Gold Coast forward Isaac Liu has slammed vicious rumours suggesting he wants to leave the Titans, fully focussed on helping lead the club to finals success in 2023.
Returning to Parkwood late last week after his extended break due to the World Cup, the New Zealand International revealed a family trip to the beach became a nightmare for the multi-premiership winner, who had to spend the occasion hosing down the misleading assertions that continued to gain traction on social media.
"I'm not going anywhere, that's for sure," Liu told titans.com.au, condemning those who published such claims recently.
"I was at the beach when I got a call about it. I had no idea. I don't have any social media like Facebook or Instagram, so I didn't see any of the posts that said I was supposedly going to the Warriors.
"None of it is true... I'm fully committed here at the Titans."
Coming off a successful World Cup campaign with the Kiwis that saw them fall only two points short of a grand final berth, the versatile middle third is understandably disappointed of bowing out to the Kangaroos, but it very proud of the group for how far they progressed.
"It was a really good tour going over there again but this time, it was a different group with the younger guys coming through," Liu said.
"There was only a few older guys left but the overall tour was really really good.
"We were based in Leeds for the first week and then moved to York and that town was just unbelievable."
"Despite the result we had at the end, we should be proud of what we did. We were doing really well in our pool games, but the finish was disappointing.
"Although, I was pretty proud of how we did play through the whole tour."
At 31 years of age and having notched up 17 International appearances at the conclusion of his stint in the UK, Liu is now one of the more experienced forwards in the Kiwi lineup and this World Cup campaign, played a guidance role for the up-and-coming squad coming through.
"It's another good challenge. There's a group of young players coming through and they need that guidance in those tough games, but also not just as a player, but as a person and a leader as well," Liu said.
"It's great to help them get through those new challenges and also guide them on the right path."
Th 226 gamer is in a similar role at Titans HQ, helping Tino Fa'asuamaleaui's quest of bringing success to the Gold Coast.
"Tino is a good captain for us and he's maturing so much," Liu said.
"I'm just in the background and there to support him 100%. No matter what decisions he makes, I'm there to help him through these tough times and make sure we're on the right path."
"I was just chatting to Foz (Kieran Foran) about how much of a young group we have and how exciting it will be once we get everyone on the same page and start building the basics.
"When we start getting our footy together, we should have a really good side and will hopefully play more consistently to win more games."
Liu is also buoyed to be linking up with his former Roosters teammate Sam Verrills, who will bolster the Gold Coast hooking stocks with his 48 games of experience, including a premiership in his debut season.
"I am super excited to have Sam Verrills join us," he said.
"Having him here and the experience he has... we've played together numerous times (at the Roosters) and he's got sharp ball service that's on point.
"He's got good vision of footy too, so I'm really excited to have him there to guide us around the park at hooker."
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