Men of steel eye NQ test
TITANS recruit Jarrod Wallace says the Cowboys pack will be a handful despite the absence of stars Matt Scott and Jason Taumalolo, singling out Coen Hess as a danger to the Gold Coast’s hopes of notching back-to-back wins.
Wallace, who played in the Broncos’ grand final loss to the Cowboys as well as last season’s thrilling encounters between the clubs before joining the Titans, said North Queensland could not be discounted despite the loss of their leading forwards.
“They’ve still got Thurston and a young guy Coen Hess and Ethan Lowe there, so they’re still a really hot team,’’ Wallace said.
“If we take anything for granted that they’ve got a couple of their big names out, that’s where we’ll get caught out.
“Obviously Matt Scott and Taumalolo are a massive chunk to their side but there are still some massive players that we need to watch.’’
Wallace has been impressed by Hess, his roommate at Queensland’s emerging Origin camp.
“He’s a really big boy, he’s strong and he’s played some good footy,’’ he said. “You saw that try he scored against the Broncos a couple of weeks ago, how powerful he is.”
While the Titans have battled an injury curse, it was their defence that let them down most in the opening two rounds.
Wallace said tightening that up had helped lead to their win against the Eels on Friday.
“We obviously weren’t up to the calibre we wanted to be in the first couple of rounds but we did a lot over the last few training sessions in the middle of D (defence),” he said.
“I thought the boys really took a step forward on the weekend and we played some really good footy.”
Meanwhile, backrower Chris McQueen says he will not be rushed into contract talks sooner than anticipated despite reports Cowboys forward Matt Scott had a multimillion-dollar pulled after a season-ending injury.
McQueen, who is off contract at the end of the season and reportedly being chased by Sydney clubs as well as the Titans, said he would not allow injury concerns to rule decisions on his future.
THE Titans yesterday signed former Penrith forward Chris Grevsmuhl on a two-year deal.