Former NRL centre Brad Takairangi is heading for home soil after signing with the Dapto Canaries in the Illawarra local league ahead of the 2023 season.
The 33 year-old utility back amassed over 200 first-grade games between stints at the Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, Parramatta Eels and Hull KR, before becoming one of a dozen players to be cut by the Super League club.
English publication HullLive confirmed that there was interest from second-division outfit Keighley Cougars as well as the Salford Red Devils, however Takairangi has opted to return to Sydney where he's lived the vast majority of his life.
The centre played just 24 games for Hull KR over the span of two seasons, with a spat of injuries coupled with off-field issues led to the former Eel not being re-signed by the club.
Takairangi was handed a suspended one-year jail sentence and 300 hours community service after crashing into a police vehicle last January.
Former NRL stars Albert Vete and Korbin Sims were also released by the club at the end of last season, with Vete picking up a contract with the Castleford Tigers while Sims hung up his boots at just 30 years-old following the World Cup.
Takairangi will be joined at the Canaries by former Warriors utility Pita Goidnet, while former Australian Super League players David Fifita and Blake Ferguson will also play local league football in 2023, signing for the Entrance Tigers and Thirlmere Roosters respectively.
