ON TARGET
Maroons injury fears ease to leave Titans star Arrow ...
QUEENSLAND’S feared injury crisis has eased with Titans star Jai Arrow and fellow rookie Moses Mbye joining skipper Daly Cherry-Evans in declaring themselves certain staters for Origin I next Wednesday night.
Arrow (quad), Mbye (groin) and Cherry-Evans (ankle) did not attend Queensland’s fan visit to Charleville on Tuesday to have further treatment ahead of the series opener at Suncorp Stadium.
But in a huge boost for the Maroons, their build-up will not be as turbulent as first expected with Arrow and Mbye to take part in today’s first bona fide training run.
Arrow and Mbye gave Queensland coach Kevin Walters a scare when they both withdrew from the final NRL game before the naming of the Origin I squad, but the Gold Coast forward and the Tigers utility are ready to rumble. “I am 100 per cent playing,” Arrow (pictured), who missed the Titans’ 36-18 defeat of Manly last Friday night, said.
“I have a quad strain, but it’s nothing I am worried about. To be honest I was more worried about the club game (against Manly) the next day (after injuring himself at Titans training).
“The body is fine, I did some running (on Tuesday) and pulled up really well, I will be firing come next Wednesday.”
Mbye strained his groin at the final training session before the Tigers’ clash against Souths last Saturday night.
The Tigers skipper considered rolling the dice against Souths to push his Origin claims, but is relieved his withdrawal gave him extra time to treat his minor injury.
“I trained (on Tuesday) and there was no awareness at all so I’m feeling good,” Mbye said.
The 26-year-old Mbye has played six seasons of NRL and said he was not concerned the Queensland Origin ship had sailed.
QUEENSLAND centre Will Chambers is playing for his Origin career with Maroons hierarchy urging him to muscle-up to NSW rival Latrell Mitchell or risk being dropped for next season.
The three-quarter battle between Chambers and Mitchell shapes as one of the most influential positional subplots of this year’s series heading into Origin I on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium.
While Chambers is one of the code’s most accomplished outside backs, the Maroons ace was given a torrid Origin workover by Mitchell, who yesterday outlined his desire to be “the best centre in the world”.
That represents a chilling warning for Chambers, who missed 13 tackles in last year’s series, including eight in Queensland’s 22-12 loss in Game One when Mitchell ran riot at the MCG with a staggering 13 tackle busts.
Chambers, who turned 31 last Sunday, will be in the firing line if he produces another below-par campaign and Maroons selector Darren Lockyer challenged the Storm veteran to rise to the occasion.
“Will Chambers has to aim up,” Lockyer said.
“It’s fair to say Latrell got the better of him not only in last year’s Origin series, but in the grand final as well (won 21-6 by the Roosters).
“I think Will has shown much better form for the Storm this season but Mitchell will take confidence from last year’s series. Will is now a senior player in the Maroons setup so it’s important he repays the faith of the selectors and plays with leadership.”
Maroons assistant coach Justin Hodges, one of Queensland’s greatest backline weapons who played 24 Origin matches, believes Chambers will be motivated by replacing the retired Greg Inglis as the side’s No.1 centre.
“Will is very competitive. He has obviously learned from myself and ‘GI’ (Inglis) and being in that system and waiting for us to retire.
“Now he has become the No.1 centre in the Queensland outfit.
“Will has got to go out there and get it done (against Mitchell). It is not as easy as it sounds but Will has just got to be aggressive.”
Meanwhile, Chambers’ backline ally, Dane Gagai, will be axed as South Sydney centre to make way for James Roberts.
Roberts yesterday joined the Rabbitohs from Brisbane, effective immediately, and coach Wayne Bennett said Gagai would be forced to the wing – where he will play for Queensland – as a result.
“James will play right centre,” Bennett said. “Dane Gagai is our current right centre, but he will go to the wing.
“I haven’t had a chat to ‘Gags’ yet, but I’m sure he won’t have a problem with it.”