Pirtek Parramatta Eels co-captain Reni Maitua says he's committed to boosting the Blue and Gold for the remainder of the 2013 NRL season, with hopes of a few wins just around the corner.
His future plans beyond this season are yet to be finalised, but Maitua says he'll retire if he can't find a strong club.
"I don't see the point in going to another club in a rebuilding phase, so hopefully, fingers crossed, my manager finds something over the next week or so," he said.
"I'd like to stay here in Sydney, I'm pretty close to my family - it's quite big with nieces and nephews I don't want to be too far away from."
Maitua says he's feeling relieved to have come to terms with Ricky Stuart's decision.
"It's a bit of a weight off my shoulders now that I know I'm not going to be here next year, so it's exciting there's something in the future for me, but I can't wait for the last ten weeks here and hopefully not finish with the wooden spoon."
This week the Eels take on the Manly Sea Eagles at their home ground, Brookvale Oval.
"They play a really grinding game, Foran is very tough with his kicking game, so we need to put a lot of kick pressure on him," Reni said.
"And they try to win the ground through their forwards, so it's going to be tough to match them up the middle, and obviously they're tough at Brookvale, but we're looking forward to it."
The players are coming of a two week turnaround, after having their second bye of the season last week.
"I think everyone's freshened up, we only trained a couple of days last week and we're back today with a full seven days to prepare."
There's a chance Reni's fellow co-captain Jarryd Hayne will be fit to play against the Sea Eagles, pending the recovery of his injured hamstring.
"Jarryd would be nice to have back in the team, I'm not sure how his hamstring is going and you don't want to rush those things, as we need him back for Origin 3 too!"
Click here to join the Blue and Gold Army travelling to Brookvale and book your spot on the Eels bus!
His future plans beyond this season are yet to be finalised, but Maitua says he'll retire if he can't find a strong club.
"I don't see the point in going to another club in a rebuilding phase, so hopefully, fingers crossed, my manager finds something over the next week or so," he said.
"I'd like to stay here in Sydney, I'm pretty close to my family - it's quite big with nieces and nephews I don't want to be too far away from."
Maitua says he's feeling relieved to have come to terms with Ricky Stuart's decision.
"It's a bit of a weight off my shoulders now that I know I'm not going to be here next year, so it's exciting there's something in the future for me, but I can't wait for the last ten weeks here and hopefully not finish with the wooden spoon."
This week the Eels take on the Manly Sea Eagles at their home ground, Brookvale Oval.
"They play a really grinding game, Foran is very tough with his kicking game, so we need to put a lot of kick pressure on him," Reni said.
"And they try to win the ground through their forwards, so it's going to be tough to match them up the middle, and obviously they're tough at Brookvale, but we're looking forward to it."
The players are coming of a two week turnaround, after having their second bye of the season last week.
"I think everyone's freshened up, we only trained a couple of days last week and we're back today with a full seven days to prepare."
There's a chance Reni's fellow co-captain Jarryd Hayne will be fit to play against the Sea Eagles, pending the recovery of his injured hamstring.
"Jarryd would be nice to have back in the team, I'm not sure how his hamstring is going and you don't want to rush those things, as we need him back for Origin 3 too!"
Click here to join the Blue and Gold Army travelling to Brookvale and book your spot on the Eels bus!
