WESTS Tigers winger Malakai Watene-Zelezniak will reunite with his younger brother Dallin when he returns to the Penrith Panthers in 2019.

Foxsports.com.au can reveal the 26-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the club.

Watene-Zelezniak made his NRL debut with the Panthers in round six of 2017, before making a mid-season switch to the Tigers where he has played 24 games for the club since round 10 last year.

Round 20

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A few years ago, Watene-Zelezniak had given up hope of an NRL career. He was playing club rugby union and working as a Correctional Services Officer in a prison.

He only returned to rugby league when Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan, who was then coaching lower grades at Penrith, reached out and convinced him to return.

In the 2017 pre-season, Watene-Zelezniak gave up his job at the prison for six months to give NRL one last crack.

He was performing well with Penrith’s Intrust Super Premiership side and eventually in round six the NRL debut came.

Malakai Watene-Zelezniak celebrates a try. Picture. Phil Hillyard Source: News Corp Australia

Since joining the Tigers, Watene-Zelezniak has impressed coach Ivan Cleary with his maturity and work ethic.

The 26-year-old dropped nine kilos in the off season and kept David Nofoaluma in reserve grade earlier this year.

At Penrith, Watene-Zelezniak will still be behind Dallin and Josh Mansour in the pecking order but is happy to be heading home to play with his brother and be closer to his family.

The flyer’s signature continues a busy recruitment period for the Panthers.

It follows news in the last week that Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Kaide Ellis, Caleb Aekins have re-signed, while Tim Grant will make his return to the club next season.