Mahe Fonua has expressed his excitement to be back playing in front of spectators at the KCOM Stadium this evening as the Black & Whites go up against Catalans Dragons.
Our loyal members and corporate partners will come home to see the Airlie Birds in action for the first time in 431 days, thanks to the further lifting of lockdown restrictions today.
FC are in fine form, losing just once so far this season, and will be hoping to reward their fans for their loyal support in sticking by the club for the past 15 months, with a strong display against the in-form Dragons.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Fonua said: “Personally, I’m very excited. It’s been over a year now since we’ve had fans, playing games has been good but the atmospheres just hasn’t been there.
“Last week was a pretty big occasion in the quarter-final against Wigan, but there just wasn’t that cheer, that support network, in the stadium.
“I think the club as well and the boys are making a big thing of this week, playing at home in front of our fans again, especially because our next home game isn’t for a while.”
And Fonua believes the really can make a difference on their grand return to the KCOM Stadium.
“When the going gets tough, when you’re hanging in there and you’ve got your fans singing Old Faithful, they can give you that extra gear in those tough moments.
“It’s definitely going be good to have some of the Faithful back not in full capacity but good to have a small percentage of them there.”
On his own relationship with the fans, Fonua added: “I’ve got some mad love from the supporters here, that’s another reason I felt comfortable coming back to the UK.
“Even when I was at Wests Tigers, I still had Hull FC fans write to me on a weekly basis to show me their support, even though I was no longer at the club, so it wasn’t hard to go come back knowing I had this kind of support here.”
And Fonua explained that the return of supporters has been a major motivating factor in training this week.
“We’ll have 6000 fans at KCOM, and it’s gonna create an atmosphere that we haven’t had for over a year; our next home game isn’t for a another two months, so we’re gonna try use that to our advantage – it’s really got us pumped this week.
“Catalans will be coming over on the day, they’ll have no fans this time, and we’re gonna try use that to our advantage.”
And on the Dragons, Fonua is under no illusions as to the threat that the French side pose to spoiling the Black & Whites’ homecoming party.
“Fans aside, it’s a big game on the field too – Catalans are a good side, they have some big boys in their team and have some quality players all over the the park.
“They’re coming off a loss, they’ll be hurting from that, it’s always hard coming up against a team coming off a big loss like that.
“They’ll want a bounce back performance, but if we can continue our form that we’ve managed to get going, the result should take care of itself.”
Mahe Fonua is proudly sponsored by J O’Neills Locksmiths. To find out more – click here
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