Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has been unveiled as the next Gold Coast Titans’ captain in a shock move.
Rated as one of the best young forwards in the game in the lead-up to his NRL debut, Fa’asuamaleaui impressed during his first season with the Titans in 2021.
He made his debut in 2019 with the Storm, playing five games, before becoming a mainstay of Craig Bellamy’s side in the Victorian capital, making 22 appearances during 2020.
He then moved to the Titans in 2021, adding 22 appearances to take his career tally to 49 matches to go with another three State of Origin matches, taking his career tally in the representative arena to six.
Despite his limited experience and only being 21 years of age, the middle forward has taken over from Kevin Proctor as the Titans’ captain in 2022, according to a Nine News report.
Fa’asuamaleaui would seem a left-field choice for Holbrook, however, he averaged big minutes in 2021 and was comfortably one of the Titans’ best players in a team who scrapped into the bottom of the top eight.
Intriguingly, the 21-year-old played in the same under-18s State of Origin team as David Fifita in 2018, with Fifita being named captain of that team under the coaching of Kurt Richards.
Holbrook has decided to dump the co-captains model he employed in 2021 when Jamal Fogarty and Kevin Proctor were joint leaders on-field, instead calling Fa'asuamaleaui a "natural leader."
“Tino is a natural leader and he has been that with us since he first arrived at the Club,” Holbrook said.
“He sets such high standards and I love that about Tino.
“He is someone who leads with his actions, he demands a lot of himself and others and they are great qualities in a captain.
“Tino is part of an exciting new wave of Titans that are invested in bringing success here to the Coast.
“He’s a player that has great respect from his peers, including our senior players like Kevin Proctor, Isaac Liu and Corey Thompson.”
Proctor recently opened up on captaincy, telling the media that it wasn’t going to make a difference to him whether he was captain or not.
“To be honest, ‘C’ next to my name or not, it’s not going to change what I do,” he said.
“It’s obviously a massive privilege but it doesn’t change what I do on and off the field anyway. It’s just a title to me.
“Whatever way the club goes I’m sure they’re doing it in the best interests of the club. I’m easy (with that).”
Fa’asuamaleaui’s first game as captain will also coincidentally be his 50th NRL appearance when the Titans open their 2022 account against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, March 13 in Sydney.
