Moe Fotuaika has opened up on his reset in mindset that helped the enforcer rediscover his mojo, welcoming the challenge of the Warriors forward pack that put a screeching halt to the Storm’s incredible 10-year streak.
Now into his ninth season in the NRL as the 26-year-old approaches an incredible milestone - five games away from being the most-capped Titan in club history - the 169-game star didn't begin the season how he intended to, but his past three weeks have been a different story.
Moved to the pine, the Origin and International forward took it in his stride and used it as motivation to deliver in spades, beginning in the opening set of his new role levelling Luciano Leilua to show the old Moe was back, crediting a shift in his mindset to help him return to his best.
"It wasn’t an ideal start for me, but coming off the bench was probably a good wake up call for myself," Fotuaika explained.
"When you’re not playing well and you’re not winning, there’s doubts that can come into your mind, but I just really simplified it and wanted to be really physical with everything I did, whether that was tackling or running.
"Sometimes when you get caught up trying to improve yourself, you can tend to overthink it too much and for me, I just wanted to play well within our game plan.
"My job was to be physical, so focusing on my role as opposed to being in my head about playing well I feel has really helped me over the last couple of weeks."
Despite public pressure on Fotuaika’s form, Titans coach Josh Hannay stuck solid with the Origin representative, much like he has with the rest of his team and how he wants his side to play in the opening six rounds, which has begun bearing the fruits of success.
The experienced campaigner is hoping to emulate last week's preparation to back-up their big 52-10 win against the Eels in their quest to be a consistent gritty and connected team - values Hannay has spoken at length about early in his tenure.
"For us, when you’re not going well, you just have to stick to the game plan and that's the same for us," Fotuaika said.
"We played so well in the trials and our game plan was going well and then in the first game (against Cronulla), we got caught off guard and got beaten quite convincingly.
"Sometimes you can think... 'oh, we need to play a different way' but Josh has just stuck with what will work for us and we’ve been slowly building since the Dolphins game.
"While we haven’t got the results, we’ve been working hard.
"Even against the Broncos, we were thereabouts but a few things didn’t go our way. On the weekend, it finally clicked and for us, it’s just consistency now.
"We are trying to build on our game every week and be consistent."
A big challenge awaits on Saturday at Go Media Stadium.
The Warriors put the Storm to the sword to smash a 17-game record last week with their forward pack credited for a lot of the heavy lifting.
The same can be said for Gold Coast in their big win, allowing livewires Keano Kini and Jayden Campbell to inject themselves into the contest to set up the flurry of points.
It sets up an almighty battle - one the New Zealand-born prop is welcoming.
"For us, we're slowly building and the boys [in the pack] are starting to find their feet," Fotuaika said.
"Everyone is finding their confidence and form and for us, if everyone does their job they have to do, that’s the most important thing. When you add that together, you get a forward pack that’s going forward and being physical in defence.
"The Warriors are quite a physical side, especially their forwards and I really look forward to coming up against sides who have got a big, powerful forward pack.
"I’m expecting no different to last week. We definitely have to match that.
"I’m sure all the other middles are looking forward to it as well."
