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Costigan not expecting call from Meninga

Ian McCullough 19/06/2011 02:23:44 PM Comments (0)

Neville Costigan admits he'd love to help Queensland win a sixth straight State of Origin series, but he is not expecting a call from Maroons coach Mal Meninga.

Costigan has been in good form for Newcastle since returning from a broken arm, suffered against Penrith in round one, scoring two tries in three games.

Despite being part of the Queensland set-up for the past two years, Costigan said he'd had no recent contact with Meninga.

"Of course I would love to be back in the team, but I was out a while with my arm and only just making my way back to any sort of form, so I wasn't really expecting anything," Costigan said.

"I am only focusing on doing my best for the Knights.

"It would be nice to help the boys get revenge on the Blues, but I will be just as happy to watch us win on the TV."

Costigan opened the scoring in the Knights' dour 16-12 win over Penrith on Saturday, but revealed he played much of the second half in pain, after taking a knock on the right arm he broke.

The former Brisbane, St George Illawarra and Canberra backrower sported a huge scar across the inside of his arm where a plate was inserted.

"I took a bump on it tonight and it was a bit weak in the second half, but I hope it should be OK," he said.

"I came back about three weeks ahead of normal, but it felt pretty good, otherwise I wouldn't have come back.

"But it was good to play the full 80 minutes and I aim to be doing that every week now."

Costigan's try was set up by debutant five-eighth Ryan Stig, who rejoined the club after an unhappy stint at North Queensland having come through the Knights' youth system.

Despite being a local product, the scoreboard at Ausgrid Stadium spelt the 21-year-old's name incorrectly to announce he was awarded man of the match, something Stig could see the humorous side of.

"When I came back at the start of the year, the Knights started spelling it with two g's," Stig said.

"I don't know why. I've been here for seven years. I went away for a year and they forgot how to spell my name!"

Knights' coach Rick Stone said Stig's display would make it hard to leave him out of the team, and the youngster said his faith and family had given him the strength and belief that he could succeed.

"I'm a pretty strong Christian and got a good church family," he said.

"I've got a lot of good people around me. They encourage me a lot. They've helped me to stay persistent and continue to chase it."

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