Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui. The younger brother of 2021 Titans NRL signing and 2021 Queensland State of Origin star Tino Fa’asuamaleaui joins the Titans and like like his older brother came up through the Melbourne Storm and Sunshine Coast Falcons junior development systems.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is currently set to do some sessions with the Titans NRL squad.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui started the 2020 season as part of the Victorian Thunderbolts U20 Jersey Flegg squad coming off the bench in Round One against the Manly Sea Eagles before the remainder of the season was concelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

In 2019 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui was part of the Victorian Thunderbolts U18 SG Ball train on squad but was not part of any of their game day squads in that season.

In 2017 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui started in the front row for the Sunshine Coast Gold U16 side at the Sunshine Coast representative trials and from there was named on the bench for the Sunshine Coast Falcons U16 representative side.

For a big strong young man, Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui also has above average (to plus) speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with defenders.

On a lot of his runs Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui rather than trying to step his opposite number will really look to initiate the contact and then use his strength to hold the defender off his body to either push through the tackle or draw in the next defender to create space for his outside support.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier regardless of the size of the opponent. Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork but moving up quickly but at the same time maintaining his balance.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is also able to change direction quickly to adjust to the directional changes of the attacker especially when he is marking up against multiple attackers running in his direction where he will hold his ground to let the play to develop in front of him before committing to a specific defensive course of action.

Just like his older brother Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is a big strong young man with the size and power to play in the centre third of a rugby league field, but also like his brother also is very mobile for his size thus he can also play on the fringes of the ruck at a high level. I envisage however that ultimately Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui will settle in the front row as he matures physically.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is now a contracted member of the Titans U20 Rookie Squad and will more than likely start the 2021 season in the Hastings Deerings Colts competition for the Burleigh Bears before pushing towards a possible Queensland Cup debut for Burleigh potentially in the later stages of the 2021 Queensland Cup season if Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui’s development continues as it has over the last twelve months.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has the size and power of his older brother and in many respects has a similar playing style to Tino as well. It may take Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui a bit longer to reach the heights of his older brother but all the physical and skill pieces are in place for the Titans to have signed a very talented young player with the posiible benefit for the Titans NRL squad potentially being only a year or two away from coming to fruition.

I am not suggesting that Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui will wind up being as successful as quickly as Tino but regardless Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has some more than intriguing potential and the physical attributes to make an impact at the NRL level in coming seasons potentially alongside his older brother.

Imagine a Titans NRL forward pack with both Iszac and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in it, the mind boggles especially when you throw in the names of Moeaki Fotuaika and David Fifita as well.