Titans seal long deal with young gun prop

MOEAKI Fotuaika yesterday became one of the longest contracted players on the Gold Coast Titans’ books.

His new four-year deal marks a drastic turnaround from the situation he found himself in last pre-season.

Fotuaika finished up at renowned NRL nursery Keebra Park State High School in 2016 without any real sniff of a professional contract.

The prop was eventually invited to a Titans trial and made enough of an impression to earn an opportunity with the club’s under-20 side, coached by Ben Woolf.

“He was a bit of a late bloomer,” said Woolf, who has been hired as Tweed Heads Queensland Cup coach following the disbanding of the National Youth Competition.

“He is a really tough kid, has got a really good work ethic. That’s probably his biggest strength with the footy ability on top. He got his way on to the bench for Round 1. I think he played 60 minutes off the bench which is a fair effort, got man of the match and started every game from there.”

Fotuaika has since gone from strength to strength, earning a Junior Kiwis call-up at age 17, winning Gold Coast’s under-20 joint player of the year award and scoring a sixweek train-and-trial deal to mix it with the club’s top squad before Christmas.

So when the 18-year-old’s six weeks were wrapping up, the Titans moved fast. Fotuaika will be on a development player contract for the remainder of the year before stepping up to a full deal for seasons 2019, 2020 and 2021.

“It’s my turn now to repay them for the faith that they have paid me,” he humbly said.

Gold Coast have not renewed their other train-and triallist, Apiata Noema, beyond intermittent sessions with the NRL squad. He is set to play for Burleigh in the Queensland Cup.