A candid Tevita Pangai jnr said he deserves all the criticism he’s copped since an ill-tempered trial display which prompted him to apologise to his Bulldogs teammates - and even prompted Phil Gould to intervene.
Just days after one of the NRL’s most expensive recruits narrowly avoided suspension for two hot-headed outbursts in the trial against Cronulla, Pangai revealed Gould took it upon himself to speak to one of the game’s best forwards about his discipline as he struggles to adjust to life in Sydney.
“I apologised to the team,” Pangai jnr told the Sydney Morning Herald & The Age. “Gus [Gould] said what I did at Penrith, I need to do here. He wants me to lead with my strong carries and tackles. I’ve got to get all the other stuff out of my game.
“He just pretty much said to keep the aggression with the ball, but obviously be a bit smarter with the ball and how I tackle - and I can’t talk back to the ref. That’s one thing you can’t do. I won’t be doing that anymore.
“It’s such a high-speed game, and obviously I didn’t get suspended, but I’ve been copping a fair bit of criticism from some of the greats in the game, which is warranted. I think they’re frustrated because I haven’t fulfilled my potential. That’s understandable.”
Pangai joins Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Burton as centrepieces of Canterbury’s stunning recruitment drive - which has also netted Viliame Kikau and Reed Mahoney for 2023 - and raised hopes the Bulldogs will challenge for a top-eight spot this year.
But Pangai says adapting to life in Sydney - a city he never planned on coming to - had been far harder than expected, revealing Gould has been desperately trying to help the 26-year-old and his wife Anna settle in.
“The move to Sydney has been a bit of a shock,” he said. “My preference was never to come to Sydney, but there’s only a few clubs [in Queensland].
“Everyone is in a rush here. I feel like it’s a rat race. There’s not much traffic in a place like Brisbane. There’s a lot of people in smaller houses [here]. But I’m doing my best.
“We’re settling in now and starting to like it. The club has been helping a lot off the field. We’re trying to take away all the excuses off the field so we can just worry about footy.
“All the clubs Gus has been at have been family oriented, and that’s what swayed my wife and I to come here. It’s the reason why I wanted to come to the club.”
Sharks forward Royce Hunt said he would be happy to fight Pangai in the boxing ring, but advised him to play footy when on the field after their headline-making skirmish. Pangai was sin-binned as a result, drawing a torrent of criticism about his on-field behaviour.
The Tongan international has already said he’s only minding Kikau’s jersey on the left edge until his premiership-winning teammate arrives from Penrith, seeing his own future in the middle of the park.
And Bulldogs captain Josh Jackson doesn’t want Pangai to lose his edge.
“Tevita’s greatest strength is his aggression,” he said. “You don’t want to take that away from him. Obviously controlled aggression is what we’re after.
“The one on the weekend was just a bit of push and shove, it was nothing too serious. We know how good a player he can be and I think that’s probably what we’ve missed the last few years, someone that can provide a bit of X-factor and break the game open with his second phase and offload.
“I’ll tip he’s going to have a good year.”
Said Pangai: “I think it’s just routine and being consistent [for me], day in day out. A player like Josh Jackson, he does the same thing every day. I need to come to training and enjoy it, be energetic, and have a good support network with good people around me that will tell you the truth.”
