Titans lock Jai Arrow plans to pile pressure on Penrith playmakers Nathan Cleary and James Maloney
HAVING overcome a knee injury and fought his way back to form, Titans lock Jai Arrow has another mountain to climb this weekend — stopping Penrith playmakers Nathan Cleary and James Maloney.
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TITANS lock Jai Arrow is on a personal mission to stop Blues playmakers Nathan Cleary and James Maloney after they rained on his Origin debut.
Arrow is back to his best after overcoming a knee injury that impacted his post-Origin form, and is desperate to lead the Titans back into the winner’s circle against Penrith at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.
The Titans slumped to a poor 28-12 loss to wooden spoon contenders Parramatta last Saturday in which they lacked execution and defensive commitment.
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The fifth-placed Panthers are looking to overcome the sacking of coach Anthony Griffin this week and will present a strong challenge for the erratic Titans.
Arrow, 23, made his Queensland Origin debut this year, losing his maiden series to the “Baby Blues” steered by Cleary and Maloney.
He knows how dangerous the Panthers playmaking duo can be and that is why Arrow has vowed to shut them down.
“They’ve showed throughout the year, and in the Origin series, they are two quality players,” he said.
“We’ll definitely have to put some pressure on them. We’ll have to be on our toes and get into those guys and frustrate them.
“I’m someone who prides myself on things like kick pressure.
“If I can get into (Maloney) when he’s kicking and take away his kicking game, hopefully it goes a long way to him not being dangerous throughout the game.”
Arrow has been the Gold Coast’s best player in 2018 and should be the raging favourite to claim the club’s player of the year award.
He played 24 NRL games across two seasons for the Broncos before linking with the Titans this year and has featured in 17 matches for the Gold Coast, as well as three Origins.
It has been a taxing year for Arrow, who plays the game with no thoughts of self-preservation, but he insists he is raring to go in the last four rounds of the season.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” he said.
“When your coach (Garth Brennan) asks you to play long minutes it’s a challenge, and I love a challenge.
“It hasn’t been a long year at all. I would have liked to have won more games and been in the top eight but it’s not to be, so I’ve got to suck it up.”
The Titans have only beaten two top eight teams — Brisbane and New Zealand — this season and a win against Penrith would prove they can challenge the NRL’s top sides.
“In patches we’ve given it to the top teams,” he said.
“We showed against the Roosters and Melbourne that we can match them in the first halves then we fall into patches.
“When we have our lapses they are pretty bad. We have to fix that up defensively.
“We all need to take accountability with our inconsistency. We’ve got a young squad and young halves but that’s not really an excuse.
“I back Garth and say we all have to stand up and do the job.”
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