The nib Newcastle Knights’ State of Origin stars are injury free and keen to take the field.
With the Knights hosting Canterbury-Bankstown on Friday night, Nathan Brown has David Klemmer, Daniel Saifiti, Tim Glasby and Mitchell Pearce at his disposal for the game.
But whether he plays them or rests them is the million-dollar question.
“They’re very sore, no injuries though,” Brown said.
How did our Origin boys pull up?
“Whether they play, we still haven’t seen them yet. They’ll come back and have a medical and some recovery this afternoon and we’ll train with what we can train with today which will be none of those guys.
“And we’ll just see how they are tomorrow… hopefully they can play but it will probably be a bit up in the air until tomorrow.”
In a positive sign that the representative foursome will run out in front of a packed McDonald Jones Stadium, Brown confirmed his troops are eager to back-up just 48 hours after a physical Origin III.
“There’s no doubt they all want to play and if they’re physically capable, we’ll definitely send them out,” Brown revealed.
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“It’s an important game for us. We know that having them there is obviously going to be a big advantage for us. But, I suppose how they actually pull up tomorrow after their recovery will be the determining factor.
“But they all definitely want to play, there’s no doubt there.”
One factor weighing in the Club’s favour is the short-turn around.
Brown revealed that in the past, most players prefer playing the Friday over the later games following Origin.
“It’s the first time since I coached the Dragons that I’ve experienced a number of payers in Origin,” Brown said.
“The Dragons boys used to tell me back then that they’d rather back up on the Friday game, rather than wait until Saturday or Sunday, that’s how they were. So, they used to love it if we got the Friday game after the Wednesday Origin.
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“Hopefully that is the case. Obviously, they’ve been playing some good footy for us and they’re all important to the team.
“They obviously understand how well Canterbury have been going, how tough a game it is and how important it is for us to go out there and play well.”