Friday night’s NRL double-header at Suncorp Stadium looms as a mini State of Origin selection trial with at least 20 players having their last chance to showcase their representative claims.
The first game between Brisbane and Manly features 11 players pushing for selection in the opening Origin series match in Melbourne on May 23, including veteran Broncos prop Petero Civoniceva and teammate Matt Gillett – a strong tip to take over the utility spot in Queensland’s champion side from Cooper Cronk who’s set to start at halfback.
There’s been speculation Civoniceva could be overlooked after losing his Australian Test spot last month. But a strong performance against Manly’s Brent Kite and Jason King, both hoping to impress NSW coach Ricky Stuart, would guarantee him his 31st Origin appearance.
Manly brothers Brett and Glenn Stewart and Anthony Watmough will be going all out to convince Stuart they deserve to be picked in his 17-man Blues side.
It’s a similar story in Friday’s second match at Suncorp between Canterbury and Gold Coast with nine players pushing their cases.
Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis needs a big game to beat Robbie Farah to the NSW no.9 jumper while five-eighth Josh Reynolds has been mentioned as a possible bench bolter for the Blues.
Greg Bird will be keen to push for NSW selection, while his Titans teammates Ashley Harrison and Nate Myles, who’ve been part of the Maroons’ record six-year winning streak, will want big games to consolidate their own Origin jumpers.
One Origin hopeful not on show will be Brisbane halfback Peter Wallace who’ll undergo scans on his latest groin injury on Tuesday.
Wallace is hoping the injury does not deny him the chance of playing the NRL blockbuster against Melbourne Storm just two days after Origin I.
“I don’t want to miss that one,” said Wallace, who’d been spoken about as a possible NSW selection.
“Depending on the scan, hopefully it’s not too bad but I don’t think I am a chance this week (against Manly).”
Brisbane have a bye after their clash with Manly, giving Wallace 19 days to get his groin right for the Storm clash.
“There’s no point pushing it to play against Manly when we’ve got a bye the week after and I can hopefully be right to play Melbourne,” he said.
The Gold Coast could welcome back skipper Scott Prince, centre Beau Champion and fullback William Zillman from injury for their clash with an in-form Bulldogs side.
Injury forced the Titans to field inexperienced young halves Aidan Sezer (21-years-old) and Jordan Rankin (20-years-old) in Saturday night’s 15-14 golden point loss to the Wests Tigers.
Prince’s experience and leadership and the attacking strike of both Zillman and Champion would be a big bonus against a Bulldogs outfit which savaged Parramatta 46-12 at the weekend.
