Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s role in Fifita backflip, fears on return from ACL rehab

Gold Coast skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui opens up on the tensions between himself and David Fifita and the mental demons he will carry on to Belmore Oval on Sunday.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has opened up about the candid heart-to-heart to keep David Fifita at the Titans as the inspirational skipper outlined his mission to spearhead a Gold Coast dynasty.

Fa’asuamaleaui will cap an emotional return to rugby league when he plays his first NRL game in 358 days in the Titans’ premiership opener against the Bulldogs on Sunday at Belmore Sports Ground.

The Queensland Origin enforcer concedes there are demons to confront.

Belmore was the very venue at which Fa’asuamaleaui snapped his ACL in a 32-0 defeat, leading to a knee reconstruction, nine months of rehabilitation and even an overseas trip to America to visit world-renowned specialist Bill Knowles.

Now Tino is back in business and ready to lead a Titans revival in tandem with forward partner-in-crime Fifita, also on the comeback trail after off-season ankle surgery - insisting he is physically ready.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui admits he’ll carry a few mental demons into his first NRL match since suffering an ACL injury. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“I don’t have doubts really,” Fa’asuamaleaui said ahead of his official Titans comeback after a pre-season hitout against the Dolphins.

“It’s just more a confidence thing; finding my feet again and learning the game and getting back to the level that I was at before.

“There’s a few things in my mind. When you are running, you think someone is going to come at your leg and smash you from the wrong angle.

“It’s still quite raw, having just come back to playing a few weeks ago in the trials, but I am building on that and getting my confidence back.”

Fa’asuamaleaui is equally relieved to have Fifita by his side at Belmore because, in another dramatic twist of fate, ‘Demolition Dave’ could have easily been lost to the Titans this season.

Fifita dropped a bombshell at Parkwood last May when he committed to a four-year, $3.4 million deal to join the Roosters from this season.

Few felt the shards of pain more than Fa’asuamaleaui. He was privately livid. Fa’asuamaleaui had played a key role in Fifita’s defection from the Broncos to join forces at the Titans in 2021 and his good mate’s impending move to Bondi totally blindsided the skipper.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and David Fifita after the Round 18 Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans game in 2023. Picture: NRL Images

They had made a pact to win a premiership at the Titans. Tino confronted Fifita for crisis talks and made an impassioned plea for him to stay loyal. Six days later, Fifita sensationally reneged on his Roosters deal. Fa’asuamaleaui’s influence is undeniable. He admits the pair had tense words.

“At first I was a bit upset by it,” he said.

“I kind of looked at Dave saying, ‘Why would you do that? We came here together at a young age. We had a goal that we wanted to achieve and we still have to try and get that’.

“After sitting down with him and talking to him, he realised what I was saying.

“Hopefully, I was that right person (to convince him not to leave) and he stayed, which was a relief.”

Fa’asuamaleaui did fear the situation was irreversible.

“I did think he was gone,” he says.

“But then I’m so glad that ‘Davey’ backflipped because he saw what we had going on.

“He sat down with his family in the end and really looked at everything. He looked at all the details of the way he is going to play and who is going to get the best of you, but then he also looked at what we had at the Titans.

“He saw we were young as a group and had potential.

“All the noise from the outside probably got to him, but I’m glad a few people were able to share their thoughts and he stayed with us.”

Just turned 25, Fa’asuamaleaui understands the pressures of taking a leap of faith.

There is a view Fa’asuamaleaui was mad for quitting the Storm – the most consistent NRL club of the past two decades where he won a premiership in his first full season in 2020 – to take a career gamble with the embattled Titans.

Entering his fifth season with the club, the Australian World Cup star has featured in just one finals campaign and pressure is building on coach Des Hasler to break the Titans’ 18-year premiership duck.

Gold Coast have reached the playoffs just four times in 18 seasons. It’s an abysmal record, but Fa’asuamaleaui has no regrets about leaving Melbourne, speaking of his burning desire to hold aloft Gold Coast’s maiden trophy and leave a legacy by making the Titans an NRL force.

“I really want that for the Titans,” he said.

“I want all of us to stay together. I know it’s a business at the end of the day but I really hope that everyone is on the same path here of wanting to have that dynasty.

“We want to build that winning culture and I hope we stick together and can win premierships because it would be pretty cool.”

Asked if he feels he owes the Titans for missing all but two games of the 2024 season, he said: “For sure. I owe it to the players and to the club being out for so long.

“I couldn’t help doing my knee and what happened, injuries happen in this game, but I have put myself in the best position to come back from it, work hard and play well for the guys.

“I want to be a captain and team-player that the guys look up to.

“By nature, I like being a role model where the boys can come to me and chat to me off the field, but on the field I like being the captain who protects guys and backs them.”

Titans coach Hasler said Fa’asuamaleaui wasn’t carrying any mental scars ahead of his return to Belmore.

“I don’t think it’s a cruel twist of fate,” Hasler said.

“It’s a game of footy that he is really looking forward to playing.

“He has prepared well and done an incredible job. He had a trip to the States and has left no stone unturned.

“His trial form was good, he played well, and has ticked all the boxes. He is ready to go.”

Originally published as Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s role in Fifita backflip, fears on return from ACL rehab