Star Cowboys prop James Tamou returned with a bang against the Titans on Saturday night after a neck injury suffered against the Warriors two weeks ago.
Tamou's efforts were infectious for a forward pack that has been down on confidence in recent times, with Scott Bolton coming off the bench for 145 metres off 14 hit-ups with zero missed tackles and Jason Taumalolo looking more enthusiastic defensively with 21 tackles and none missed.
Tamou himself made 28 tackles at 100 per cent, managing 153 run metres and a try in the process.
"I thought Jimmy was excellent. He was over the moon, he got off the nudie run tonight so he was really pleased and I was really pleased about that too," Green said.
"He was really good, there was no hint of hesitation in the contact; he played nice and physical. (The Titans) have got a physical, big pack and I thought he was really good."
Co-captain Matt Scott added: "He was pretty keen all week at training. The big fella was feeling good and when he's feeling like that and when he's at his best there's probably no one better to have in the front row next to me. It's good to see him with a bit of confidence again."
Winger Antonio Winterstein also credited Tamou for his work behind the scenes.
In order to pass fit for Saturday, Tamou's performance training had to be monitored to make sure power levels and strength distribution were back to normal levels.
"You're not going to play around with an injury like that. We all know how serious it is," Winterstein said.
"The big fella is doing a lot of extra work in the gym to get his strength back and he did well to get back tonight."
Meanwhile, speculation is growing that Michael Morgan may return to face the Broncos next week.
Given a standard syndesmosis recovery window of 4-6 weeks, Morgan's recovery would be greatly fast-tracked if he were to return to the training track this week – less than three weeks after injuring the ankle in New Zealand.
"I've been saying my prayers and rubbing my rosary beads," Green joked after the game.
"With 'Morgo' we'll see how he goes. He's done a little bit of running but we're guaranteed – win, lose or draw – a second week of the finals, so we're not going to take any unnecessary risks.
"It's tough; we still don't know when we're playing yet. So it's hard to get too specific about itineraries and travel days, but we'll give him every chance to be fit.
"But by the same token we need to play well as a team.
"If he can't do much training prep then we would have to seriously look at if it's worth including him."
