Sacked Bradford Bulls winger Tame Tupou will resurrect his career back in Australia after being thrown a lifeline by Wests Tigers.

The 26-year-old former Brisbane and New Zealand Kiwi international was dismissed by Bradford in January due to long-running injury problems.

With 18 months remaining on his contract, he took the Bulls to an RFL tribunal in March but the club's decision was upheld.

Tupou has since been serving a six-month notice period, which was set to expire at the end of July.

He had failed to strike any sort of deal with another Super League club and until recently had still been turning up daily at the Bulls training ground for continued rehabilitation.

Bradford made a brief statement on Wednesday, saying: "Bradford Bulls has agreed to the request of Wests Tigers to release Tame Tupou's registration with immediate effect."

Tupou was signed as a direct replacement for Lesley Vainikolo two years ago and made an impressive start with 10 tries in his first 12 games but he has not played since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last June.

Meanwhile, Bradford's England forward Sam Burgess could eventually join Tupou at Wests Tigers after attracting the interest of several Australian clubs.

The Tigers already have Burgess' England team-mate Gareth Ellis on board and coach Tim Sheens has made no secret of his admiration for the 20-year-old utility forward, who was Super League Young Player of the Year in 2007.

"The kid can play, no doubt about it," Sheens, the current Australia coach told Rugby League Week magazine.

"We have had great success with Gareth this season and sometimes it is hard to get quality players away from their clubs in the NRL, so you have to look outside the square."

The Tigers could have competition from Manly Sea Eagles, whose recruitment manager Noel Cleal said: "We have spoken to Sam and he has made no secret of the fact that he wants to come and play down here.

"He is a talented young player and probably the pick of the next generation of stars over there. He can play prop or second row and has plenty of size."