Gold Coast captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has made an emotive promise to inspire his team to overcome the second-half fade-outs that have come to haunt them.
The skipper inspires every week so it will be a case of his teammates following the leader.
The Titans looked like world beaters when leading 22-16 at halftime against South Sydney at home on Saturday night but ended up losing 46-28.
The hosts led 12-0 inside 10 minutes. It was the fourth double-digit lead they had given up in 2023 and the fifth time out of the eight occasions this year they had lost after leading at halftime.
Instead of being in the top four, the Titans are on 14 points and two points outside the top eight.
No-one could accuse Fa’asuamaleaui of shirking it. Despite backing up from Queensland’s 26-18 State of Origin win on Wednesday night in Adelaide, he was still his team’s best player with 34 tackles, 160 meres from 17 runs and a try in 60 minutes of pure commitment and power.
Maroons back-rower David Fifita also backed up for the Titans.
“I am always going to do it. I love this club and I want success at this club,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.
“I want to show the boys that no matter how long ago we played (an Origin game) I want to turn up for them and make sure I play good.
“It is just frustrating that we can do it for 40 minutes but we just can’t back it up in the second.
“It is definitely not the coaches. It is the boys mentally and we have to get over that hurdle and start winning games. I am here for this. I am here to push through that.”
As for why the capitulations continue to occur, Fa’asuamaleaui said it was “just confidence”.
“We have been in games where we have been up so much but then still let ourselves down,” he said.
“It is in our head that we have done it before and the confidence drops. We have just got to fix it, keep working harder and keep our heads up.”
The Titans have a short turnaround and host Wests Tigers on Thursday night.
‘I like short turnarounds,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.
“We will just get straight back into footy and let our actions do the talking.”