legendary prop moved into the British game with Leigh in 2015.

Going on to don a shirt for Toronto Wolfpack, Workington Town and Rochdale Hornets, the forward never featured in Super League but shone in both the Championship and League 1 as he racked up more than 140 games across all competitions.

Representing both Tonga and New Zealand on the international stage, with the latter through his heritage, the Nuku’alofa-born powerhouse’s overall career appearance tally sits above the 360-mark.

Towards the back end of his career, which ended in 2022, he also had short stints in union with community clubs Bradford & Bingley RFC and York RUFC.

NRL club set to sign rugby league icon’s nephew following silverware-laden campaign

Nephew Patrick is at the very start of his career, and though Penrith are yet to officially announce his arrival, numerous sources Down Under – including The Mole via Nine – have confirmed it is a done deal.

Primarily a centre, he will join the Panthers on the back of a 2025 campaign which saw him impress for the New Zealand Warriors’ reserves as they reigned supreme in the New South Wales Cup.

The Wahs’ second string topped the NSW Cup ladder at the end of the ‘regular’ season and then went on to beat St George Illawarra Dragons’ reserves in the Grand Final.

They also hammered Queensland Cup champions Burleigh Bears 50-20 in October’s State Championship final to claim the ultimate crown at second-grade level Down Under.

21-year-old Moimoi – who began the year in the Jersey Flegg Cup before working his way up – did not feature in that State Championship clash, but will arrive at Penrith having gone up against an NRL outfit during a 2024 pre-season clash.

He came off the bench for the Wahs against Wests Tigers in that pre-season game, though still awaits an official NRL debut.

If reports Down Under are correct, Moimoi will make the move to the Panthers alongside team-mates Kalani Going, Toby Crosby and Tom Ale, who all formed part of the Warriors’ second-grade champion squad this term.