Tetevano set to make his return with Cook Islands

Former Leeds Rhinos player Zane Tetevano will make his come back this weekend as part of the Cook Island’s squad to take on Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on Sunday.  

Tetevano left the Rhinos this season having suffered a stroke in training but he has been cleared to return to action and will be part of the Cook Island’s squad in the first of potentially three games with a clash against Fiji the following weekend, and the final between the two highest finishing teams on November 5.

Tetevano and captain Brad Takairangi are the only survivors from the Cook Islands team which beat Samoa, Tonga and Fiji in the 2009 Pacific Cup and the pair believe there are similarities with the team taking on the Kumuls on Sunday.

The Pacific Championships will again be staged next year and Cook Islands are also set to feature in the newly created 2025 World Series for a place in the 2026 World Cup.

“I'm excited to play rugby league and kind of nervous too, about putting everything under stress for the first time,” Tetevano told NRL.com. “Health wise, I am sweet. I have been fully cleared to play and I’m still hungry. I’ll just see how these next two games go and make a decision after that.

“I want to stick around as much as I can and help out these young guys. Myself and Brad came in as young fellows and now we are trying to set a standard.

“I've been brought up on my Cook Island side, but all these years that I've been playing rugby league in Australia, I feel like I lost a lot of my identity so being around this group kind of draws me back in a little bit.

“I still don't know how to dance, I still know how to play the drums and stuff like that, but it is the language stuff that I’m still trying to figure out again. With more games there’s a lot more guys who will probably stick around a bit longer now.”

Tetevano is set to come up against his former Rhinos team mate Nene Macdonald who has been named on the wing for the Kumuls. Rhyse Martin misses this game having stayed in the UK for the birth of his child last week before flying out to meet up with the national squad this week.