Stats confirm Moeaki Fotuaika is one of the NRL’s top props
Moeaki Fotuaika is the unheralded prop taking the NRL by storm despite flying under the radar of the majority of the country’s footy fans.
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Moeaki Fotuaika is the underrated prop taking the NRL by storm despite flying under the radar of the majority of the country’s footy fans.
Per game, 20-year-old Titan Fotuaika is in the 92nd percentile or better in tackles, runs, metres and metres-per-run across all NRL forwards despite sitting in the 76th percentile of minutes played.
True to form, the humble prop said he wasn’t playing for accolades or respect from anyone outside of the Titans facility.
His herculean efforts in the midfield are a product of his love for his teammates and the faith shown in him by coaching staff Justin Holbrook, Jim Dymock and Jim Lenihan.
“Honestly I haven’t been focusing on that,” Fotuaika said on whether he was getting the respect he deserved in 2020.
“I’ve been focusing on trying to improve every game.
“That my teammates are happy with me, and the coaching staff, that’s all that matters to me.”
Fotuaika played through a fractured wrist and knee ligament complaints throughout 2019 but emerged with the Titans player of the year award, the youngest player ever to win it.
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Playing injury-free as a starter for the first time in his NRL career has only accelerated his development.
“Being injury-free has helped me out a lot this year,” he said.
“I don’t have to sit out certain training sessions and I can focus on doing everything in training.”
He’s far from the finished product, which is an exciting prospect with another two and a half seasons left to run on his Titans contract.
His tackle accuracy is the only blight on a stellar 2020 season - 14 misses from 412 attempts sit in the bottom 35 per cent of forwards.
“I didn’t know that, that’s something I have to fix up,” Fotuaika admitted.
“I’ll have to look back at my tackles and try to improve on that.”
Originally published as Stats confirm Moeaki Fotuaika is one of the NRL’s top props