Gold Coast prop Jai Arrow will uphold the label as one of the league's toughest by playing through an 8mm quad tear for Queensland in Wednesdays Origin I clash.
Arrow is set to carry the grade-one tear into the series opener, with Titans medical staff revealing he will still be against the clock in battling fitness following scans.
It comes as no surprise that Arrow remains confident he will take the field for the Maroons, having carried broken ribs into a match last year against the Warriors.
Arrow trained with the Maroons on Thursday at Davies Park and was iced up soon after training concluded, with the enforcer admitting he's taking a more professional approach to his rehabilitation.
“To be honest, it’s the best I’ve ever looked after an injury,” said Arrow, who strained his upper leg just 24 hours before the Titans’ clash against Manly last Friday night.
“I’ve been getting treatment twice a day and every time I get some spare time in my room, I put the Game Ready (icing and compression device) on my leg for as long as I can.
“There’s a few times I’ve been using the Game Ready for a few hours just sitting with it strapped on.
“I’m giving the injury the best opportunity to be 100 per cent come Wednesday night.”
Fellow Maroon Daly Cherry-Evans managed to cut his recovery time by three weeks after inducing a stronger approach to mending an ankle injury and has inspired Arrow to do the same with his own recovery.
Arrow admitted he gave little attention to doctors following scans of the tear as he was hungry for a taste of Origin and wasn't looking to accept any setbacks.
“I don’t know the exact size of the injury,” he said.
“To be honest I didn’t want to hear the extent of it. When the physios told me, I kept my ears shut and said, ‘Don’t worry I will be sweet for Origin, I will do what I can to get it right.
“It makes a massive difference when you treat an injury properly.
“When you are growing up as a young kid, you think you are 10-feet tall and bullet proof and you get away from all the little things with recovery and icing your niggles and injuries.
“It (injury management) is definitely something I’ve become more professional with over the past 12 months, that’s for sure.”
Highly regarded physiotherapist Brien Seeney believes that Arrow can be fit in time for Origin I.
“It would usually be considered a minor muscle injury,” Seeney said.
“The specific location of the tear plays a significant role in determining function level and recovery time.
“Some players may not miss game time with a minor quadriceps or hip flexor injury like this, but more commonly they would require one-to-three weeks on the sideline to fully recover.”
Come on. Surely Martin can disappear into thin air after playing the ball. Don’t all other teams have their players playing the ball just disappear? They must do! Or according to that ruling it has to be a penalty to the defending team every time the same thing happens.
It’s as baffling as the perfectly legal throw tackle by Martin being penalised.
It’s been reported the titans are interested in DWZ. Why not have a swap deal, DWZ for Nathan Peats. On the surface it may seem weird. A winger for a former NSW hooker but in reality it’s more than that. DWZ is only 23 and was the kiwis captain. He’s already played 100 NRL games and scored 40+ tries. I think the titans should use him long term as the Fullback they can be at the club for 10+ years. Nathan Peats on the other hand is 28 turning 29 in October, he’s only contracted to the the club until the end of 2020 so he offers a win now approach and then the option to let him leave and free cap space. But Peats who has played 50 games for the titans has only scored two tries and this year he has played only 2 games. He doesn’t offer much in attack but has done in the past but he is a well known good defender who makes a lot of tackles. I think the Panthers could definitely do with a dominant hooker to lead there forward pack around with Cleary and Maloney and also help finish tackles. Plus its better than what the tigers are offering in a swap (E. Taylor or R. Packer).
Both clubs profit from the deal (titans long term fullback and leader, Panthers a dominant hooker to help lead) and the salaries should be close to matching.