BULLDOGS WRONG ABOUT TINO, SAYS BOYD
Gold Coast playmaker Tanah Boyd believes Canterbury’s grudge against Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is misplaced and has backed the Titans’ skipper to roll with the Bulldogs’ punches when the two teams clash on Sunday.
The Bulldogs went public with their dislike of the Gold Coast captain after his involvement in the game three State of Origin brawl that featured Canterbury playmaker Matt Burton and Fa’asuamaleaui’s Maroons teammate, Dane Gagai.
Fa’asuamaleaui joined the fray as the two Origin centres began throwing haymakers and held Burton back, to which Blues fans and Bulldogs players took particular umbrage.
But Boyd believes his skipper was simply trying to defuse the situation, not hold Burton down to be a punching bag – as has been suggested.
“That’s all he was trying to do I think, he was trying to get him away from it,” Boyd said.
Then there was the swinging arm that collected Burton across the face which the Titans skipper later played down, but it angered the Bulldogs enough to offer a public promise for revenge come Sunday.
Boyd said the Titans had not even discussed the biting words ahead of the game, choosing instead to focus on the litany of other problems plaguing the team – such as the seven-game losing streak.
“I saw it (the Bulldogs’ comments) but we won’t care about that,” he said.
“Tino will take that in his stride, that’s for sure. He won’t hold back. He won’t care.”
With every loss the screws tighten on head coach Justin Holbrook, who has already lost two of his backroom staff in high performance manager Klint Hoare and assistant coach Jim Dymock.