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From:The Courier-Mail
August 17, 2011
A FIRED-UP Brent Tate has South Sydney on red alert ahead of the North Queensland centre's much-anticipated confrontation with Rabbitoh Greg Inglis at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
Tate was outplayed by Broncos rookie Jack Reed in Townsville last Friday, which has Souths skipper Michael Crocker fearing his former Queensland teammate will be hell-bent on making amends.
Crocker last night described Tate as "a big-game player" whose confidence would not be damaged by last Friday night's game in Townsville.
"In fact I think it will make him more dangerous," Crocker said. "He will be up for a huge game against GI.
"Tatey is one of my all-time favourite Origin players and it's great to see him back after the knee injury he got last year.
"GI is also over his injuries. He got some criticism at the start of the year, but it was unwarranted given he had two shoulder operations and was starting at a new club.
"We knew it was only a matter of time before he played consistent football."
Tate, five games into his comeback from a knee reconstruction, trained with the Cowboys yesterday afternoon after being with his wife Lani, who gave birth to a daughter at 3am.
The Cowboys had made contingency plans for Tate's absence, but he assured the coaching staff he would be right to take on his Queensland and Australian teammate.
Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr said Tate would be far from overawed by the task of marking Inglis, who scored two tries for Souths against Canberra last Sunday and is approaching top form.
"I remember watching with some satisfaction as Tatey did a particularly good job on GI in a Warriors-Storm game last year," Parr said.
"We had just signed Brent from the Warriors and I remember thinking, 'I'm glad he's coming to us'.
"He was in career-best form at the time and was Australia's best player in the Four Nations until he was injured in the final.
"Brent was a bit off in defence early in the Broncos game, but it won't adversely affect him this week. I think it will be quite the opposite.
"It should be a great clash between Brent and Greg . . . but there are good clashes across the field. There's the prospect of Tariq Sims and Dave Taylor meeting head-on; you have Matt Bowen and Nathan Merritt; Aaron Payne and Issac Luke. The list goes on."
The Cowboys named a 19-man squad yesterday including Payne (fractured eye socket) and fellow hooker James Segeyaro (ankle), with Payne regarded a near certainty to play.
Inglis showed off his NFL skills at Redfern Oval yesterday, but he is being kept well away from the Steeden while recovering from the head knock he suffered against Canberra.
Inglis ended up with blurred vision in his left eye after colliding with former Storm teammate Brett White. Club officials allowed him to miss Souths' main training session yesterday to ensure he is fit for Friday night's showdown. The club pin-up signed autographs for fans, juggled a gridiron ball and at one stage hopped behind a video camera.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/bre...-1226116466607
From:The Courier-Mail
August 17, 2011
A FIRED-UP Brent Tate has South Sydney on red alert ahead of the North Queensland centre's much-anticipated confrontation with Rabbitoh Greg Inglis at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
Tate was outplayed by Broncos rookie Jack Reed in Townsville last Friday, which has Souths skipper Michael Crocker fearing his former Queensland teammate will be hell-bent on making amends.
Crocker last night described Tate as "a big-game player" whose confidence would not be damaged by last Friday night's game in Townsville.
"In fact I think it will make him more dangerous," Crocker said. "He will be up for a huge game against GI.
"Tatey is one of my all-time favourite Origin players and it's great to see him back after the knee injury he got last year.
"GI is also over his injuries. He got some criticism at the start of the year, but it was unwarranted given he had two shoulder operations and was starting at a new club.
"We knew it was only a matter of time before he played consistent football."
Tate, five games into his comeback from a knee reconstruction, trained with the Cowboys yesterday afternoon after being with his wife Lani, who gave birth to a daughter at 3am.
The Cowboys had made contingency plans for Tate's absence, but he assured the coaching staff he would be right to take on his Queensland and Australian teammate.
Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr said Tate would be far from overawed by the task of marking Inglis, who scored two tries for Souths against Canberra last Sunday and is approaching top form.
"I remember watching with some satisfaction as Tatey did a particularly good job on GI in a Warriors-Storm game last year," Parr said.
"We had just signed Brent from the Warriors and I remember thinking, 'I'm glad he's coming to us'.
"He was in career-best form at the time and was Australia's best player in the Four Nations until he was injured in the final.
"Brent was a bit off in defence early in the Broncos game, but it won't adversely affect him this week. I think it will be quite the opposite.
"It should be a great clash between Brent and Greg . . . but there are good clashes across the field. There's the prospect of Tariq Sims and Dave Taylor meeting head-on; you have Matt Bowen and Nathan Merritt; Aaron Payne and Issac Luke. The list goes on."
The Cowboys named a 19-man squad yesterday including Payne (fractured eye socket) and fellow hooker James Segeyaro (ankle), with Payne regarded a near certainty to play.
Inglis showed off his NFL skills at Redfern Oval yesterday, but he is being kept well away from the Steeden while recovering from the head knock he suffered against Canberra.
Inglis ended up with blurred vision in his left eye after colliding with former Storm teammate Brett White. Club officials allowed him to miss Souths' main training session yesterday to ensure he is fit for Friday night's showdown. The club pin-up signed autographs for fans, juggled a gridiron ball and at one stage hopped behind a video camera.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/bre...-1226116466607
