Rogers in rapid return


MAT Rogers remains in the frame for a remarkable NRL comeback with Titans coach John Cartwright yesterday confirming the veteran would be "on the plane" to New Zealand on Thursday.

While he was not named in Cartwright's extended 18-man team to take on the Warriors in Auckland on Friday night, Rogers will travel across the Tasman just days after his first official training session with the Titans on Monday. With nine Titans players potentially unavailable through injury and representative duty, Cartwright hinted Rogers might find himself making an immediate return to the NRL less than a week after coming out of retirement.

"He looks like he hasn't been away and he's feeling good so I wouldn't rule anything out," Cartwright said.

"We've got to be guided by him. If he feels up to it then we'll make a decision.

"Mat has played the game for 20 years so if he tells me he's 100 per cent I'm not going to be the one to argue with him."

If pitched into battle against New Zealand, the 35-year-old would finally join the illustrious 200-game club which eluded him late last season. For the Titans' inaugural Hall of Famer, the achievement would be a just reward for a man Cartwright said was the very essence of mental strength.

Cartwright said he appreciated the gamble Rogers was willing to take.

"He had a tremendous career and went out on a great note," he said. "He loves the game and he loves the club and so is doing it for the right reasons. It's the intensity of the game and the intensity of contact where he'll be found out if he is."

Another comeback king who's mastered the art of survival is New Zealand international Clinton Toopi, who will step out for his 150th NRL match on Friday night. Cast into rugby league wilderness in 2008 after three seasons at Leeds, the Titans handed Toopi a lifeline in 2010.

He played himself back into first grade contention and soon repaid the club's faith by fixing their defensive leaks at left centre.
Your Say

Pencilled in for a role with the club's Polynesian youth next term, Cartwright said Toopi deserved his milestone.

"I'm glad to be able to do that for Toops," Cartwright said. "It's against the club where it all started for him and he's got a lot of family over there. You tend to find guys coming out of the Warriors go back there and go up a notch and hopefully Toops does that."


Source: www.goldcoast.com.au/sport.html