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Wallace tips Fotuaika to star for Titans

3 minute read

Big name arrivals have hogged the headlines for Gold Coast in the NRL pre-season but Jarrod Wallace is excited to see what Moeaki Fotuaika can deliver in 2021.

DAVID FIFITA of the Broncos is tackled during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
DAVID FIFITA of the Broncos is tackled during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Forget the big name recruits, it's young powerhouse Moeaki Fotuaika who has Gold Coast teammate Jarrod Wallace excited in the lead-up to the 2021 NRL campaign.

The arrivals of David Fifita and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui have generated most of the excitement around the Titans this pre-season but Wallace believes the sky's the limit for 21-year-old Fotuaika.

The softly-spoken Fotuaika has become a vital part of the Titans' pack over the past three years and capped his 2020 campaign with a State of Origin debut for Queensland at the end of the year.

An ex-Queensland representative himself, Wallace believes Fotuaika will only be better for his Maroons experience.

"Moey's just got so much behind him. He's strong. He's fast. He's got a massive motor," Wallace said.

"He doesn't talk much but he just shows with his actions ... that confidence that he would have taken out of that Origin, with Wayne (Bennett) as a coach and playing with Cherry-Evans and Christian Welch and those boys up front that have played grand finals, you'd be surprised at how much you take out of those camps and things like that.

"He's come in here a lot more confident, a lot more of a senior role now - he's not the young kid anymore.

"He's played probably over 50 games or something like that now so he's not just that young kid now, he's got a job to do and lead our pack and I think he'll do that."

The addition of Fifita and Fa'asuamaleaui as well as former Newcastle enforcer Herman Ese'ese has Wallace confident the Titans' forward stocks are as good as they've ever been going in to his fourth season at the club.

"Young, youthful, energetic, agile - I feel quite old now," the 29-year-old said.

"We've got big Tino who's what 20 and Moey, 21, things like that, I feel really old.

"It's really exciting. The boys are upbeat. They're fit. They're fast. They're strong in the gym...

"It just makes me excited to be playing with those young guys and just excited to obviously see what they can do this year and where we can put ourselves."

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