Politoni prepares to grab fresh start at Titans
PAT Politoni gets the chance to relaunch his NRL career tonight two years after he last played in the top league.
With Nathan Peats on Origin duty and Tyrone Roberts, Karl Lawton and Ryan Simpkins injured, Politoni starts at hooker tonight and will be out to show he is a more mature player than the one that turned out in 12 games for the Wests Tigers and Cronulla between 2012-15.
The Burleigh Bears rake has had to wait to make his Titans debut – first to recover from a broken arm sustained in the pre-season, then languishing behind main squad back-ups Lawton, Simpkins and Roberts before the club gained an exemption from the NRL for him to play this week.
But coach Neil Henry believes the wait will be worth it.
“He’s matured in his time,” Henry said.
“He’s confident coming back from that broken arm he suffered in our trial against the Warriors.
“He’s bounced into his footy and been playing 80 minutes on a regular basis.
“He’s sharp out of dummy half. Hopefully he’ll worry the Souths big men with his footwork and he gives good service as well. The one key area of his game that he’s worked hard on is his defensive efforts and he’s really improved in that area.”
While the Titans are down significantly on troops tonight, Politoni’s combination with Vaivai could pay dividends, with the Rabbitohs set to try to punch through the middle of the ruck.
“He came off that premiership-winning (Burleigh) side last year and he was a major part of their go-forward along with Patty Vaivai, so those two have a really good combination and it’ll be really good to see in the NRL arena,” captain Ryan James said.
“He was great for us in the trial and it was very unfortunate that he broke his arm. It’s great for him to come back.”