Goole Vikings head coach Scott Taylor admits he has spoken to his former Hull FC teammate Carlos Tuimavave recently and would love to bring him on board one day.
Taylor was officially unveiled as Goole’s head coach on Tuesday as the club prepare for their inaugural season in League One and it seems the former England international’s recruitment push is already well underway.
The East Yorkshire outfit have secured the signing of Jamie Shaul, with the full-back agreeing to step out of retirement to play under his former teammate. Tom Halliday has joined the club from Doncaster, too, while Ben Hodder has signed his first professional deal with the club.
A raft of signings will come over the coming weeks and months with several senior, recognisable faces expected to sign for the Vikings as they look to build a squad that can compete. One player who is up for grabs in the local area is Tuimavave with his contract with Hull officially expiring next month.
The former Samoa international is understood to be keen to continue living in East Yorkshire and Serious About RL understands that he has turned down approaches from Super League clubs to do so. Rugby League Live have linked the centre with York Knights, Doncaster and Featherstone Rovers, and Taylor has addressed the possibility of him joining Goole.
“I’ve had a few chats with Carlos,” Taylor told the press during the club’s launch in Goole town centre. “Carlos can speak for himself but we’ve spoken and obviously he’s got a lot of opportunities.
“I don’t think he’s decided himself yet but in the next few weeks he’ll come out and say where he’s at. Carlos is absolutely fantastic player, coming off-contract and loves living where he’s living.
“I really rate him as a player and one day we’d love to have him involved, of course we would, but at the minute Carlos has a few decisions to make. He’s a close friend of mine who I’ve spoken to quite a bit.”
Asked if he had spoken to retiring Hull FC hooker Danny Houghton about the possibility of making a U-turn, Taylor joked: “Not good enough.”
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