GOLD Coast Titans back rower Zeb Taia will add aggression, experience and a presence that has been lacking on Saints’ edge.

That is the view of Saints boss Keiron Cunningham who swooped for the 32-year-old former Catalans Dragons second row once it became clear that Joe Greenwood was heading in the opposite direction.

Saints are now waiting on a visa for Taia, who has signed a three-year deal, but they expect him to arrive within three weeks.

Cunningham said: “I know Zeb is a real pro and a dedicated family man and around the club he is a great leader.

“We tried for Zeb a while ago, but he ended up going to Titans.

“This time it was a case of me trying to be a bit of a rascal to try and make things happen to secure the club a good deal off the back of something that was not good news.”

Taia is a very potent runner and he was at his destructive best when he helped the Dragons see off Saints in Perpignan last season.

His recruitment in the here and now provides a silver lining to the dark cloud that comes in losing a developing young England squad back rower.

Taia's visa is currently being processed but Cunningham expects the wheels to move quicker than Todd Carney's application at Salford.

"Carney’s has taken seven weeks, but it is a bit more clear cut with Zeb.

"We are in the system now so we are hopeful that we might have him here within the next two or three weeks," Cunningham said.

In the short term Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dominique Peyrous and Morgan Knowles are expected to cover the second row berths, but Taia is expected to make an immediate impact on his arrival.

Cunningham said: “Zeb is a presence, and I don’t think we have had a presence on an edge for a while.

“If you look back to Sia Soliola and Willie Manu, who ran around in that Grand Final, every time they pulled a shirt on there was a presence and people looked over their shoulders.

“With Zeb Taia that is what you get – he is an athlete, aggressive who carries and defends hard.

“As much as Joe Greenwood is going to be a loss for the future at the club, we have gained in bringing in Zeb.”

Cunningham explained that the club were pro-active in engineering this outcome and was happy with the result.

“As a club I thought we needed to get something out of the situation. With Joe I could see that his performances were not quite there in the pre-season and the Leeds game and maybe he had had his head turned too much.

“To run that for 12 months before he went could have been detrimental to what we want to do.

“So, I explored a few areas and got Mike Rush involved and next thing we were on the phone to Zeb and things were looking quite promising. It grew legs pretty quickly and so credit to the chairman, Rushy and the board for backing me on this one.

“Now we have got someone who has been one of the best back rowers in Super League, itching and ready to pull on the number 11 shirt.

“If you go off his last year at Catalans he beat us three times on his own and then if you look at what he did at Titans he was the stand out player.

“I have never defended on an edge, but I spoke to the senior players and Matty Smith said ‘I’ve defended against him and he’s horrible’ and that was just enough for me.

“They are the players you want running around because they influence games.”

A three-year deal for a 32-year-old maybe raised some eyebrows, but Cunningham was confident Taia has good years ahead of him.

“People may talk about Zeb’s age, but he has played some of the best rugby in his life and playing till you are 34 and 35 these days is nothing.

“It gives the club a good, competitive backrower for three years.”