North Queensland Test centre Brent Tate expects to play and is prepared for former Brisbane teammates to test his sore ribs in Friday night’s NRL match at Suncorp Stadium.
“I’d be very surprised if I wasn’t targeted that’s for sure,” said Tate before boarding the flight to Brisbane on Wednesday.
Tate stopped just short of declaring himself a certain starter, having missed last weekend’s embarrassing 18-0 first round home loss to Gold Coast because of his pre-season rib injury.
“I’m really confident I can play but I have to get through training tomorrow and do a bit more contact just to make sure I’m confident in the ribs,” said Tate.
“If that’s the case, then I’ll be playing.
“I know they’re going to be sore. It’s something I’m going to have to carry for the next few weeks.
“It’s about knowing how much I can put up with, which I’ll find out on Thursday.
“If I can cope and I’m confident I can get through 80 minutes, then I’ll play.”
Tate’s former Broncos teammates including skipper Sam Thaiday, who plays his 150th game and first as captain at Suncorp Stadium, and senior statesman Corey Parker both warned him to expect to have his ribs defensively examined if he takes the field.
Parker, who attended Tate’s 30th birthday party late last month, said his former teammate’s ribs were “petty ginger” then.
“If he takes the field it’s game on and the ribs are open and we’ll come and get them,” he said with a smile.
While Tate didn’t play in the loss to Gold Coast, he said the whole club was extremely disappointed by it.
He said he wasn’t worried about Friday night’s result as long as the Cowboys turned in a really strong performance.
No stranger to playing at Suncorp Stadium in front of big crowds, he said the Cowboys had far too many good players not to quickly turn things around.
“Everyone gets excited playing there,” he said.
“When the Cowboys play there it’s usually a huge crowd. It’s Brisbane’s first home game, Sam’s 150th and Petero’s first back at the club so they’ve got plenty to play for.
“It’s a big game, a big occasion and as a player, that’s what you want to be part of.”
