Gold Coast hooker Nathan Peats has seen enough to know that it is better to play with Moeaki Fotuaika than against him.
Last Sunday's 26-18 win over the Broncos was just the third time that Peats and Fotuaika have started together for the Titans, the former Origin representative making the extraordinary claim that he wants to pack down alongside the teen tyro for the rest of his career.
On Wednesday Fotuaika was named in the preliminary 22-man Tongan squad to play New Zealand next Saturday but must first get through Friday night's clash with the Warriors as the Titans seek a second straight win.
Since moving into the starting side three weeks ago Fotuaika has run for 207, 217 and 175 metres against three of the biggest packs in the NRL and further emphasised Peats's already high opinion of him.
"Moe is a freak. I was pretty buggered at the 25-minute mark, it was a pretty fast-paced game and you look over and he's having his 10th hit-up and he's only 19 years old," Peats told NRL.com following his return after 10 weeks out.
"He's an unbelievable kid with a really good attitude. Really humble, you barely hear him speak and he just rips in.
"I love playing with him and hopefully I get to play with him for the rest of my career."
Making his return to the team last week after 10 weeks out with a torn pec, Peats has watched the development of a number of young Titans this season from the sideline.
With the addition of outstanding teenage prospect Tanah Boyd to the squad on Wednesday, Peats was full of praise for the likes of AJ Brimson, Jai Whitbread and Jesse Arthars who have quickly established themselves as regular members of the 17.
Prior to his return last Sunday Peats worked tirelessly with Joel Grech from the Titans high performance team to make it back onto the field within 10 weeks, using the likes of Boyd Cordner, Curtis Sironen and Gold Coast teammate Dale Copley as inspiration.
The former Rabbitoh and Eel made 40 tackles in 45 minutes of game-time and helped to steady the team as Brisbane made a late surge.
"Peatsy brings that accountability to the team. He holds players accountable, he's a super competitor," said coach Garth Brennan.
"After 25 minutes Mitch [Rein] came on and started running the ball and asking some questions around the ruck and when the game needed to be defended 'Peatsy' came on and did a really good job defending it."
Match Highlights: Broncos v Titans
Watching his side squander leads over the past eight weeks made Peats's lay-off all the more frustrating, his intense competitiveness a potentially crucial cog in turning good starts into premiership points.
"I don't think so, I know we can," said Peats when asked whether he thought they could produce a similar effort against the Warriors.
"It's all between the ears sometimes. Sometimes you just win footy games in a grinding way, kicking into the corners, kick-pressure, kick-chase and completing.
"We were scratchy at times against the Broncos but the competitiveness was there and that's what you need sometimes.
"You could see the Broncos coming home strong and they had a fair bit of possession but we toughed it out. We held on and in the end it was a tough, gritty win.
"We've been in most games which makes it tough to swallow.
"I'm not saying you'd rather get flogged but when you're getting flogged you can pinpoint areas where you need to improve.
"But we've been in a lot of games this year right up until the end which is the frustrating part."
