Tesi Niu:
“I can’t wait for the competition. Reece is a good player, but if I have a good pre-season under my belt, hopefully I can stay at fullback. I will see what happens with the fullback spot. Reece is coming here and it will be good healthy competition. It’s great for the Broncos to have that depth."
“I remember Reece from the Broncos juniors. We came through together and I have missed having him here, so it will be good to see him back. He is a freak talent for his age. People forget just how young Reece is when you see what he is doing at that age."
“Whoever gets the jumper, gets it, but right now all I can do is play good consistent footy for the Broncos leading into the finals and if I play well, I’ll put my best foot forward. Fullback is my preferred position. Wherever ‘Kevvie’ wants me to play, I’ll do my job for the team, but I do enjoy the space at fullback.”
“I came back in pre-season a bit overweight. With everything that happened with my dad, I didn’t have the best preparation, I was going through a lot. But I worked hard to get my weight down and play some good footy. My dad was my biggest fan and my biggest critic, too. He watched every game and after every game, he would message me with paragraphs on my game, what I did well and what I could work on. I am doing all this for him and I hope he is up there watching, proud of me.”
“I used to love watching Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and I also like James Tedesco. They are two guys who are always involved and I want to build my game on that effort. I work pretty hard on my fitness because if you want to be a long-term fullback, you can’t get comfortable in the NRL. You have to keep improving yourself and one thing dad drilled into me is don’t get complacent … because there is always someone else wanting your jersey.”
Broncos trainer Mark ‘Chopper’ Burgess:
“I can tell you — no-one at this club does extras like Tesi Niu does extras. He wants that No. 1 jumper and he will do anything to keep it. People talk about Tesi under the high ball. At training the other day, he stayed back an extra hour catching bomb after bomb after bomb. I have a massive wrap on him as a person."
“He came back to pre-season a bit overweight, but with his day dying, that’s understandable. His dad was a fitness fanatic and Tesi idolised him. He was crying in front of me saying: ‘Chop, my best friend is gone’. Losing his dad was devastating but I have a saying, ‘Hard work works’. I can’t fault his attitude. Tesi is busting his guts to be the best player he can be.”
Adam Reynolds:
“Tesi has been great since his return. He had a nasty hamstring injury and to see him work hard to get better and perform the way he has since he has come back, it’s a sign of his professionalism. With Reece Walsh coming here, it’s a good headache to have at fullback. I’m not sure what Kevvie is going to do.”
