Brisbane’s State of Origin quartet are fit and ready to back up against Gold Coast, with star fullback Reece Walsh shrugging off an ankle injury.
Walsh, Thomas Flegler, Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas all trained on Saturday morning ahead of Sunday’s derby clash with the Titans at Suncorp Stadium.
“They are still a bit sore, which is normal from the Origin game, but they are all fit which is great news," coach Kevin Walters said.
“Reece has an issue with his ankle but he is fine. He has come back in good shape.
"He’s had a great Origin series so I'm looking forward to getting him back in Brisbane colours.”
The Broncos have a tradition of Origin players backing up, with Walsh getting the all-clear to play despite a niggle he sustained in Queensland's 32-6 win over NSW on Wednesday night.
“Reece is a tough little bugger and that's one of the things we like about him. He will have to be good for us on Sunday,” Walters said.
The coach also confirmed winger Selwyn Cobbo will play after recovering from the hip pointer injury that kept him out of game two of the State of Origin series.
The Broncos sit top of the NRL ladder, with the Titans just outside the top eight.
Gold Coast have just sacked coach Justin Holbrook and will look to assistant Jimmy Lenihan to guide them through the rest of 2023 before Des Hasler takes the reins next pre-season.
Walters said a change of coach wouldn’t make a difference to a Titans outfit he rated highly.
“They have been playing good for their coach and they are in a good position on the ladder, so we will be very respectful of that,” he said.
“But ... we want to march forward with what we're doing here.
"Sunday afternoon at Suncorp at 2pm, we don't get too many of those games so the boys are excited to get amongst it.”
Asked about the Broncos' position on potentially signing St George Illawarra captain and former Brisbane player Ben Hunt, Walters was non-committal.
“(We) will let the NRL sort that out and we'll just wait and see what happens,” he said.
“Most clubs could do with Ben Hunt in their squad. Not too many clubs would say no to him.
“We see it all the time. Ben's work ethic, he is skilful and tough, but he is with the Dragons.”
Despite leading the competition, Walters said his side still had another gear.
“We have lots of areas in our game where we can get better, particularly our tryline defence, and we need a bit more cohesion with our attack,” he said.
“It seems to flow at different stages but we need it to flow for 80 minutes rather than 60 or 70 minutes.”
