Leeds Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity: David Fusitu'a determined to make up for lost time

Fusitu’a played the full 80 minutes of Rhinos’ 23-8 defeat at Salford Red Devils last Sunday, which was his first action for more than two months and only his fourth game for Leeds.

“It was good to be back out there,” said the former NRL top try scorer, who had been out of the team for eight games as he recovered from knee surgery.

“One of my goals was to get through the 80 minutes injury-free, which is a positive, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the win.

“We will recover and now we’ve got Wakey on Friday to look forward to, against Wakefield.”

Fusitu’a suffered concussion during his Rhinos debut in the Betfred Super League round one loss to Warrington Wolves and was then sidelined by knee damage after just two comeback matches, including the 34-18 win at Wakefield in March when he was among the try scorers.

Now, after a disrupted start to his Rhinos career, the former New Zealand Warriors man is aiming to put together a run of matches over the second half of the season.

“I got through okay,” he said of his return to the team.

“There were a couple of times where I fell awkwardly, but I got up and kept going and my knee was sweet.

“For me, it is about building on performances and staying out there on the field.

“That’s the main thing for me moving forward for the rest of the season.”

Rhinos’ attack didn’t get into gear against Salford, but Fusitu’a had a couple of powerful runs in the second half at AJ Bell Stadium and reckons he will get stronger with more game time under his belt.

He said: “If I can get more carries like that I feel it will help the team.

“I will keep building on my performances.”

With bottom club Toulouse Olympique closing the gap on Rhinos to just three points and Wakefield only one adrift, Friday’s derby has become a four-pointer in the battle against relegation.

Fusitu’a stressed: “That’s a big game. They are a team that can turn it on when they want to.

“They are a good team and we can’t look at that game as an easy one so we will definitely have to make sure we are putting our best foot forward.”

He added: “We will go back and look at the film and get better for this week.

“Hopefully the fans can turn out in force and support us and we can put on a good show for them.”

Leeds have lost eight of their opening 12 league matches, but are unbeaten in their last three at Headingley and Fusitua insisted better times are just around the corner.

“We have had a couple of good wins,” he noted.

“[Sunday] was disappointing, but the good thing about this business is we go again this week.

“We still have a bit of time to build our combinations and it will come right.”

He also feels new coach Rohan Smith’s influence will grow as he gets more time to work with his squad.

Friday will be his first home game and Fusitu’a said: “It is hard for him adjusting to a new team and it will take a bit of time for us to adjust to the way he wants us to play.

“That’s okay, we have full trust in what he is bringing to the team.”