Liyou celebrates incredible achievement after pre-season return

Ben Liyou may have had a frustrating 2023 season on the field recovering from his ACL injury, but there's no disputing he's excelled off it.

His time in rehab allowed the Gold Coast development forward to focus on the final year of his studies at Griffith University, graduating on Thursday with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours).

"It feels pretty good to finally get it done... it's been a long five years," Liyou told titans.com.au.

"I'm now thinking... well, what's next? I'll probably need to find something else to keep me busy off the field. I'm probably going to take some time off uni and try something else."

Completing such degree has showed incredible commitment from the Titans scholar, who had to juggle a 12-week placement at a 3D printing company and a 50-page thesis among his rugby league commitments, which he successfully did, allowing him to earn the degree to culminate his love for both maths and science.

"I had a few teachers push me down this path at school and I think it's a really good career to choose," the 22-year-old said.

"I was tossing up between civil and mechanical, but I found mechanical to be a bit more broad which was good because I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go and it'll give me more freedom with job choices.

"It was definitely a long process and the course was very mentally draining. I also felt a lot of pressure at the end to get my final grades, but after graduating, it has allowed me to reflect and realise how much I've put into it over the five years and I definitely couldn't have done it without my family and friends."

It has been a fortnight of favour for Liyou who also was cleared for his return to full contact training alongside fellow teammate Beau Fermor, with his new goal on playing in the Gold Coast's first pre-season trial against the Dolphins in mid-February.