Titans recruit expects growth
FORMER Roosters hardman Isaac Liu witnessed first-hand how “overwhelming” the Titans forward pack could be in 2021 and predicts even greater heights are in store now his experience has been added to a promising young unit.
The 2022 Titans recruit scraped past his new club in two fixtures last year, bailed out in the dying minutes by a field goal in Round 13 and a knocked-on pass in the qualifier final that ended Gold Coast’s season.
Big game experience, killer instinct and belief got the Roosters over the line then.
The Titans hope the twotime premiership-winning prop can rub off some of that champion DNA on a forward pack the equal for talent of any in the competition, but which suffered through bouts of wild inconsistency.
The stability provided by 30-year-old Liu will go some way to fixing that.
“Obviously the way they played last year was pretty overwhelming (when) coming up against us,” Liu said.
“You could see the team had a lot of young boys there with a bit of talent.
“They were really up there last year, especially with the big boys like Tino (Fa’asuamaelaui), they’ve shown what they can do.
“They were a really powerful forward pack and I’d say they’re ready to go.
“That’s what I’m excited about, helping these boys go to another level given the experience I have.”
For the better part of nine seasons Liu rubbed shoulders with some of the greats of the modern game including Cooper Cronk, Sonny Bill Williams
and James Tedesco. The Keebra Park alumni was ready to come home when the Titans came calling for a veteran presence in the squad from 2022.
“It’s really exciting. I got to meet Tino and Moe (Fotuaika) on Thursday and really get to talk to them,” Liu said.
“Tino is really excited for me to come here and that makes me excited to help these boys.
“I did a bit of time there at the Roosters being around a lot of experienced players, a few guys who’ve won premierships.
“I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with these young players and help them go to another level.”
Coach Justin Holbrook has made no assurances as to the role Liu will play in the middle forward rotation but that didn’t phase the recruit.
“Wherever Justin puts me I’ll do my best and give myself to the boys and whatever I have, starting or coming off the bench,” he said.
Fotuaika, Fa’asuamaleaui and Jarrod Wallace earned their jerseys in the Titans midfield while in-form Jaimin Jolliffe and Sam Lisone would be stiff to lose out on a bench spot.
They are good coaching headaches to have with depth at a premium in 2022, with the Titans expected to feature heavily in the State of Origin arena.