Moeaki Fotuaika

Gold Coast Titans players in awe of 18-year-old sensation Moeaki Fotuaika
https://www.foxsports.com.a

HE has been dubbed the “king of the ring” putting seasoned NRL players to shame and such is the excitement surrounding 18-year-old prop Moeaki Fotuaika that Titans teammates are predicting a first grade debut in 2018.
Fotuaika played 22 games as a 17-year-old in the Holden Cup this season and was so impressive he would have earned an NRL call-up in an injury-ravaged Titans team late in the season had age restrictions not stood in his way.

Any thoughts that such an elevation to the top grade may have been premature have been put to bed in the first month of pre-season training with representative stars such as Nathan Peats and Ryan James gobsmacked by his physical capabilities at such a young age.

The explosive front-rower is proving hard to handle at training with his mix of speed and strength on a stocky frame and on Wednesday elicited squeals of delight with a skilfully executed kick during an intense training drill.

The younger brother of Mosese Fotuaika who tragically passed while contracted to the Wests Tigers, Moeaki shared the Titans’ NYC Player of the Year award with AJ Brimson and represented the Queensland under-18s earlier this year but is headed for much higher honours in the very near future.

“He just turned 18 in the second or third week of pre-season and he’s probably been the standout trainer,” said Peats, who played all three Origins for New South Wales this year and boasts 119 NRL games over seven seasons.

“He’s been ripping in and is the king of the ring.

“He’s the king of the wrestle, he’s been winning all the wrestling and running really well.

“For a kid who has just turned 18 I think he’s one of the best young prospects I’ve ever seen and I’ve been playing for a couple of years now.”

Badel on Titans ownershipBadel on Titans ownership6:13

Even big forwards who have been unable to get the better of Fotuaika in training drills coach Garth Brennan refers to as ‘tackle technique’ can’t help but be impressed by the physical presence of the Keebra Park product.

“Moeaki is going to be a great player,” Ryan James told foxsports.com.au.

“He only just turned 18 in week two of pre-season and he’s going to be a great signing if he stays on at the club.

“There’s definitely some good young potential in there.”

It seems absurd to even suggest that an 18-year-old middle forward could possibly compete physically in the NRL but Peats has absolutely no doubt that Fotuaika could handle the rigours of first grade if given the opportunity.

“No way. I reckon he’d be ready to go,” Peats said when asked if Fotuaika was too young for first grade in 2018.

“I was playing SG Ball at that age and if I was to do a pre-season with first grade there’s no way in the world I’d have been physically strong enough or mentally (strong enough).

“He’s just ripping in and doesn’t care.

“He’s a real quiet kid and doesn’t say anything but he’s very humble and listens and works really hard.

“I have a lot of time for him. He’s going to be a really good player.”

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Originally Posted by DIEHARD

Gold Coast Titans players in awe of 18-year-old sensation Moeaki Fotuaika
https://www.foxsports.com.a

HE has been dubbed the “king of the ring” putting seasoned NRL players to shame and such is the excitement surrounding 18-year-old prop Moeaki Fotuaika that Titans teammates are predicting a first grade debut in 2018.
Fotuaika played 22 games as a 17-year-old in the Holden Cup this season and was so impressive he would have earned an NRL call-up in an injury-ravaged Titans team late in the season had age restrictions not stood in his way.

Any thoughts that such an elevation to the top grade may have been premature have been put to bed in the first month of pre-season training with representative stars such as Nathan Peats and Ryan James gobsmacked by his physical capabilities at such a young age.

The explosive front-rower is proving hard to handle at training with his mix of speed and strength on a stocky frame and on Wednesday elicited squeals of delight with a skilfully executed kick during an intense training drill.

The younger brother of Mosese Fotuaika who tragically passed while contracted to the Wests Tigers, Moeaki shared the Titans’ NYC Player of the Year award with AJ Brimson and represented the Queensland under-18s earlier this year but is headed for much higher honours in the very near future.

“He just turned 18 in the second or third week of pre-season and he’s probably been the standout trainer,” said Peats, who played all three Origins for New South Wales this year and boasts 119 NRL games over seven seasons.

“He’s been ripping in and is the king of the ring.

“He’s the king of the wrestle, he’s been winning all the wrestling and running really well.

“For a kid who has just turned 18 I think he’s one of the best young prospects I’ve ever seen and I’ve been playing for a couple of years now.”

Badel on Titans ownershipBadel on Titans ownership6:13

Even big forwards who have been unable to get the better of Fotuaika in training drills coach Garth Brennan refers to as ‘tackle technique’ can’t help but be impressed by the physical presence of the Keebra Park product.

“Moeaki is going to be a great player,” Ryan James told foxsports.com.au.

“He only just turned 18 in week two of pre-season and he’s going to be a great signing if he stays on at the club.

“There’s definitely some good young potential in there.”

It seems absurd to even suggest that an 18-year-old middle forward could possibly compete physically in the NRL but Peats has absolutely no doubt that Fotuaika could handle the rigours of first grade if given the opportunity.

“No way. I reckon he’d be ready to go,” Peats said when asked if Fotuaika was too young for first grade in 2018.

“I was playing SG Ball at that age and if I was to do a pre-season with first grade there’s no way in the world I’d have been physically strong enough or mentally (strong enough).

“He’s just ripping in and doesn’t care.

“He’s a real quiet kid and doesn’t say anything but he’s very humble and listens and works really hard.

“I have a lot of time for him. He’s going to be a really good player.”

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Good to see, still wary of beeing blooded at his age with the current team not looking properly finalised till 2019.

Mdrew - whats your analysis on the kid? Nrl ready??

Not quite yet mate but should play QCup by mid 2018 and possibly a game or two in the NRL towards the end of the 2018 season

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Originally Posted by indoallstars

Good to see, still wary of beeing blooded at his age with the current team not looking properly finalised till 2019.

Mdrew - whats your analysis on the kid? Nrl ready??

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Moeaki Fotuaika. (Updated) The giant young former South’s Logan front rower made an immediate impact in the NYC competition for the Titans this season even though he was still eligible for the MM Cup. For me Moeaki Fotuaika is one of the real success stories of the Titans NYC squad this year. Moeaki Fotuaika attended a Titans NYC trial and has been a revelation ever since including being named as the Titans 2017 NYC joint player of the year alongside AJ Brimson.

For the Titans in the NYC competition, Moeaki Fotuaika played in twenty two matches starting all of those matches in the front row. Moeaki Fotuaika’s averages per match for the season include 14 hit ups for 135 metres, two offloads and 26 tackles with a 90% defensive efficiency rate. Moeaki Fotuaika also scored six tries with those tries coming against the Knights on two separate occasions, the Sydney Roosters, New Zealand Warriors and a double in the televised Round Twenty match against the Penrith Panthers.

For a giant young front rower it is an impressive feat that Moeaki Fotuaika has played 1 341 minutes to average 64 minutes a match and on four occasions he has played the entire 80 minutes, including against the Broncos in Rounds Twelve and Twenty-Two, the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen and against the Parramatta Eels late in the season.

Running with the ball Moeaki Fotuaika has had some huge matches including in 17 of his 21 matches running for more than 100 metres. His “best” match from a running metres perspective was against the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen when he ran for 213 metres on 23 hit ups. Moeaki Fotuaika also ran for 199 metres against the Broncos in Round Twenty two and against the Eels ran for 166 metres.

From an off-loading perspective Moeaki Fotuaika off loaded the ball against the Cronulla Sharks on six occasions in Round Eight as well as six occasions against the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen.
Another positive in relation Moeaki Fotuaika is that he has continued to cut down his error rate from the start of the year until now and is currently averaging well south than an error a match.

Defensively Moeaki Fotuaika has made more than 30 tackles in a match on eight separate occasions, three times making 34 tackles coming against the Raiders in Round Six and Broncos in Round s Twelve and Twenty Two. Against the Parramatta Eels in Round Twenty Four Moeaki Fotuaika made 20 tackles.

Moeaki Fotuaika earlier this season named with fellow Titans Darius Farmer and Rehiena Marsh as part of the New Zealand Australian residents U18 side for a match in October with a New Zealand Residents U18 side. Moeaki Fotuaika was part of the Queensland Academy of Sport U18 squad earlier this season and was maned in the New Zealand U20 squad as well.

The young Keebra Park student is a giant of a young man who exudes size, strength and power when he plays. In addition to playing in the Keebra Park Open Rugby League sides in 2016, Moeaki Fotuaika started every match in the front row for South’s Logan in the MM Cup and proved to be a handful in that competition for opposing defences. Moeaki Fotuaika has also recently been named in the 2017 U18 Queensland Academy of Sport squad.

For the 2016 South’s Logan MM Cup squad, Moeaki Fotuaika bookended the season with two great performances against the Gold Coast MM sides. In Round One against Gold Coast Green Moeaki Fotuaika scored a double within the first 12 minutes of the game and was basically unstoppable and compared favourably that day to Payne Haas. In the last match of the season he was just as dominant against Gold Coast White (which was the side with the Titans linked boys) on his way to a hat trick, including scoring two barn storming tries in the second half where he just crashed through the Gold Coast White forward pack which was no mean feat when you consider that he was lined up against the likes of Kobe Tararo and Blake Lenehan, two very good defenders.

Moeaki Fotuaika is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, he does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line. For Keebra Park he played a major role in their Langer Open squad’s performances constantly taking the ball up into the teeth of opposing forward packs, it was a similar situation with the South’s Logan MM side through that competition in 2016.

An area where Moeaki Fotuaika has really improved this season is in relation to his off-loads in previous seasons he did not off load too much but this season he really has been able to get his arms free and get away some telling off-loads. Moeaki Fotuaika continually put his hand up all day to take the ball up and has a very quick play the ball so that his team can maintain momentum.

One area that he did not seem to use too often this year, but does seem to have the capacity to develop based on his size, skills and footwork is the ability to off load before the line, an example of what I am meaning is how the Canterbury Bulldogs forward pack uses those small offloads prior to the line. Moeaki Fotuaika has shown glimpses of having the skills to utilise the same skills if the opportunities arise, developing this skill with only enhance his effectiveness.

In defence Moeaki Fotuaika uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. He is not averse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck, although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most front rowers are. Moeaki Fotuaika’s raw natural strength means that he is also dominant when looking to slow the paly the ball down.

Moeaki Fotuaika is currently training with the Titans NRL squad with reports coming out that he has been a training stand-out in the early going. Next season with the demise of the NYC competition, Moeaki Fotuaika will be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts squad where he should be a dominant prescence especially how he has flashed the ability to dominate in the NYC next year. It also would not surprise if Moeaki Fotuaika gets some QCup experience later in the 2018 season and potentially a game or two late in the season in the NRL depending on contracts etc.

From a style perspective, think along the lines of the Jarrod Warera-Hargraves of the Roosters as a big strong forward leader with a skill set that belies the intimidating presence that he projects on the field, and you also add in leadership skills in the most demanding position on a football field, a good mix all round and plenty of raw talent to work with.