MAYBE it was the jet lag doing some of the talking, but after flying into Sydney yesterday to spend his first day as a Wests Tiger, Lote Tuqiri could see no reason why he cannot be toasting his first year at the club with a premiership.
"I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think so," Tuqiri said.
"I've got three years here to try and do that, and help the guys get there.
"The bones are there to do it. We've got a great squad. I'm just really looking forward to playing with a lot of these guys."
Asked whether he felt the Tigers could win the premiership this season, the club's newest - and potentially biggest - recruit said: "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think we were a strong chance. Anything can happen, as the boys showed in 2005. It's obviously a goal for the club."
Tuqiri arrived in Sydney after spending much of the rugby league off-season playing rugby union for Leicester, just five days before the Tigers' round-one clash with Manly, declaring he was "pumped" to play.
Some people, including Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler, feel that Tuqiri might struggle to acclimatise to 80 minutes of rugby league five days after a long flight, but Tuqiri said yesterday his 23 hours of flying might have been a blessing.
Somewhere between Abu Dhabi and Sydney, Tuqiri's wife Rebekka turned to her husband and asked him why he was so quiet. He had slept most of the first leg, but after switching on the in-flight movie, Where the Wild Things Are, for his two children, he sat and pondered his latest switch.
"I was just thinking about how I've got to change my whole mental shift," Tuqiri said.
"Even the little things, getting tackled, body height . . . not releasing the ball. My missus was like, 'You're not really talking'. I was just mainly thinking, and getting things in my head right before I play, whenever that may be."
Should that game be against Manly, Tuqiri will have had just three training sessions under his belt. Sheens wants to play the 30-year-old but has shadow players Mitch Brown, Geoff Daniela and Daniel Fitzhenry on standby.
"If I don't think he's ready, he won't play," Sheens said.
"We've got three years to get things to happen, and if it means the delay of a week, then so be it.
"I'm not going to risk his reputation or ours by playing him if I don't think he's ready and if he doesn't feel comfortable about what we're doing."
He may be fatigued, but Tuqiri will not lack fitness. Sheens said Tuqiri would have more match-fitness than any of his other players, having come off regular competitive matches.
"He's played more footy than my guys so he's probably fitter than them, in respect to the collision and 80 minutes of football," Sheens said.
"Whether it's union or league, it's still playing, and he's been playing regularly. He's in pretty fair shape."
Tuqiri said he would rather "get straight back into it".
"I'm a footy player first and foremost," he said.
"I want to throw myself in the deep end, see how we go . . . sink or swim.
"It's a bit daunting but I'm really pumped to get out there and play. It's just getting out there and testing myself."
People do not expect miracles from him, but Tuqiri was more optimistic about his input even though it has been eight years since he played rugby league with Brisbane.
"I didn't come back to make up the numbers," Tuqiri said.
"I've got high expectations of myself. I've put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm the sort of bloke who probably thrives a bit more on pressure than not."
The dual international's presence will add to the hype surrounding the clash with Manly on Monday night, and he said when told of the prospect of the Sea Eagles targeting him: "If they want to bring it, so be it. I welcome the challenge."
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