The 'old Moe' gets some new perspective as Broncos loom

Titans prop Moeaki Fotuaika says a bench demotion was the wake-up call he needed to cast off doubts affecting his form in the early rounds of the season.

It only took one big hit on Luciano Leilua in his first involvement against the Dragons to convince Fotuaika and his teammates that "the old Moe" was back in what should serve as a warning sign for the Broncos heading into Saturday night's derby.

"I think when you get hits that come off or get a good run it gets your confidence up and it gets better as the game goes on and I was a bit surprised, 'Luch' is a powerful ball runner and luckily it came off," Fotuaika said of his confidence-boosting shot.

"Me and Cooper (Bai) spoke about wanting to come on and lift the boys' energy up in attack and with our game plan we wanted everybody to get on and I thought we did that, and when Kurtis Morrin came on we worked well together."

Fotuaika said the discussion with coach Josh Hannay about his move to the interchange was a chance to reflect on why he had been a shadow of his damaging best. 

"I feel like the first three weeks I hadn't been at my best, so it was a good wake-up call coming off the bench," he said.

"I didn't take it as a negative, I took it as a positive, and Klese (Haas) has been playing really well and Josh mentioned he wanted to reward Klese for good form and I totally understood.

"He's a powerful ball runner with great footwork and great power and strength and defensively he moves quite well and gets off the line quick, and I think that's his point of difference, that footwork and speed.

"I think mentally I had a few doubts. When you're not winning, those doubts start to come in.

"I was just really focused on getting my head right.

"Physically, I've been doing this for so long that my body's in good shape, it's just mentally... and for me this week there was a bit focus that when I get to the game, mentally, I'm relaxed and as I get out there just playing freely, play my game."

The new outlook had the desired effect with 104 metres from 10 runs, including 49 post-contact metres, and 25 tackles featuring a number of brutal hits in a 39-minute stint either side of half-time to turn the tide for the breakthrough win. 

"It's a relief our game plan works, if we stick to it, but we can make it easier for ourselves not making so many errors and if we can get that out of our game, we can build a lot of confidence and not make it so hard to get a win," said Fotuaika, who has again been named on the interchange against the Broncos.

“I’ll do whatever’s best for the team, whether that’s me coming off the bench, or me starting, that’s up to Josh.”