Injured Dolphins prop Thomas Fleger says he will leave no stone unturned in his quest to play in the grudge match with former club Brisbane next week.
Flegler left the field in the 63nd minute of the 26-16 win over Wests Tigers on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium with a shoulder complaint and spent the rest of the match on the sideline with ice on the injury.
He joined centre Herbie Farnworth (AC joint) and second-rower Felise Kaufusi (hamstring) on the injured list from the match.
While AAP has been told Farnworth and Kaufusi were almost certain to miss the Broncos clash, coach Wayne Bennett said Flegler was a chance.
The 24-year-old prop said in the dressing room he would strive to be on the field for his first ever ‘Battle of Brisbane’ showdown as a Dolphin.on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
“I am pretty keen. It will be good to play. It is going to be a massive crowd and obviously playing against your old team … it will be a good battle,” Flegler said.
“I will get stuck in. I want to play every week. My gut feeling is I will be back.
“The shoulder is getting better. It’s not too bad. We will just play it by ear and see how it is on Sunday morning, go into medicals, see what the physios reckon and take it from there.
“It wasn’t painful. Just a little bit numb.”
Flegler said there was “no diagnosis” on the nature of his injury although coach Bennett said in the post-match press conference it was an AC joint complaint.
The Dolphins went, provisionally, back to the top of the table with their win over the Tigers and Flegler said whoever filled the injury void next week would do the job.
“Going into every game we try and have our best team on the park and some weeks we can’t do that because of injuries,” he said.
“We have sustained a few injuries tonight which isn’t ideal but life goes on. We’ve got a next-man-up mentality and some good boys in Queensland Cup and I am sure they will fill the void really well.”