FAITH NO MORE

Star Titans recruit vows to repay the one mentor who has trusted in him

AN honest Bryce Cartwright says he can cope with external flak but is haunted by the thought he letting down Titans coach Garth Brennan.

In an honest appraisal of his lacklustre form, Gold Coast’s star NRL recruit claims he owes it to the man who brought him north from Penrith in the preseason to turn his campaign around.

After sticking with his lastminute recruit for the opening 10 rounds, Brennan’s patience finally wore thin last week, with Cartwright dropped to find form and confidence in the Intrust Super Cup.

The former Panther had attracted stinging criticism for his lacklustre efforts and while he earnt an eleventh-hour reprieve when Kevin Proctor failed to pass a fitness test, the jury is still out after he played just 18 minutes off the bench.

Cartwright has faced plenty of scrutiny in his young career.

And while he knows to ignore the noise off the field, the pain of losing the trust of the coach who threw him a career lifeline hurts the most.

“That’s probably been the worst feeling about it, I probably feel like I’ve let him down in the past 10 rounds,” Cartwright said.

“I’ve just got to keep im- proving and repay the faith.

“That’s probably my biggest regret is just letting him down these past two months.”

Released by the Panthers late in the off-season, Cartwright has struggled to fit into the team, playing at lock, fiveeighth and in the second-row in the opening rounds.

Mentioned as a likely NSW Origin player two years ago, Cartwright’s game has suffered recently and while genuine criticism is warranted, some have taken the chance to have pot shots at the 23-year-old.

“Sometimes it is (difficult to block out) but I just go back to worrying about the opinions of my teammates and the Titans family and my family and the people I care about,” he said.

“All the outside noise I probably don’t take too much notice of.

“In parts of my game (I feel I have let Brennan down) but I’ve still got so much more to offer.”

While Brennan said Cartwright deserved a chance to answer his critics, proving other people wrong is not what’s motivating him.

“I need to prove to myself that I belong here and get back to playing some good footy,” Cartwright said.

“It’s probably more proving myself wrong and that will prove the other people wrong after that.

“Just the way I’ve been performing, it plays in the back of your head ... and I want to prove myself wrong first.”

JARROD Wallace has declared Titans teammate Jai Arrow ready to be thrust into an Origin starting role.

Wallace, who re-signed with the Titans last week ending a contract saga he admitted had begun to affect him, backed Arrow to thrive if picked by Queensland coach Kevin Walters.

An outside chance at the start of the season, Arrow has firmed markedly as an Origin candidate in recent weeks on the back of white-hot form and injuries to forwards Matt Gillett and Josh McGuire.

Like Wallace, Arrow is a Gold Coast junior and former Bronco who headed back to his hometown for the opportunity to play regular first grade.

Wallace said Arrow could now repeat his effort of last year and be thrust into Origin.

“He’s a guy that doesn’t let anything get to him or affect him,” Wallace said of the former Keebra Park student.

“He’s got a really great head on his shoulders and his head space at the moment is to be playing really good footy here and then anything can happen from there.

“He’s been awesome for us. He’s a real key to our forward pack now.”

And while McGuire could yet make an early comeback from an ankle injury, it is unlikely to halt the call for Arrow’s inclusion.

“I definitely think that he would fill that (lock) role (for Queensland) perfectly,” Wallace said.

“Him and Moose (McGuire) are cut from the same cloth – they can play big minutes, they’ve both got great leg speed, so both of them would fit there perfect and if Josh isn’t there I don’t see why they wouldn’t play him.

“He’s young, he’s energetic and he’ll do the job perfect.

“He gets through all his tackles and he gets his stats up and he can play 80.

“And I think his desire to play Origin is going to fit that jersey perfectly.”

Wallace conceded Walters and selectors had a difficult job ahead of Game One in the wake of Cameron Smith’s recent retirement but said anyone selected would approach the task with “energy and enthusiasm”.

“When you get on to that field and you put that jersey on, you know that you’re not going to let anyone down,” he said. “It’s like the start of a new era.”