Softly spoken Fiji Bati forward Viliame Kikau is trying to turn himself into a loud-mouthed back-rower.

Penrith Panters coaches are doing their best to bring about the personality switch in their talented forward.

Speaking to NRL.com, Kikau says being on the edge and in the back row he makes a lot of reads on the halves and one of the things he has been working hard on is his communication.

He says he’s not really a big talker on the field so the coaches are always giving him a slap to remind him to talk more.

Kikau says that the emphasis for him in the 2020 pre-season has been his defence. His tackle efficiency sits around 83%.

And although he sits just outside the top 20 across the NRL for the number of missed tackle in 2019, Kikau played between four and six games less than those above him.

From 13 of the Panthers losses in 2019, 12 were by 20 points or more.

The former Marist Brother High School student adds they were one of the worst teams in the NRL last year and he adds they can’t win games with the level of errors they were making.

The Panthers will start the new NRL season against the Roosters on the 14^th of next month.