Lockyer cleared for Dogs clash - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Lockyer cleared for Dogs clash

Wayne Heming 28/04/2011 04:46:26 PM Comments (0)

Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin claims there were no alarm bells at the thought of Darren Lockyer missing Friday's big home NRL clash with Canterbury.

But there's no doubt he'd be relieved the veteran playmaker passed a fitness test on Thursday after suffering back spasms earlier in the week and is set to play against the Broncos' bogy team.

The Bulldogs boast the remarkable record of winning seven of their last nine games against ladder leaders Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.

Lockyer's composure will be invaluable against a Bulldogs outfit containing Jamal Idris, Ben Barba, Michael Ennis, Josh Morris, Frank Pritchard, Andrew Ryan and Aiden Tolman - more than enough firepower to threaten the Broncos' six-game winning streak.

Griffin knows the day is fast approaching when retirement-bound Lockyer won't turn out in the No.6 jumper to run the show.

"If he misses a game, we put Corey Norman there or we put Ben Hunt in there," said Griffin on Thursday.

"We're going to have to get to that eventually and if it was this week, it would have been this week.

"At some stage down the track, that's going to happen, but it's not an issue for us."

Griffin, who has managed to come up with game plans to knock over the Roosters and Wests Tigers in the six-game winning streak, said the Bulldogs were capable of destroying teams.

"They're in great form and they can blow you away with the strike they've got," he said.

"They ripped Souths apart last week in a 20 minute burst just before half time."

Griffin sat on the fence when asked how rookie discovery Jack Reed would handle the game's latest millionaire man Idris in the clash of the centres.

Reed, a 98kg flame-haired brickie will have to put up a defensive wall to stop the dreadlocked 194cm, 115kg Idris who's been terrorising rivals with his size and massive fend.

"He (Reed) has done the job for us so far, I'll tell you tomorrow night. I can't say whether he is up to it or not.

"We give Jack a job to do every week and he goes out and does his best.

"But it's not just Jack who has to do a good job on Jamal, we've got do it on (Frank) Pritchard and (Ben) Barba and all the strike they've got.

"We got to go as a group and keep going at them defensively otherwise they're going to put some points on us."

After coming up short against class acts St George Illawarra and Melbourne, the Bulldogs are looking for a big scalp to be taken seriously as premiership threats.

"I think we've shown signs of improving over the last couple of weeks, so getting tested on their home turf in front of a big crowd and against a team that's coming off six straight is going to be a good guide to where we're at at the moment," said Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore.

"I know the boys are looking forward to it, we've got a pretty good record up there."

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news