After an impressive end to the season, four Titans players were selected for Wayne Bennett’s squad in the Queensland Maroons.
Bennett named a 15-man platoon that he’ll be expanding in the coming weeks to bring him to the 27-man squad that will come to the bladder later this month.
The Titans had the largest selection with the reigning Jai Arrow and the new faces AJ Brimson, Moeaki Fotuaika and Phillip Sami.
One titan who was missed was Jarrod Wallace, who was working towards his best form again at the end of the season after finally recovering from a painful back injury.
The 29-year-old prop has played six games for the Maroons since his debut in 2017. He played in the second game last year but was dropped afterwards. He wasn’t so lucky this year to be selected as a member of the Train-On team.
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It was no shock, however, when the names were announced on Wednesday and Wallace revealed it NRL tonight That ex-Queensland coach Kevin Walters actually gave him a hint that he hadn’t formed Bennett’s squad.
It’s a classic act from Walters who stepped down from coaching the Maroons after signing up to head the Broncos.
“I had a call from Kevvie two nights ago. He just wanted me to know that Wayne wasn’t going to add me to the roster, ”Wallace said.
“Obviously, that didn’t have to happen, so I was really grateful to Kevvie for that, especially when it’s probably not his choice anymore, but he’s still made those tough phone calls.
“It just goes to show how much Kevvie cares about this site.”
Wallace admitted that prior to receiving the call from Walters, he was hopeful that he had done enough to get selected.
“Hope is always there. I was just hoping I’d done enough to get a place with Wayne … but it just wasn’t meant to be this year, ”he said.
“He’s gone with the side he thinks will be the one who can do the job and I trust him completely.
“At the end of the day Wayne called and it is what it is.”
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Another noticeably missing face from Bennett’s roster was veteran striker Josh McGuire, who has represented Queensland 14 times and played eight friendly matches for Australia.
Wallace said McGuire McGuire and Tiger’s Utility Moses Mbye, who had also failed, were “very tough on”.
“I think there are some people who have worked very hard,” he said.
“Josh has been one of the best players in Queensland over the last few years and Moses was fantastic last year.
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“But it gives the young people a chance and put on the jersey. There’s just no better feeling than playing for Queensland and having the Queenslanders support.
“It doesn’t matter who puts the jersey on, you know they’ll do the job for you and they’ll do it to the best of their ability.”
While Wallace’s career as a Representative may be interrupted, Moeaki Fotuaika, the Titans’ forward, is just getting started.
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The 20-year-old was sensational to the Titans and someone Wallace says deserves his selection.
“He is unbelievable.
“He comes to us as a junior, but started a preseason when he was 17. He honestly came in and beat up guys who played 250 games. He had that confidence and aura about him that you only knew would be a good player.
“He’s got a big engine, he’s aggressive and I guarantee if he gets this jersey he’ll be one who won’t let you down.”
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Fotuaika is considered a mess and his teammate AJ Brimson could also make his debut as Kalyn Ponga is likely to be excluded due to a shoulder injury.
Wallace is confident that Brimson could easily fill Ponga’s shoes.
“You can obviously see what AJ has done this year,” he said.
“He had a back injury that should have excluded him for the whole year but he trained so hard and got himself so right that he was probably one of our big differences in our last five to eight games and why we did so well .
“If Kalyn Ponga pulls out and gets this chance I don’t think he’s going to miss a punch, he would be fantastic in that No. 1 role.”
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