Titans enforcer Moe Fotuaika has declared his desire to finish off his Titans season with pride ahead of a likely Tonga call-up for the upcoming Pacific Championships in October.
Against the odds in their trip to Penrith facing the three-time defending premiers, the 142-gamer wants to respond to their past month of disappointment with a strong performance to give Gold Coast’s loyal Legion a glimpse of what the team can produce next season in their second year under Des Hasler.
“After last week, we were pretty disappointed in the result, but the biggest thing for us as a group is to respond to that with a good performance to finish off the season,” he said.
“There are a few areas we need to fix up and we know what we need to fix as a group. It’s now about preparing well throughout the week.
“It’s obviously our last game so we want to give our fans something they can be hopeful for next year.
Having matched it with some of the top teams in the competition, there is every belief from the entire squad they can cause an upset and spoil Penrith’s party having claimed several big scalps in 2024; but Fotuaika knows they need to uphold their aggression consistently for the entire 80 minutes.
“I think we have that hard edge,” he said in response to calls for the team needing to be ‘toughened up’.
“Think of the teams we’ve come up against… we’ve matched it with teams like Melbourne when we played them at Cbus and were right in the game with them right until the end.
“There’s a few games I can pick out where we matched it with some of the top teams but we do have a young group and they’re still understanding what it takes to play in the NRL every week.
“I think we have that hard edge and aggression in our team, but it’s just finding that consistency each week.”
Saturday night’s showdown will more than likely not be curtains in 2024 for the representative star, expecting a phone call from newly-appointed Tongan coach John Strange to represent his heritage in their first Pacific Championships appearance.
“It’s very important to play for your country and it’s good they’re playing here in Australia and New Zealand,” Fotuaika said.
“We have our first game at Suncorp and there are a lot of Tongans around the world, especially in Australia and New Zealand, so I think it’s great for us as a country to be involved and I hope everyone can get out and support us.”
