No panic at Brothers as Riverina forward jumps on board for 2024

Apenisa Driti has linked with the Wagga club after being one of the Bulls' best in their Country Championships campaign last month.

Brothers coach Aaron Gorrell led Riverina for a second straight season and got a first hand taste of what the imposing second rower can offer.

He's thrilled to have the forward come on board after being part of Darlington Point Coleambally's grand final team last season.

"Along with Touty (Gundagai forward Royce Tout) he was probably our best player," Gorrell said.

"He called me looking for a change and wanted to do something different so he's come to us and will get here later this week.

"He's a massive bonus for us as it wasn't someone we were counting on, especially someone as good as he is.

"We're really looking forward to him getting into training and getting into the mix with the boys.

"It's a nice positive signing for us."

While Gorrell has options to play Driti anywhere in their forward pack, he feels second row is probably the best fit.

"He played in the back row for us in the Riverina side and created a fair few headaches but we will have to see where he fits best with us," Gorrell said.

"Perfect world that is where he will play but we will see.

"He's a pretty damaging player so we're very excited to get a hold of him and glad we don't have to play against him."

Driti's move to Wagga is a welcomed and timely boost for Brothers as they look to make their return to first grade this season with the club is still waiting on a number of Papua New Guinea recruits to arrive.

Gorrell admitted the bureaucracy has taken longer than they expected.

However he's confident things will come together for the Wagga club.

"We're waiting for a couple of green ticks on visas still, they're a bit slower than they were meant to be but it is all happening," Gorrell said.

"We're probably lucky we have the bye in round one but they will be here before we have to play.

"It will be a bit of a rush for our round one but they've been playing over there so it's not like they are coming here all under done.

"It will just be getting combinations right with the players we have here and it's a long season so we will be ok."

Brothers fortunes have created plenty of interest as they look to return to the top grade.

They've had to look overseas to help boost player numbers and despite many of them not yet arriving Gorrell is far from panicking.

"There's no panic stations yet," he said.

"They have gone longer than we thought they would but it's just a matter of time as they might get that tick today or it might be tomorrow.

"There's no point panicking as you can only control what you can control."

With Brothers having the bye in next week's round one, they will mark their return to first grade with a clash against Kangaroos on April 20.