Hull FC’s 2021 Player of the Year believes he can be even stronger in the 2022 Betfred Super League season.
Chris Satae was one of the most dangerous assets in Brett Hodgson’s armoury last season, with his barnstorming runs often causing severe damage to opposition defences.
During his solid year, the prop forward signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at the MKM Stadium until the end of the 2023 campaign.
In that time, Satae hopes to improve even more as he hopes to use this pre-season as a platform to develop his game further.
“I feel very confident going into the new season,” Satae told hullfc.com.
“There are still some areas where I feel there is room for improvement, though.
“I really need to focus on my base fitness. I’m not really the best runner but I will always try and push myself through the pain barrier.
“Pre-season is giving me the platform I need to put my best foot forward and work on building that base fitness, which will help me have even more impact when I’m on the field.”
Satae has now completed just over two weeks of pre-season training at the Jacuzzi® Elite Performance Centre.
But there’s still a long way to go until the start of the 2022 Betfred Super League season, and Satae is focused on staying grounded and using the motivation of his fellow comrades to help him through the next few weeks.
“It’s that time of the year where you just have to get your head down and work on your fitness, so for a big bloke like me it’s a pretty tough time,” he said.
“You have to be so mentally resilient at this time of year because of the intensity of pre-season training, but all of the boys have been putting their arms around each other and they’ve kept each other going.
“It’s been very refreshing for a handful of new players to come into the group. Galey and Darnell [McIntosh] have both had a positive impact on the squad, and obviously Joe Lovodua and Kane Evans are still to come, so that gives us something extra to look forward to.”
Evans is due to arrive in East Yorkshire in the not-too-distant future, with the Fijian international set to get his Hull FC career up and running.
Satae has previous with the Fijian, and the prop forward says he’s glad to have Evans on the same team in 2022.
“Me and Ligi have played against Kane a couple of times back home and he’s a very physical bloke” he said.
“You can see that he wears his heart on his sleeve and you can certainly see that in the way he plays.
“I’m looking forward to playing alongside him – he’s going to add a different dimension to the already strong pack we have here at the club.”
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