BLOW FOR BIG TITAN
HIPGRAVE CHASES START
KEEGAN Hipgrave remains hopeful of nabbing a Round 1 NRL jersey despite having not played for six months.
The 22-year-old’s preseason has been disrupted by a hamstring issue picked up in mid-January that ruled him out of both of Gold Coast’s trial matches.
Hipgrave had spoken of his desire to play a short stint for Tweed Heads in Round 1 of the Intrust Super Cup on Sunday to get some match practice but Titans coach Garth Brennan has opted not to risk the young firebrand.
Brennan though did confirm his hamstring had recovered and that he trained fully on Wednesday.
If captain Ryan James is fit for Gold Coast’s seasonopener against Canberra on Sunday week, Hipgrave appears to be locked in a battle with Bryce Cartwright and Will Matthews for the bench edge forward role.
“There’s so much competition this year so hopefully I can get into that top 17,” Hipgrave said.
“My hammy was just a little step back but I will work through that.
“It’s not where you start the year, it’s where you finish it so if I can be coming right for the time we play semis, that will be good.”
The Palm Beach Currumbin product, who played 19 of his 20 career NRL games last year, has at times been criticised for going over the top with his enforcer status but he believes experience has helped him now know how to better pick his moments.
“I was going at 100 miles an hour and the more experience I got towards the end of the year, I sort of found my feet a bit more and just knowing it’s probably not the best thing for the team at some points,” he said.