Tino Fa'asuamaleaui expects to line up in round one next season as he prepares to become the latest NRL player to travel to the US for specialist knee rehabilitation.
The Gold Coast captain will fly to Philadelphia on Friday and spend two weeks consulting with reconditioning guru Bill Knowles, almost seven months after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.
Knowles has mentored such NRL stars as Ryan Papenhuyzen, Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell following similarly serious injuries.
Fa'asuamaleaui began thinking about making a similar trip to the US almost immediately after going down in the round-three loss to Canterbury.
"It was the next day after I got injured, I tossed it up as a bit of a joke. I've been pretty fortunate that the club have actually pulled through," Fa'asuamaleaui said.
"I'm very grateful for that.
"I'm looking for another set of eyes and someone that's going to push me to my limits and learn a lot. It's going to be good, it's going to be exciting."
Fa'asuamaleaui expects to be back on deck to continue his rehabilitation from day one of the Titans' pre-season, before joining training around the new year.
That sets up the middle forward to play pre-season trials and round one with the Titans, who are aiming to improve on their 14th-placed finish in Des Hasler's first season as coach.
"After Christmas and January is when I'll be fully with the team, that's obviously if there's no hiccups. But it's looking like that so far," Fa'asuamaleaui said.
"If I'm training with the team in January, I think I'll be playing trials. I hope so, I kind of want that too, to get the cobwebs out and find my feet again before I head into round one.
"I can't wait to get back out with the team."
Fa'asuamaleaui's impending return will replenish a Titans forward pack that has farewelled Erin Clark and Isaac Liu but welcomes former Parramatta prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard into the fold for 2025.
Fa'asuamaleaui said he was looking forward to reuniting with his former Australian teammate.
"'Reg' has done a lot in this game," Fa'suamaleaui said.
"I worked with him at the World Cup and he's such an animal. He's a beast, runs hard and tackles hard. We need that."
