Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan is hopeful Brisbane’s representative quintet will have one eye on their Test jerseys ahead of the Broncos’ clash with the Sharks on Sunday.
Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker and Josh McGuire will all play for Brisbane on Sunday afternoon before heading to Newcastle for the Test between Australia and New Zealand next Friday night.
And while Sharks captain Paul Gallen will face the same challenge, Flanagan told The Leader it might give his team an advantage in the top of the table clash.
“I’d like to think [the Test will have an effect],” he said.
“But knowing those players we’re talking about – Darius Boyd has been around for a long time, played a lot of rep footy, played Origin.
“He’s been through the situation where he has to play a club game then back up for a rep game so he’s been through that.
“Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday and [Matt] Gillett [as well], there’s probably only one bloke who hasn’t done it before and that’s [Josh Maguire].
“He’s the only player that’s making his debut for Australia so in the back of his mind he’s probably going ‘I’ve got to get through this because I’m about to make my debut for Australia’.
“So he’ll have some mental things but they’ve got a coach there who will have them in the right place to get the job done.”
Cronulla have won five in a row heading into the game against Brisbane and have the chance to make a real statement to the rest of the competition.
A sixth win in succession heading into a bye week could see Cronulla entrenched inside the NRL’s top two.
The Sharks have earned plaudits for adding more style to their grinding reputation this season, mostly through the form of game breakers Ben Barba, Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes as well as their new halves combination of James Maloney and Chad Townsend.
But Flanagan is happy for Cronulla to maintain their old school reputation.
“I like that about our team,” he said.
“It’s hard to instill that and coach that into your club.
“I’d rather a side that can grind away than the sides that have got no grind in them at all.
“In big games you’re going to have to grind away and you want to [get] into that arm wrestle.
“I think the word grind for a footy team is a side that will stay in the battle for a long period of time.
“And I’m quite happy if that’s our team because to win the big games you’re going to have to stay in the battle for a long time so I think that’s a good thing.”
Brisbane will be without Adam Blair (suspension) and hooker Andrew McCullough who has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
And while most see the Broncos and North Queensland as the competition’s benchmark sides, Flanagan is taking confidence from Cronulla’s round one defeat in Townsville.
“I think we’re going pretty good. You saw against the Cowboys in round one that we were in it right up to the 70th minute mark,” he said.
“But since round one to where we are now in round eight we’re a better footy team.
“This is probably the next big test for us to see how we go against the Broncos who have been together for 12 months the majority of them.
“Broncos are setting the standard at the moment.
“These are the ones you want to play in, these and semi-finals, big games.
“They’ve blown some teams away but I think we’ll test them in some different areas.
“We’re not going to change too much, we’ll play the way we play.
“It’ll be really interesting to see how they go against us and how we go against them.”