Colourful winger Nathan Ross has given praise to Pauli Pauli, who was this week named on the extended NRL bench as he continues his return from a car accident.
“Tackles a truck and dislocates a hip and he’s back before Round 10,” smiled Ross.
“It is a huge credit to him as a person, the dedication he has put in recovery and his rehabilitation.
“To see him moving out there, he is a lot lighter and I think once he does come back in the full time team the NRL is going to see a Pauli (Pauli) 2.0."
Many people were surprised when Pauli made his return to reserve grade back in Round 5, but the big man has been impressing everyone at the Club with his work behind the scenes.
“It shows just how much this Club means to a lot of players and shows how much playing in the NRL means to Pauli,” Ross said.
Turning his focus to this weekend’s match-up against the Gold Coast Titans, Ross said he has formed a solid relationship with fellow back, Pete Mata’utia.
“We are pretty sound... Pete and myself have got a pretty good relationship in terms of attack and defence.
“Our sons are the same age, we room together when we go away, he’s my 500 (a card game) partner and we spend a lot of time together so it comes down to almost instinct now, we know what each other is going to do,” explained Ross.
While the Titans have been the Knights only win this season, Ross maintains he holds great respect for the Gold Coast Club.
“They have been ravaged with injuries this year and they’ve got players like Jarrod Wallace and Anthony Don who just keep leading it forward,” said Ross.
“Ryan James their captain has been phenomenal so I think they’re a team of unsung heroes, they turn up every single week and they get in the grind.
“They took the Brisbane (Broncos) to the dying moment and they beat Cronulla (Sharks) on the weekend so this is no team you can look past and look through.
The Knights travel to the Gold Coast on Friday to take on the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium this Saturday, kick-off is at 3pm.