Norths prop Tuki Simpkins: 'We will give it our all'

The burly 22-year-old, who grew up playing rugby union in New Zealand, made his Cup debut in Round 1 against Burleigh Bears after a tough pre-season with the Dolphins NRL side and has loved everything about his season since.

"I played rugby union my whole life, back in NZ, and then probably my first rugby league games were New Zealand under 16s and 18s... the league comp wasn’t really strong where I was from, so it wasn’t weekly games or anything, more like tournaments, Maori tournaments, played a bit of that," Simpkins said.

"And then the North Queensland Cowboys signed me when I was 15 when I was playing union... they wanted me to come and play league so I moved at the end of school, when I was 17, to Townsville, and that’s how I got into the league scene, with the Cows.

"I moved at the end of 2019 for the 2020 season but the season was one game and then COVID stopped it... played 20s in Round 1 then the season was done." 

Simpkins then moved to Wests Tigers on a three-year deal, where he played in the New South Wales Cup competition before Norths coach Dave Elliott "hit me up". 

"I had a pre-season with the 'Phins. November 5th was the start, and I moved a couple of days before that, did the pre-season with the Dolphins and started with Norths in January," Simpkins said.

"Pre-seasons are always tough but it was good. Have loved everything about my time since.”

Simpkins said come Sunday, the aim was to work hard and have fun with his mates.

Those mates – including fellow starting prop Cooper Jenkins, Mason Teague, Jeremiah Simbiken, Manase Kaho and Oryn Keeley - helped him rediscover his love of footy after losing it for a little while.

“Being in the middle, I just love how physical rugby league is…. I’ve always loved the physicality of the game, even growing up watching it… I just love the game,” Simpkins said.

“I’ve had so much fun this year. It’s made me love footy again… I sort of lost a bit of love for footy over the last couple of years but being at Norths, it has really brought back my love of footy and I’ve had a lot of fun with this group… love playing with them week in, week out.

“I’ve been playing with Coops the whole year, we’ve been starting props together, so it’s always good to play off the back of each other. I love the whole team…  I love Manase Kaho when he’s scoring his tries... it helps.

“It’s unreal, playing finals footy, to be honest… I haven’t played finals footy since school. That was the goal when I came to Norths, knowing their history of playing finals… I’ve definitely had aspirations of playing finals but making the grand final is another step forward and I can’t wait.”

The two teams played each other in the first week of finals, where Norths won 46-18, but Redcliffe have since beat Central Queensland Capras and minor premiers Northern Pride to book their spot in the big dance.

Admittedly nervous in a good way, Simpkins said he was excited to rip in.

“Playing PNG Hunters was definitely a hard game… being a finals game on the weekend, they were another step above what they were in the season, and it was definitely very physical, which I enjoy, so a few sore bodies after the game but nothing too major… they’ve done well this season so I was just happy the boys got the job done,” Simpkins said.

“On Sunday we will do what we’ve done all year. We’ve definitely built good relationships with each other and a good bond amongst the group… we just need to go out there and do what we’ve been doing all year.

“We have a lot of fun in our group and I think that’s a big reason for why we’re a successful team. We love being around each other, love coming to training. When you do something you love, it helps out in performance, so long as we have fun.

“I actually think it’s pretty cool that we’re both with the Dolphins (NRL) but obviously there can only be one winner and that’s going to be Norths.

“We’ve all got mates in that team too… and it’s always good playing your mates. All the other games we’ve playing against them, they’ve been real physical, which I like. They’re always tough games.

“I love playing difficult forward packs and haven’t got to play Josh Kerr yet so that will be fun. They’ve got a pretty good forward pack and so do we so I’m just happy we get to play them… our forward pack can match theirs... hopefully we’re better.”

To get your tickets to this year's highly-anticipated Queensland Rugby League grand final day, presented by Ford, click here.