Titans winger David Mead is facing up to two months on the sideline as coach Neil Henry declares that Nathan Peats is too good a player not to come into the 17 for Sunday's clash with the Panthers at Pepper Stadium.
Peats could only have been heartened by the resolve shown by his new teammates at Cbus Super Stadium on Monday night as they turned an 8-6 half-time lead into a commanding 26-6 victory over the Roosters courtesy of three tries in the space of nine minutes.
Mead scored the try that gave the Titans an eight-point buffer 17 minutes from full-time but it came at a cost, the club's all-time leading try-scorer forced from the field shortly after with what coach Neil Henry later confirmed was a posterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee that can take between 6-8 weeks to recover from.
"I think it's a posterior cruciate ligament," Henry said post-match.
"I don't know how bad it is but he's in a brace at the moment so we'll wait and see."
Peats sat beside Daniel Mortimer in the stands on Monday night having arrived on the Gold Coast on Sunday and will have his first outing with his new club on Sunday.
With Mortimer sidelined for up to two months with a hamstring tear the addition of Peats is a timely one and an opportunity Henry said was simply too good to miss.
Nathan Friend had arguably his best game since re-joining the Titans this year against the Roosters and Kierran Moseley helped the team to play direct in the back half of Monday night's game but Henry said that Peats will definitely be in the team to face Penrith this weekend.
"Kierran Moseley is a young hooker who is developing and we've got the old warrior in Nathan Friend but we'll find a place for Nathan in the team," said Henry, who will announce his team for Round 11 on Tuesday afternoon.
"He does have some utility value as well so he can play that hooker/back row spot but we'll have a look at it.
"He's certainly too good a player not to have in the 17.
"We were recruiting with a view to the future as well and Peats was too good an opportunity and too good a player to not get in the circumstances.
"We'll just have to look at our roster and make some calls."
