NRL signing news: Titans star Tino Fa’asuamaleaui inks new deal as Dolphins miss their man
The Titans have seen off competition from the Dolphins to secure Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to a long-term deal. Now can their ‘alpha male’ help them realise that premiership dream?
NRL
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Queensland legend Billy Moore believes Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is far more crucial to the Titans premiership hopes than million-dollar man David Fifita, with the club now showing promise of “going deep into the finals” in 2022.
Fa’asuamaleaui re-signed with the Titans this week on a mega $3.3 million upgrade which will see him through until the end of the 2026 season.
The 21-year-old Maroons representative revealed his reason to re-sign was “to build this club up and bring the first trophy to the Titans” and Moore was confident Fa’asuamaleaui could deliver on his promise and continue the Titans reign as Queensland’s No.1 team in 2022..
“To me, Tino is more important to that franchise than David Fifita,” Moore said.
“Tino is a cornerstone player that you can build a pack of forwards around because he’s an alpha male and a hunter.
“He goes looking for the ball. He goes looking for the best player in the opposition side.
“That’s what you need and he’s what I call a top-flight footballer.
“He does the big plays but he does the dirty plays as well when he goes looking for work. He doesn’t wait for the work to come to him.
“Another bloke I really like is Moeaki Fotuaika.
“Moe and Tino together are the two guys who are going to take the Titans deep into the finals, not Fifita.
“Fifita will be the icing on the cake, don’t get me wrong, but he ain’t going to be laying the platform like Tino and Moe.”
With the off-season signings of Isaac Liu (Roosters), Aaron Booth (Storm) and Will Smith (Eels), the Titans are shaping as a top eight threat in 2022.
The Titans last month declared their ambitious goal of claiming two NRL premierships and two NRLW titles by 2030 – an achievement Fa’asuamaleaui is hoping to spearhead.
“The reason I stayed is the same reason I signed ... I want to work the hardest I can to build this club up and bring the first trophy to the Titans,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.
“I want what everyone else wants at the Gold Coast - success and a premiership.”
Moore said a grand final appearance in the next decade shouldn’t just be a dream, but a must for the Gold Coast club.
“In 2022, the most likely team from Queensland to deliver is going to be the Titans,” he said.
“A premiership is almost a must for them in the next decade.
“They talk about it being a dream to get there but I think it’s mandatory that they get into a GF.
“I know it’s a bit of an ask, but they’ll have been in the comp for a quarter of a century by 2030 and that’s a long time without making a grand final.”
Best 17 for 2022
- Jayden Campbell
- Phillip Sami
- Brian Kelly
- Patrick Herbert
- Corey Thompson
- AJ Brimson
- Toby Sexton
- Isaac Liu
- Tanah Boyd
- Moeaki Fotuaika
- Beau Fermor
- David Fifita
- Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
- Will Smith
- Jarrod Wallace
- Sam Lisone
- Aaron Booth
The day Tino drove 500km to support cancer sufferer
By Peter Badel and Travis Meyn
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s manager, Simon Mammino, has worked as an NRL player agent for almost 20 years.
He has wheeled, dealed and talked turkey for a generation of NRL stars, including former Queensland Origin duo Josh McGuire and Moses Mbye and current Maroons prop Frank Molo.
But Mammino rates Titans young gun Fa’asuamaleaui as the finest ambassador he has seen in his time in rugby league.
As the Titans and NRL expansion newcomers the Dolphins waged a multimillion-dollar tussle for the signature of the off-contract 21-year-old, Mammino outlined why Fa’asuamaleaui will be the face of Queensland rugby league for the next decade.
“Tino is the best rugby league player I have ever seen off the field,” Mammino says.
“If the NRL wants a role model for the next generation of fans, they should look no further than Tino.
“So many NRL players get into off-field dramas but I am prepared to bet that you will never read a story about Tino being involved in a scandal.
“He is not a spoiled brat.
“What a lot of people don’t see, that I’ve known for some time, is the leadership qualities in Tino.
“The best leaders are born leaders and I could see Tino was a genuine leader with his personality, his moral and ethical standards and most of all his respect for other people.
“I believe he can be a captain of not only the Titans, but the Queensland Origin team.
“He is a shining light for NRL players.”
When the Titans unveiled their 24-page strategic road map last month, there is little doubt Fa’asuamaleaui was considered a key plank in their ambitious plan to win two NRL premierships by 2030.
There is a presence about the Samoan gentle giant that extends beyond his formidable physical gifts at 197cm and 113kg.
When Russell Crowe first lured Sam Burgess to the Rabbitohs in 2010, he dubbed the British Test enforcer the “sparkly-eyed man” who could take the Pride of the League to the promised land.
Burgess, broken cheekbone and all, delivered, his desire and sheer will-to-win propelling Souths to the 2014 premiership.
In Fa’asuamaleaui, the Titans believe they have the Burgess-like centrepiece of a maiden title charge. It is why Titans culture boss Mal Meninga, just one of the code’s 13 NRL Immortals, embarked on a 500km-round road trip to Gympie, a fortnight before Christmas two years ago, to sign the monstrous kid from Widgee to a $2.1 million contract.
It is why Dolphins super coach Wayne Bennett, the man who handed Fa’asuamaleaui his Queensland Origin debut last November, was quietly operating in the shadows, the wily old fox formulating a big-money bid to lure Tino closer to home.
At 20, he quit Melbourne, the most dominant NRL club of the past two decades, and with whom he had won a premiership in 2020, to join a struggling Titans outfit strapped for resources and plagued by the lowest membership supporter base in the league.
His mantra? “I love being the underdog.”
“We love how much Tino has bought into the club,” says Titans coach Justin Holbrook.
“He’s only had one year here but he has really bought into not just his own ability, but how much he wants our whole team to improve.
“He has become really invested in such a short time. That’s what I love about him.
“We don’t have a rich history as a club. We have to create our own and he is a big part of that.
“He has got time for those types of things.”
Importantly, Fa’asuamaleaui has time for the people that underpin the game.
When the full-time siren sounds at Titans games, Holbrook often has to delay his post-match address to his Gold Coast squad because he is waiting for one more player to arrive in the sheds.
The minutes tick and tick as Fa’asuamaleaui does laps of Cbus Super Stadium, seemingly thanking every Titans fan at the venue for forking out their hard-earned cash to watch the side.
Sometimes it drives Holbrook bonkers, but he ultimately appreciates the bigger picture.
“That’s the commitment to the club that Tino has,” Holbrook says.
“He has got so much time for everyone to make sure the whole club is doing well. Those are the types of people we need.
“His training and work ethic is through the roof, then he backs it up by having a lot of time for people after training and the public after games.
“He is a very grounded person, too, who has terrific attributes, which is really important for our club.
“Tino will only be 22 next year but he is such a natural leader with his actions.
“The way he goes about his life is excellent.”
Every NRL club has a fleet of cars they give to players as part of marquee-player allowances that are approved by the code’s salary-cap auditor.
When Fa’asuamaleaui received his first set of wheels from the Titans, he personally phoned club co-owner, car tycoon Rebecca Frizelle, to thank her for the fringe benefit.
While there are countless tales of NRL players trashing club-owned vehicles, Frizelle is blown away when Fa’asuamaleaui returns his car for servicing.
It is spotless ... every time.
“There is not a bad bone in his body,” Mammino says.
“What makes Tino a good sportsman is his work ethic, but off the field, it’s his honesty, his humility, his upbringing and his beliefs that set him apart.
“Here’s an example. Just two weeks ago, Tino was on social media and on his Facebook feed was a post about a fundraiser at his junior club, the Gympie Devils.
“They were raising funds for one of the junior league coaches who has cancer.
“Tino turned up unannounced. He drove to Gympie from the Gold Coast and spent five hours kicking footies with the kids and gave away some signed Titans jerseys for raffles.
“He sat there and spoke to the cancer patient.
“That sums him up. Tino treats others how he would like to be treated himself and that’s his ethos when he wakes up each day.”
Such was Tino’s talent, the late, great Queensland icon Arthur Beetson tried to sign Fa’asuamaleaui to the Roosters as an 11-year-old.
Big Artie had a connection with the family. In 1995, Beetson, a Roosters scout, had lured Tino’s father Feleti to the Bondi glamour club after spotting him playing for Samoa at a rugby sevens tournament.
Fa’asuamaleaui’s mum rejected a move to Sydney because Tino was too young, but within two years, Broncos scouts swooped, kickstarting his journey to the big league.
It was another icon with ties to the Roosters, Kiwi dual international Sonny Bill Williams, who shaped Fa’asuamaleaui’s footballing DNA. Every run, every collision, every defensive contest is an opportunity for Fa’asuamaleaui to set a performance benchmark.
“Hopefully one day I can be like Sonny Bill Williams,” he said before his debut game for the Titans.
“I’m a long, long way from Sonny Bill. He was my favourite player growing up. He was just on another level. I’ve always wanted to be like Sonny Bill and I’m trying to bring his strengths to my game. I am miles away from what he has achieved, but hopefully one day I can get to that standard.
“Growing up, I always played with underdog teams. I would love to show that no matter who you play for, you can impress.
“I like coming off the field knowing I have given it everything I’ve got, that I have competed 100 per cent to the last breath and done everything I could to beat my opponent.”
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