Dapto Canaries secure former Bulldogs wrecking ball Sam Kasiano

The former Bulldogs and Storm prop, and veteran of 153 NRL games, has returned from a preseason with Warrington in the UK to link with Samoan Test teammates Joey Leilua and Pita Godinet in an effort to get Dapto over the finals hump.

Having lost 2023 standout and forward leader Josh Vaartjes over the off-season, coach Blake Wallace said the imposing bookend was the perfect acquisition heading into his third year at the helm.

"It's massive, especially when you lose a guy like Josh Vaartjes and we were a bit light on there in the middle," Wallace said.

"With a couple of other boys that aren't coming back, [prop] was the position I was most keen to lock in. To be able to be patient and for this to come about, we were pretty lucky in the end.

"We're stoked to have Sam on board. Him, Joey and Pita Godinet have all played for Samoa together so there was always that connection there and he was already pretty keen when I gave him a ring.

"We've got some good young forwards there but when you're going up against the likes of Wests and Collies where they've got guys that have been doing it at a high level for a pretty long time, it can be intimidating for a younger forward in the competition.

"I'm excited to have a guy like Sam with his experience to be able to lead from the front and then the boys can get behind him and play off the back of that.

"He's come in in good nick, he did preseason with Warrington, so he's looking good. It's great to get the deal done and I'm excited to see him run out in the blue and gold this year."

With Leilua also potentially playing in the pack, the Canaries may pack the biggest raw punch they've enjoyed since the likes of Chris Leikvoll and Shaun Wessel were roaming the middle in the mid-noughties.

Leilua has made sporadic appearances at the Showground as he focuses on the boxing career that will see him face former on-field NRL foe Curtis Scott in a heavyweight PPV showdown at the WEC on March 13.

Wallace said where the 32-year-old wrecking ball plays on his return is still up in the air, though he's confident he will be destructive wherever he's deployed.

"I've got a bit of an idea of whether he comes in a little bit closer to the middle rather than keeping him out wide," Wallace said.

"We'll see how he fits in. I feel like he'd be pretty destructive to get him in around that forward back, but I also don't want to take away from his strengths.

"Once he comes back after the fights he's got coming up, I'll have a look at him, have a look at what he thinks, and put him in where I'll get the best out of him."

Dapto fell agonisingly short of a finals berth last season, a rearguard action crumbling at Corrimal in the penultimate round of the season.

It left Wallace and his squad ruing a host of close ones that got away in the first half of the campaign, but the 2016 Canaries premiership-winner is confident the belief built in giant-killing efforts over the latter half of the season will carry into this year.

"The boys proved to themselves last year that they can do it, I think it was just that penny dropping and them actually realising it," Wallace said.

"A couple years of first grade under your belt does the world of good. A lot of that core group of young guys that have been playing are getting more experience and they're getting confidence because they're playing week in week out footy.

"Not only doing that, we were getting wins as well. We dropped a few games early, but that's all part of our learning an we got better from that. It's just time to carry that over this year and getting better week to week."