If his performance in the teams 19-6 win over the Gold Coast Titans is anything to go by, he certainly is on his way to proving that bold statement correct.
Fonua-Blake dominated up front with 177 running metres from 19 carries while busting two tackles and making three offloads.
Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand with No Ad-Breaks During Play. New to Kayo? > Get your 14-day free trial now & start streaming instantly >
Titans have high expectations for 2021
0:49
Fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said the former Sea Eagle gave the entire Warriors pack confidence while Fox Leagues Michael Ennis added he brought fear factor to Browns men.
The coach himself though admits when he was shocked when he first heard the club was even in with a chance of signing a club of Fonua-Blakes calibre.
I still remember getting the call from Peter OSullivan saying we are a chance of getting this bloke and I didnt really believe him, I nearly fell off my chair because they dont come along every day, he said.
Hes a world-class player isnt he. I said before – we were fortunate to get Addin.
Recruitment is the key to any successful club. If you dont recruit well, you dont do well. Being able to get a player of Addins talent and skill was very important. He plays a very important position.
Hes a very, very important player for our club. Hes only 25-26, so his best years are coming.
MORE NRL NEWS
STUCK HIS LEG OUT BACKWARDS: Warriors playmaker on report for trip
P***ED OFF: Luciano out to silence Tigers doubters and finally end finals drought
LET THE TEAM DOWN: Storm stars explanation for embarrassing brain fade
While giving Fonua-Blake a well-deserved wrap, Brown was quick to point out that it was not just the hulking front rower who impressed in his first game for the club.
In fact, he revealed that one of them played through injury after the Warriors lost two players [Wayde Egan and Bayley Sironen] to failed HIA tests.
All our new recruits were really good today, he added.
Obviously Addin is a high-quality player, Bailey came to us from Souths and is about 20 games into his career.
Euan Aitken played with an injury. So he stayed on the field when probably under normal circumstances if we didnt lose the blokes we did we probably would have replaced him.
Benny Murdoch was great in his first game back in the NRL for about five or six years. All our new recruits really contributed well. As a whole I didnt really want to single any one player out.
I thought collectively everyone worked really hard for each other and that is what got us our win.
The next challenge though for the Warriors is a Knights side brimming with confidence after a 32-16 win over the Bulldogs.
Newcastle were led from the front by Daniel Saifiti and David Klemmer (152 and 200 running metres respectively).
Were very fortunate and next week there will be a great challenge because the two Saf [Daniel and Jacob Saifiti] boys and Klem [David Klemmer], they dominated the advantage line and were outstanding, he said.
When Newcastle have those big boys dominating the advantage line it really brings Pearcey right into the contest. Our big blokes will need to be even better than they were tonight.
Warriors recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan declared Addin Fonua-Blake could be one of the “most important†signings in the club’s history in September last year.
