Wynnum get Laka, re-sign Talita and release Kapinias

By MICHAEL PHILIP
WYNNUM Manly Seagulls have confirmed the signing of Papua New Guinea Hunters utility Kitron Laka and Stanford Talita for the 2023 season and the release of prop Epel Kapinias.
Seagulls commercial and marketing manager Tom Cosgrove told The National the signing of Laka for next season was an exciting addition to the squad.
Following the signing of Laka, Cosgrove said he would be joining fellow countrymen and former Hela Wigmen centre Talita, who recently renewed his contract with the club for another season.
“The club is hopeful Kitron will cement his place in our starting side,” he said.
“We have some very good forwards, but despite that we’re really excited having him on board in the team and we hope he is very good for us next season.
“He is happy to be here and his goal is to be noticed by an NRL team in 2023.
“For Talita, yes he’ll be part of us again next season after he accepted the opportunity given by us.
“He recently resigned for another season and we appreciate that.”
Cosgrove said Talita had played mostly for the Seagulls side in the Brisbane city competition and the coaching staff were looking to get him into the Queensland Cup squad next season.
He added that Talita had helped the city side make the grand final this year and was a quality player.
Cosgrove said in Kapinias’ case, the PNG Kumuls prop was not re-signed by the club.
“I’m not exactly sure why Kapinias wasn’t re-signed,” he said.
“With the new coach coming in, there has been a big overhaul of our squad. Again I am not sure whether Kapinias chose to look elsewhere or whether he didn’t fit into the new squad next season.”
Meanwhile, Seagulls head coach Mathew Head confirmed with The National that Kapinias had been released. “Epel wasn’t in our plans for the 2023 season,” he said.
“He didn’t perform as well as we would have liked in the second half of 2022 and with the influx of a lot of new middle forwards into the squad, unfortunately we had to let him go.”