When Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was asked by Justin Holbrook if he wanted to back-up from State of Origin, there was only one answer the skipper was ever giving.
A resounding yes... and boy, didn't he deliver.
The barnstorming forward made an incredible 177 metres over 17 runs against South Sydney, including two line breaks and two tries in his 47 minutes on the field, only two days after playing a resounding 53 minutes for the Maroons on Wednesday night.
It was a performance that typified the class of man the captain wants to be for his club, ensuring he was not going to miss leading his side out for Inspire Round and proudly wearing the Titans' first-ever Pasifika jersey - a design he helped create.
Big Tino can't be stopped
Leading from the front and letting his actions do the talking was the leadership style the 22-year-old wanted to be known for when first given the prestigious duties and the weekend's heroics certainly lived up to his mantra.
"I just wanted to get a win for the boys and lead from the front. I also wanted to show I was just as excited to come back and play for the Titans as I was for the Maroons," Fa'asuamaleaui said post-match.
"I just really wanted to get a win for the boys and get our spirits up. I was a bit sore… even today, but I knew I had to get up for this because it was a big round for us.
"We were a bit unlucky today, but we’ve always got next week where we can improve on it."
Tino gets a consolation and his second
His coach was hardly surprised by Fa'asuamaleaui's efforts - knowing the character of his skipper - with Justin Holbrook suggesting the rousing performance is one that his Gold Coast teammates will continue to look up to.
"It was a hard game. It went end to end for a while, and we were relying on a lot of hard work. For Tino, I know he doesn’t base his game around tries, but he got a couple and even a line-break at the start of the second half was close as well," Holbrook said, about his skipper at the post-match press conference.
"To play on Wednesday and then to back up and play the way he did for us was just enormous."
Big Tino is expected to return to the starting side for this weekend's clash against Cronulla in Coffs Harbour before a likely call-up back to Maroons camp for Game II in Perth in just under a fortnight.
