Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan
Well-known member
Crazy that our three guys were in school last year and have already played FG.
Latu Fainu #282
- Thread starter ancient_magpie
- Start date
crazycat
Well-known member
I'm just taking the micky.
Marshall is a Tiger for life and with Farah the heart of our club.
Yes I am worried Marshall won't be at NRL standard, particularly with the side we have and our standards of training. Flip it, Marshall made NRL exciting again. I loved watching him and he is one of the reasons why I love this side.
Marshall make us win games in 2025. Damnit.
Benji has shared similar sentiments about Latu. At the beginning of the following video, he praises Latu’s direct play at the line and his silky ball skills, which aligns with your point about Latu’s more direct approach and strong ball-playing ability. Benji also mentions Latu’s good footwork, supporting your view of him being a potentially more dynamic runner.
He certainly has a touch of class about him. I’m also hoping he has a healthy and successful 2025, wherever he plays. He definitely deserves some luck.
Benji had a tough time sitting next to Cam Smith at the Hall of Fame night
Benji had a tough time sitting next to Cam Smith at the Hall of Fame night
www.nrl.com
king_sirro
Well-known member
Hopefully tonight the doubters started to see what a lot of have. This kid will be an out and out star with constant game time. The most naturally gifted player we have had since Benji.
AmericanHistoryX
Well-known member
Off the cuff
Year_of_the_Tiger
Well-known member
Gifted! I can’t wait to see more
upthetigers
Well-known member
How quick is Latu?
upthetigers
Well-known member
If Latu is going to be played from the bench, where does that leave TDS?
Tiger_Yoshi
Well-known member
Laui to lock… he’ll be asking for a release before game time
sheer64
Well-known member
I thought he maybe the bench utility but he gets injured a lot. Is there another team interested in him like the Rorters?
Bit late with this comment. It was an alternative to the notion that two rookie halves would be best suited to playing lock instead of some of our forwards.
jrtiger
Well-known member
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.”
www.smh.com.au
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.”
Dragons hand Matt Lodge an NRL lifeline at his sixth NRL club
Shane Flanagan has turned to the veteran prop after hunting for front-row reinforcements all season.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Fantastic he has taken the breach the right way and used it as motivation. And with a full healthy pre-season under his belt, watch out!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.”
Dragons hand Matt Lodge an NRL lifeline at his sixth NRL club
Shane Flanagan has turned to the veteran prop after hunting for front-row reinforcements all season.
Jedi_Tiger
Well-known member
can't see the tigers keeping latu and galvin, both would probably see themselves as a.6 to Luai
No shortage clubs for either
No shortage clubs for either
WesternSuburbsBoy
Well-known member
Hopefully the wake up call he needed to really kick start his career. Someone involved in junior pathways told me a couple of years ago that if Latu didn't end up becoming one of the best players in the game he wouldn't of lived up to his potential... that's how much talent & hype he's had. The biggest difference for me with him & Galvin is that anyone who's been watching these kids since they were young knows that Latu is by far the more talented/better player but he probably hasn't had to work as hard as Galvin because the games come much easier to him compared to Galvin who's had to buckle down & work hard after being rejected by Parramatta.
Tigerwould
Well-known member
thanks
He is lucky to have a friend like Suaalii as a mentor.
The article say WTs needed him to get "back at his playing weight of 88 kilos". Hopefully he doesn't go much under that as if he is a utility coming off the bench he may need to fill in around the ruck.
thanks for posting the SMH article.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.”
Dragons hand Matt Lodge an NRL lifeline at his sixth NRL club
Shane Flanagan has turned to the veteran prop after hunting for front-row reinforcements all season.
He is lucky to have a friend like Suaalii as a mentor.
The article say WTs needed him to get "back at his playing weight of 88 kilos". Hopefully he doesn't go much under that as if he is a utility coming off the bench he may need to fill in around the ruck.
jrtiger
Well-known member
I really hope they don’t mess with his development by playing him off the bench for 10 minutes in the middle each week. he’s much better off constantly playing 80 minutes in Cup at 6.
with Galvin being noncommittal about re-signing we simply cannot afford to miss the opportunity to develop Latu correctly in favour of minimal short term returns.
Tigerwould
Well-known member
If the club expects him to be playing at 88 kilos..that would be in line with halves weight.
I honestly think the opposite, when he's played cup he's dominated. He needs a good 30 minutes a week minimum in first grade to continue his development
Praying he can stay injury free. Think he's an extremely talented player
jrtiger
Well-known member
I think he got through 80 minutes once last year mate. he's not match fit and playing 30 minutes week to week isn't enough.
sure, he laid on a few tries and did some good things but the reality is he played five games in the halves for the Magpies and went 2-3.
I want to see him toying with the opposition and laying on tries at will for a month or two before he makes the step up. he was called up to grade out of necessity last year, this year I hope he blows the door off the hinges.
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