Musgrove keen to take on Cowboys

RABBITOHS prop Zane Musgrove says it will be tough to break back into the NRL side but desperately wants to be involved in ending the club’s run of outs in Cairns.

Souths have left emptyhanded in the past two fixtures against the Cowboys, but the Samoa representative said he was confident they would continue thriving under coach Anthony Seibold to mount a challenge in the July 1 fixture.

Musgrove, who is visiting schools in Cairns today to build up the match, warned there was still plenty of improvement left in the Rabbitohs even after solid wins over the Raiders and Roosters in the past two weeks.

“We’re going really well. There’s still heaps of room to improve and we’re just looking to keep that going,” he said.

Musgrove expected the fast track to play into the Rabbitohs’ hands come July, particularly with the combination building between quick men Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Alex Johnston.

“It’s a really good ground, really fast track,” he said.

“The atmosphere is great, we get a good vibe and everyone turns up waving their flags, so it’s good.”

The 22-year-old said he hoped to contribute once he returned from an ankle injury, which has kept him off the park so far in 2018.

Musgrove said it would not be an easy task to regain his place with the Burgess brothers on song and strong depth in the ranks with Mark Nicholls, Junior Tatola and Jason Clark all performing.

“I’m probably another three or four weeks away,” he said.

“I’ll definitely be back for the Cowboys game and I’m just looking to focus, get my ankle right and do what I can that’s possible to come back earlier. It’s going to be hard to get back in the team, the Burgess boys playing some of their best footy.”

Musgrove visited Fitzroy Island yesterday in what will form part of the Rabbitohs promotion of Cairns as an ideal destination for travelling fans, who would join plenty of Rabbitohs supporters already in the Far North.

But it will take a big effort to silence a Cowboys-dominated crowd that has got the home team over the line in past meetings. “We’re in form at the moment so we’re looking to come up here and change that around,” Musgrove said.

“The heat gets you, but hopefully it’s a bit cooler when we come up here.

“We’ve got a few fans here and a lot of people from Sydney fly up as well, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost

Picture: ANNA ROGERS INJURED: South Sydney’s Zane Musgrove at Barlow Park. The Rabbitohs player has been sidelined so far in 2018 with an ankle injury but hopes to play in Cairns on July 1.

You can’t go past Lachlan Parmenter. The Brothers backrower was carving Ivanhoes up and scored three tries. They were the opponents when he did his ACL last year. Great to see him back fit.