Kruise Leeming may be returning to the English Super League at season's end, but you wouldn't know it by his words and actions.
Joining Wigan in 2024 after a short five-month stint getting a taste of NRL at the Titans, the 27-year-old has enjoyed his experience on the Gold Coast but doesn't want to slack off in his final weeks at the club.
Especially as he prepares to travel to Melbourne to face the Storm in his ninth appearance of the season.
"I'm still trying to improve... I've not got to a point in my career where I'm not trying to improve everyday and get better as a player. I'm still on my path to become the best player I can possibly be," Leeming said.
"The longer I'm playing here and the longer minutes I'm getting out on the field, the more I'm enjoying it, the more I can play with a smile on my face and the better impression I'm going to leave here.
"I don't want to leave with the attitude being.. 'oh, he's going back to another club and he let us down in last couple of games'. That's not me and that's not my character.
"I'm trying to train as hard as I possibly can because there's only two weeks left and two more chances that I'm going to be in the shop window there to perform and play as well as I possibly can. I think that's important and players remember that.
"Going through my career, you remember the players that just put the cue in the rack with only two more games left.
"Even though I'm going to another club, I want to have trained as hard as I could and put my body on the line for the club, for the fans and for my teammates and I think that's all I can do.
"If I do that, I'll walk away proud of myself and proud of the impression that I've left here on the club, the players, the fans and the staff."
Match: Storm v Titans
Round 26 -
home Team
Storm
4th Position
away Team
Titans
13th Position
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
An experienced campaigner abroad with 190 games of Super League under his belt, including a Challenge Cup victory and grand final appearance as skipper of Leeds in 2022, Leeming has been impressed with immense depth of young talent the Gold Coast has to offer, wanting to continue to help nurture in his final weeks as a Titan.
"I think the talent that's coming through... the young lads have not disappointed anyone and they don't look out of place," he said.
"Obviously with Tom Weaver getting his his debut, he did everyone really proud and we knew that he'd put his best foot forward in his first game.
"When you're a senior player, it's just about taking the emotion out of it for them and making their job as easy as possible and trying to make it just another game to them because they can all play.
"Just sometimes, the emotion and the occasion can get to you when you're a bit younger and I think that's the burden we take on our shoulders to try take the pressure off of them and just make it another game for them."
On the interchange bench again as a handy utility against Melbourne this weekend after showing his versatility in the halves for the last 30 minutes against Penrith, the Titans import is confident the team can weather the Storm if they are able to play for the full 80 minutes against one of the competition heavyweights.
"It's been an up and down week... we lost JC and Phil (to injury) wasn't great and we've been struggling a little bit with injuries, but I think the morale of the group is up," Leeming said.
"We know that we've got a good team when we put it together and we've got a good brand of rugby league that we like to play and people like to watch us when we're on.
"We showed it in glimpses against Penrith but I just think we need to stick in there a bit longer. It's a young group and we're still learning.
"There were patches where I think the crowd can be proud of all of us as a team where we showed some grit and determination.. especially having someone sent off (against the Warriors) and playing against such a good team in Penrith.
"It's just about getting consistency for us now as a squad."
