Flying Fifita hopes finals flame will continue to flicker

With three tries and three try assists, Jojo Fifita was instrumental for the Titans as they posted a vital and dominant 46-18 win over the Broncos.

The victory keeps their faint finals hope burning, with Fifita buying into the belief that continues to build in the club around coach Des Hasler, with the players finally adjusting to his unique style and coming to embrace his game plan.

“I think we all had the same mindset that we are going to play hard; we played a long game and it worked out,” Fifita told pan66.com after the win against the Broncos.

“That's definitely Des's plan for us, so I think he’ll be really happy with how we responded (to a poor first start).

“Des is a good coach, but with how he acts, I think the start of the year it was just hard for the boys to really gel with him, because they didn't really know him.

“So having a couple of games under the belt under him, I think the boys are starting to get a feel for him and he's starting to get a feel for the boys.

“I think next year, we'll definitely have a good year, just the chemistry that our team will have will just be next level.”

Now into his third year in the NRL with the Titans, Fifita is enjoying a breakout season in 2024, with his latest performance showing his attacking prowess.

While the Gold Coast’s left side attack attracts most of the headlines thanks to the exciting presence of the competition’s leading try scorer Alofiana Khan-Pereira; Fifita has been quietly establishing himself and building his combinations with his centre Phil Sami and Keano Kini and Kieran Foran in the spine.

“I think once everyone starts to get a feel for how each other play, you can play on their strengths and just see what their weaknesses are too," Fifita said. 

“Just having a couple of games with Kino at fullback has definitely helped our chemistry as a team and especially at that right edge with me and Foz and Phil.

“Phil's doing good too, I think us at the right edge, we’ve really bonded well together.

“Keano is such a great player, he's young and he's learning everything really quick, really fast.

“I talked to him a lot during the week and we just trying to get those little combinations and you can see that at work.

“He was trying to follow me around and I was trying to follow him around and hopefully we just keep doing that and just become the strength of the team.”

After playing in front of a sellout 25,278 crowd in their win over the Broncos, the Titans are back at home on Friday night hosting the Sharks, with Fifita keen to test himself against their backline, who remain imposing despite Ronaldo Mulitalo being sidelined with injury.

“They have a good back five, so we just have to shut them down," Fifita said.

“But I reckon if we can just get in the long game, just keep grinding it out and then hopefully force errors, that's just going to be our game plan I reckon.

"We have got to win this week, so hopefully the fans back it up and come back to support us.”