Origin star hasn’t heard from coach
Moeaki Fotuaika played all three State of Origin games in 2021 but he hasn’t had any contact with the new-look Maroons coaching staff in the weeks before this year’s series.
The barnstorming Titan made the admission just hours after new Queensland coach Billy Slater said he had uncapped Cowboys forwards Jeremiah Nanai, Heilum Luki and Reuben Cotter on his radar for game one on June 8.
After Covid-19 concerns forced Queensland to cancel its pre-season camp, Slater chose to catch up with Origin hopefuls via Zoom.
Fotuaika was one of the players called up but said he hadn’t heard from Slater since.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone about Origin, or anything like that, since the start of the year,” the prop forward said.
Fotuaika’s performance in Magic Round might just change that; the prop forward ran for 213m and made 35 tackles in Gold Coast’s golden-point defeat of the St George-Illawarra Dragons.
The herculean effort helped the Titans snap their five-game losing streak and earnt Fotuaika two Dally M points.
Fotuaika said he was focused on keeping his form up for the Titans, not on whether he would have the chance to wear the Maroon jersey again this year.
“I don’t really think about it.”