Brennan praises 'warrior' and Maroons hopeful Arrow
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Titans coach Garth Brennan has heaped praise on his tireless lock Jai Arrow, describing the young Queenslander as a "warrior" following another impressive but injury-hit performance.
Arrow racked up a huge 160 metres and 33 tackles in just 60 minutes in an eventual 34-14 loss to the Roosters at Gosford on Saturday before being hauled from the field following a knock to his shoulder.
Speaking after the game, Brennan said Arrow wanted to stay on and play through the pain.
"I think it's ongoing bumps and bruises for Jai. He's a warrior," Brennan said.
"He puts his body on the line everything he does. He didn't want to come off but sometimes you've got to drag him off and take it out of his hands. He'll be OK.
"He's tough, puts his body on the line for his team. You see him in the shed he's probably hurting as much as anyone in there too because he knows how much effort he puts into it, he's a quality footballer there's no doubt about that.
"He's not the biggest guy in the world but bats well above his weight. He doesn't leave anything out there that's for sure."
Match Highlights: Roosters v Titans - Round 12, 2018
The former Bronco and Burleigh Bears junior has rocketed from fringe first grader to possible Origin player over the past 12 weeks on the back of some relentless and impressive club form. He said after the game neither the new injury nor the previous back and rib complaints would put his immediate playing future under a cloud.
"I just copped an elbow to my AC joint, I just copped a bit of bruising there but it's nothing too major," Arrow said.
Of the back spasms, he added: "It's definitely getting there.
"I went and saw a back specialist and she had a play around with my sternum and when she was pushing down on my sternum it was grabbing my back a bit up top. So I'm starting to wear a sternum pad which is helping. It's settling it down."
The Titans had further injury worries against the Roostesr with back-rower Kevin Proctor apparently re-injuring the groin that was torn in a tackle from former Storm teammate Cameron Smith a fortnight ago.
Brennan confirmed it was the same injury.
"He was probably close to going back on again but I'm not going to risk a player if he's not right," Brennan said.
"It's hard enough playing with 12 men [when Ash Taylor was sin-binned] but you can't play with a player out there that's not 100% fit and healthy."
