He is the club's reigning player of the year but Titans hooker Beau Falloon is already facing up to some hard truths in order to earn a new contract on the Gold Coast beyond the 2015 season.
While the major focus at all 16 NRL clubs currently is gruelling physical punishment, Falloon has been forced to sit through some confronting video sessions with new Titans assistant coach Terry Matterson as he seeks to further establish himself as the club's first-choice No.9.
With the confusion surrounding Matt Srama's botched bid to join the Roosters and the addition of livewire hooker Kierran Moseley from the Panthers, competition for the No.9 jersey is intense and Falloon has wasted little time in building on his most productive season in the NRL to date.
While the 27-year-old former Rabbitoh refused to go into the details of what he and Matterson have been working on he said it was input he is happy to take on board.
"I've done a couple of video sessions with Terry Matterson already who has picked up a few things I need to work on so I'm really looking forward to trying to improve those areas of my game," Falloon told NRL.com.
"He's just pointed out little areas I need to improve on which I'll keep between him and me; I don't really want to go into it too much. But it's really good feedback. I want to improve as a player and hearing that type of feedback and where you need to improve as a player is really good for you."
Falloon earned his first senior representative jersey in 2014 – a City Origin call-up – and is approaching the final year of his current contract at the Titans after earning a one-year extension last season.
It's the uncertain working conditions that many NRL players are forced to endure but Falloon said it is incumbent upon himself to prove to Titans powerbrokers that he is worth keeping around in 2016 and beyond.
"Coming off contract, I reckon it's a good thing for myself, it's a good motivator," he said. "I definitely want to stay up here at the Titans but it comes down to performance.
"I'll be going out there and giving it my all and ripping in for the Gold Coast Titans. If I'm playing really well then hopefully I'll deserve another contract but I'm just really looking forward to this year. There's a really good vibe around training and the boys are really ripping in and training hard so I can't wait to be a part of it.
"I'm getting a bit older now and I need to step up this year. It's a big season for myself, I'm coming off contract so that's another incentive to have a really big year so I definitely want to have a really good year and step up and build on last year.
"I want to play semi-final football and I think the way we've been training we're definitely heading in the right direction. We're a squad that's growing and hopefully we can really benefit and have a strong year."
