Shannon Boyd has his sights on representative football following Gold Coast Titans move

SHANNON Boyd believes a fresh start with the Gold Coast Titans can be the platform he needs to return to representative football in 2019.

Shannon Boyd at Gold Coast Titans pre-season training. Picture: TITANS MEDIA

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TWO years without representative rugby league is motivation for prop recruit Shannon Boyd to excel for the Titans.

Boyd, 26, played four Tests for Australia in 2016, impressing in his role as a go-forward merchant, but was unable to play for NSW or the Kangaroos after that.

Boyd, who played 121 first grade games for Canberra, said Gold Coast had to become a top-eight side next year and he backed them to do so after a 14th placed campaign in 2018.

“A fresh start is what I needed. I’d been in Canberra a long time,’’ said Boyd on his first day in the pre-season at Gold Coast on Monday.

“Garth (Brennan) seemed an understanding and reasonable coach.

Boyd has joined the Titans after five seasons with the Raiders.

“It sounded like I was walking into a good place. He told me what he wanted me to be for the club. I agreed with what he said.

“I’d like to start playing rep footy again. I have to play some better football first.’’

Boyd was the biggest name recruit at the Titans’ first day of pre-season, with Tyrone Peachey, Tyrone Roberts and Ryley Jacks all due to join the squad over the coming weeks.

Boyd said he was pleased to be joining the Titans pack.

“Guys like Jai Arrow, Jarrod Wallace and Ryan James, the pack up here was good last year and they’d done a good job recruiting,’’ he said.

Boyd is one of the biggest men in the NRL.

“Jack Stockwell is there and everyone will be pushing for positions. It will be a big year.

“If you aren’t aiming for top eight, you shouldn’t be here. We should make top eight.

“Garth said the players got on well.

“It will be very different for me here. If I can embrace what they have and make good relationships with the coaches, I think we’ll go pretty well.’’

Boyd said he had been resigned to quitting the NRL and returning to his family’s sheep property before he found an extra gear in Ricky Stuart’s first year at the Raiders in 2014.

Meanwhile, Cowboys recruit Nene Macdonald is understood to have escaped serious injury after he was allegedly hit on the head with a bottle while in Papua New Guinea.

Can Boyd earn another representative jersey?

The alleged assault came hours after Macdonald represented the Kumuls in their win over the England Knights and a Cowboys spokesman told The Courier-Mail that the club had made contact with the former Dragons winger and he was fine.

Cowboys forward Mitch Dunn said some players had also reached out to Macdonald over the incident, which had come as a shock.

“A few of the boys have spoken to him, hopefully he can move on,” Dunn said.

“We are looking forward to having him here. He has that x-factor. He scores tries that no one else can.”

The Cowboys said Macdonald will join them for pre-season on December 3.

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