The Canterbury Bulldogs have continued to add pieces to the puzzle for 2022 with the signing of John Asiata confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.
The one-year deal will see Asiata at Belmore for at least 2022, however, his future is uncertain following the current deal.
The club have already made seven acquisitions for 2022 as they attempt to turn the club around, and while Adam Elliott and Lachlan Lewis have both been let go in the last week over off-field incidents, the club have today gone back to the trend of adding to their roster.
Asiata will join six other high-profile recruits in Matt Dufty, Josh Addo-Carr, Brent Naden, Matt Burton, Paul Vaughan and Tevita Pangai Junior at Belmore, while young South Sydney hooker Joshua Cook was also announced as a signing last week.
The Broncos' forward has had a tough time of it at Red Hill, having shifted from the Cowboys at the end of the 2020 season.
The 28-year-old, who is a veteran of almost 140 first grade games, played 129 at North Queensland between 2014 and 2020, before shifting to the Broncos where his 2021 season was ruined by injury.
The Bulldogs were understood to be in a salary cap crunch, however, it's said they have scored Asiata on a cut-price deal as they attempt to build out and complete their squad for next season's push back towards the top eight after spending the last handful of years at the wrong end of the table.
The forward, who has also been used in the halves over the years, will join a middle third rotation which includes Paul Vaughan and Pangai Junior, as well as Luke Thompson and Jack Hetherington, while captain Josh Jackson also played at lock this season.
Bulldogs' club chief executive Aaron Warburton said Asiata would be a great addition.
"By signing someone of John's experience and versatility for next season, we believe that we have found a player who will be a great addition to our club," Warburton said.
With forwards such as Tevita Pangai Junior, Paul Vaughan and Josh Cook joining us, plus retaining a strong nucleus from our current squad, we think that John will bring a level of skill and leadership that will greatly complement that group.
John, is also extremely active in regards to his work in the community, and that is something that was extremely important to us.
We are really excited about the squad that we have assembled and can't wait to see them together for pre-season."
Asiata will officially start with the Bulldogs during November.
Dogs to win the comp 2022.