Keaon Koloamatangi will finish the World Cup and move straight to Wollongong with his young family, and says he wants to use his Australian performances to inspire his future St George Illawarra teammates.
As Koloamatangi prepares to start up front for the Kangaroos on Sunday night against Fiji, Dragons coach Dean Young outlined plans to use his $5 million recruit as a ball-playing lock.
Koloamatangi has become one of the premier props in the game, but only after being moved there out of necessity by Souths coach Wayne Bennett midway through last year.
The 28-year-old’s performances earned him a lucrative five-year deal at the Dragons – and his efforts in the Australian green and gold will go a long way to reminding those players who wear the Red V why the club made the right call going all in to get his signature.
“I’ll be heading to a new club, I want to make sure if they’re watching me [Sunday night], they know they’re getting a player who will turn up for them every week for 80 minutes,” Koloamatangi said.
“When I signed for five years, I wanted to show I was invested in the club, that I was all in, and not there for a holiday.
“I want to get the Dragons back into winning form. It’s one of the best-followed clubs, it has a lot of history, like South Sydney does, and I want to bring that love and passion to the Dragons.
“I’ve got the opportunity to start for Australia this week. I want to show them, ‘Kev’ [coach Kevin Walters], the club [the Dragons] and myself what I’ve got. I want to make myself proud.
“I also want to give them [Dragons players] the confidence that anyone can make the Australian team, as long as you work hard and do the little things right and stay true to yourself.”
Even though Koloamatangi is yet to start at the joint venture, Young said he was already having a positive impact.
Young said Koloamatangi’s deal kick-started the club’s signing spree, which included North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater, Warriors playmaker Luke Metcalf, Sydney Roosters premiership-winning utility Connor Watson, Gold Coast winger Phil Sami and Dolphins five-eighth Kodi Nikorima.
“I know what I’m getting with Keaon; I worked with him with Tonga and the NSW Origin camps,” Young said. “It’s always nice when someone is coming through the doors and you know exactly what you’re getting.
“His role will be different at the Dragons than what it was with Souths and with Australia. He’s been that middle forward doing a lot of hit-ups to get teams upfield.
“But he’s got a lot of skills – he was a nightmare to defend against when he was on that right edge for Souths – he’s just had to park those skills the last few years because he’s been required to play a different role.
“The plan will be to use him as that ball-playing lock, a bit like Isaah Yeo is that link to the halves [at Penrith].
“We could even use him on an edge, but we’ve got Hamish Stewart and Dylan Egan, and behind them Jacob Halangahu, who has plenty of talent, but is not yet an 80-minute player.
“We have a young pack, but Keaon’s experience will help our guys. When I spoke to him recently, he told me he was moving to Wollongong because he didn’t want to spend time in the car, and wanted to show the boys how committed he was to them.”
The Mascot Jets junior – who has played with Souths skipper and Kangaroos teammate Cameron Murray since he was six years of age – praised Murray, Bennett, and fiancée Heavenly, whom he will marry on December 1, for his turnaround.
“Wayne never put too much pressure on me, he wanted me to play my game – he makes you relaxed going into each game,” Koloamatangi said.
“Being happy off the field plays a massive part. It’s not easy being the partner of a league player. People see the money, but Heavenly has sacrificed basically 10 years of her life for me to live my life. She’s been nothing short of amazing.
“And I’ve enjoyed picking up on Cam’s leadership qualities – I wanted to take some of his traits with me to the Dragons.
“The main thing is to back up the words you say. Cam is the most reliable player I’ve ever played alongside, and he’s someone who will give you at least a nine out of 10 each week. That’s the captain you want to play under.
“When times get tough, I look at Cam, he’s tired as well, but he keeps pushing for the team. You don’t want to let him down.”
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