Tino Fa’asuamaleaui meets controversial ex-Titans recruiter amid Perth Bear interest

A secret meeting between Titans skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and the former Gold Coast recruitment boss - who was heavily linked to Perth Bears - has set off alarm bells at the struggling club.

It is the secret meeting that will ring alarm bells for Titans bosses.

Well-placed spies have told Sport Confidential that Titans skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was seen catching up with the club’s former recruitment boss Ezra Howe for coffee on the Gold Coast last week.

Fa’asuamaleaui has returned from Australia’s Ashes campaign and is free to explore the open market as a free agent due to a get-out clause in his Titans contract for the 2027 season.

Howe is a key figure for Big Tino.

He and former Titans culture boss Mal Meninga were the dynamic duo who convinced Fa’asuamaleaui to quit Melbourne at the end of 2020 and bring success to the struggling Gold Coast.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and former Titans recruitment boss Ezra Mam were spotted together on the Gold Coast.

Now Perth coach, Meninga was set to hire Howe as his recruitment boss, but that fell through when Howe was embroiled in the Titans integrity scandal, with Gold Coast bosses alleging he compiled a Bears hit list with knowledge of the club’s salary-cap position.

Howe had Fa’asuamaleaui on the list and as revealed by Code Sports two months ago, Meninga has formally expressed interest in the Queensland Origin enforcer.

It may have been a simple catch-up between two good mates but Titans chiefs will be nervous by the presence of Howe, who is a long-time associate of Meninga.

Originally published as Tino Fa’asuamaleaui meets controversial ex-Titans recruiter amid Perth Bear interest