Gold Coast coach Neil Henry has backed his State of Origin trio to propel the club’s unlikely NRL finals push, starting on Saturday against second-placed Cronulla.
NSW pair Nathan Peats and Jarryd Hayne and Queensland forward Jarrod Wallace will return for the Titans after playing in Wednesday’s Origin decider.
Henry joked that Wallace would not miss the chance to boast about his opportunistic second-half try, but that they would relish being back in the club environment.
“Yep, they’re all ready to go,” he said of the Origin trio.
“Wall might be talking about his try. It’s gone from eight metres to 18 to 20.
“But this is their mates here and they look forward to coming back to club footy and (know) they have a job to do.”
Henry said Origin rookies Wallace and Peats, who re-signed with the club for three years on Friday, would come back richer for the representative experience.
And he said Hayne, thrust into the centres in his Origin comeback, would benefit despite the Blues’ disappointing game three showing.
“I think for Wall it was great education for him, and Peatsy to play all three is a great experience and it was tough environment for him (Hayne) to come back in,” Henry said.
“Now we can get on to the last third of the season and we’re in a position where we need to win.”
The Titans are drifting in the bottom four but are still a chance of finals action if they’re good enough.
“We’re not writing off this year,” Henry said. “But we’re going to need to be at our best.”
The Sharks, hopeful of nursing four Origin starters of their own, won’t be placing any extra significance on Saturday’s clash.
That is despite the Titans beating Cronulla earlier this season and carrying good form into their last-round bye.
“I don’t think it’s a danger game,” Sharks coach Shane Flanagan said.
“Every game is a real important game. It’s definitely going to be a challenge but not a danger game.”
STATS THAT MATTER
* The past two matches at Robina have been decided by one point with a draw, last season in round 21, ending the Sharks’ club record run of 15 straight wins.
* The Titans have managed to score just 20 points in the opening 20 minutes of their 16 matches against the Sharks, including being held scoreless in this period in seven of the past eight matches.
* Gold Coast have a better record against the top eight (four from nine) than the bottom half of the table (two from seven).
