Gold Coast forward Tino Fa'asuamaleaui has suffered an NRL pre-season setback, injuring his knee in a training accident which will sideline him until Christmas.
The Queensland State of Origin star attended a meet-and-greet for Titans members on the Gold Coast on Friday in a brace and said he can't do any running until the team reassembles in the New Year.
"Yesterday we had a wrestle session and, yeah, a bit of friendly fire, one of the boys fell over and landed on my leg," Fa'asuamaleaui said.
"Done my MCL but it's only a grade one, so it's not too bad. Obviously the brace makes it look so bad but it's just to keep it strong and get it ready for when I'm back after Christmas."
The setback won't prevent Fa'asuamaleaui from being fit for the start of the 2022 campaign but the 21-year-old did admit it was frustrating as he and his teammates work on their combinations.
"I probably won't run up until after Chrissy I reckon, after the Christmas break, which is annoying because I was sort of finding better combinations out there with all the boys and obviously practising the things that I need to practise," he said.
"It's alright, there's people in worse situations.
"Just got to adapt to it and come back stronger."
The ex-Melbourne premiership winner recently signed a four-year contract extension at the Titans, knocking back expansion outfit the Dolphins to commit to Gold Coast through to 2026.
