In a fledgling career characterised largely so far by hype and the eye-catching figures of lucrative contracts, the most important number for Latu Fainu is the smallest.
Not the $1.3 million he could have surpassed in earnings when Manly first signed him at 16, on the largest NRL contract signed by a teenager (once performance bonuses were triggered).
Or the estimated $2 million he’s slated to earn across his four-year Wests Tigers deal.
For Fainu, it’s the five kilos he’s stripped off his frame since being breached for his sloppy return to pre-season training as he continues to wrestle with the pressure and expectation of all the above.
Alongside teammates Solomona Faataape and Solomone Saukuru, Fainu fronted the Wests Tigers board after missing his weight, skinfold and 1.6 km time trial targets.
He spent his Christmas break fronting for 5am hill runs and cardio sessions to ensure he’s back at his playing weight of 88 kilos, and was thankful for some tough love from coach Benji Marshall and Tigers head of performance Peter Moussa.
“It was a massive wake-up call,” Fainu told this masthead. “Coming back in with those extra kilos, I was really disappointed in myself, because I’d let down not just myself, but my family and team as well. I knew I needed to do better.
“Peter Moussa has been massive for me. Throughout the pre-season he’s been hooking into me ever since.
“I was five kilos overweight and I’ve dropped it off now, basically running the whole time. And trust me, I’ve never been a runner.
“Benji’s been great too. Talking to him, it’s so easy and he’ll always tell you straight, which is exactly what he did.”
What Fainu is, thanks to an impressive junior career that prompted investments from Manly and then the Tigers, has been known for quite some time.
An element of notoriety has come with it too for the 19-year-old playmaker given he is the youngest of four Fainu brothers to have played NRL.
Siblings Samuela and Sione are at the Tigers, while eldest brother Manase is serving an eight-year sentence after being convicted of stabbing a Mormon church leader.
Latu freely admits the spotlight has weighed on him at times, particularly when hamstring injuries lingered and delayed his NRL debut last year.
Along with his tight-knit family, former Rooster-turned-Wallabies multi-million dollar recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been a welcome sounding board for Fainu.
“My first year I felt the pressure to play footy and NRL, mostly from myself,” Fainu said. “I was doubting myself after some hamstring injuries that I was struggling to get right.
“And then it was my headspace where I just couldn’t feel like I was right for NRL and what it was about.
“Joseph Suaalii’s been a big help. He’s spoken to me about how to handle pressure. He’s explained the way he’s tried to keep his head down and tried to just play footy, shut all of it out.
“Talking to him has been a massive help for me. I’ve known him since I was a little kid. We played each other early on in juniors and have known each other for years.
“He’s next level with all the hype and pressure. He’s a smart bloke and I love the way he looks at things and the way he tries to help bring younger guys up, even though he’s only still young himself.
“There’s no ego with him and I think that helps him.”
It’s early days for Fainu, still five months short of his 20th birthday, and the jury is still out on how he, star half Jarome Luai and fellow teen tyro Lachlan Galvin all fit into the same 17.
Ideally though, the Guildford product wants to follow the lead of Marshall, Luai and Suaalii as a leader in Polynesian circles, given their under-representation among coaches and playmakers at rugby league’s top level.
“It’s something I’d like to do. Growing up in Guildford, most kids don’t have much, no one gets anything handed to them,” Fainu said.
“If I can help show kids what they can do and achieve, not necessarily footy, but just in life. Jarome especially for me, you don’t see many Polynesian halves.
“Growing up I didn’t really see any pollies playing half. I looked up to Daly Cherry-Evans. But for the next generation to be looking up to players like Jarome, that’s a big inspiration for me and someone I’d like to like.”
Shane Flanagan has turned to the veteran prop after hunting for front-row reinforcements all season.
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