'I see it as a challenge': Katoa keen to take on 'mentor' Cleary

“After every result, he told us to turn up to training with a smile on our face because there's no point feeling sorry for ourselves.

“But in the same way, we took a lot of learnings out of those first four weeks and we got an opportunity to come over here and write some wrongs, so he's been awesome in that department.

“When we look back at it in our review, you look at moments where you don't think they're so big, but when you're having 10-15 of them in a game – and you don't need to get every single one of those moments right, it's just only a couple – it goes a long way to getting a result.

“That's what we spoke about and that gave us a lot of confidence to go out and keep playing our footy and just keep backing ourselves.”

With the “monkey off the back” having secured their first win, the attention turns to a taking down defending premiers Penrith, who unusually for the four-peat champions, are also 1-4 to start the season.

As a Glenmore Park Brumbies junior who was enticed away from Penrith to feature in the inaugural squad with the Dolphins in 2023, Katoa knows plenty about this week’s opponents and was looking to avenge his team’s close loss suffered last year, where Cleary booted a two-point field goal in golden point to steal victory for his side.

“Confident,” Katoa said when asked how he and the side would be feeling leading into their Round 6 game.

“That result (against the Titans) goes a massive way into what our training week looks like, how we feel as a team, individually as well, going into that game.

“But Penrith’s a quality side, you have always got to give respect to Penrith.

“You know what to expect with Penrith, but at the same time, they can pull some tricks out of their sleeve.

“If there's something that I've always respected and appreciated about Penrith, it is that they know how to win, whether it's by 50 points, by one point, six points; they know how to win, and you see that as a result of them winning four premierships in a row.

“We're looking forward to the game, we get to go back home at Suncorp and play in front of our home fans, so we're definitely looking forward to it.

“I think I've only played against Penrith once actually and that was last year, it was actually a pretty good matchup …

“It's always a good matchup when you get to come against one of the best halfbacks, if not the best halfback, in our game and I see it as a challenge.

“I looked up to him as a kid and I still look up to him now as a player, as a bit of a mentor, but there's nothing better than trying to get a result against him and trying to get him back for what he did to us last year in Penrith, but he's an awesome player … when he's healthy, bloody hell he is dangerous.”