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Gold Coast happy to find Peats replacement within the club

Published by
Kristian Amenta

The Titans won't shop the market to find a replacement for Nathan Peats, who has just begun surgery on the pectoral muscle after injuring it in the club's gym facilities.

Similar surgery usually entails a three-month recovery period, however Brennan believes the experience and work-ethic of their star hooker will give him a return time of around nine to 10 weeks.

Coach Garth Brennan will instead look towards his own players for a solution, with 28-year-old Mitch Rein the only replacement at the dummy-half position within the Titans squad.

Gold Coast still have two free spots on their roster, but Brennan has stated the versatility of his squad is what he will look towards in the coming weeks, with AJ Brimson, Ryley Jacks and Tryone Roberts all viable options at the No. 9.

"We've got some players within our roster at the moment that can cover that if a situation was to arise so I don't think there's really a need to replace him at this stage for a 'what if for nine weeks," Brennan told NRL.com

"You've always in the back of your mind got to have something up your sleeve in case there's an injury or Mitch does need a break.

"He got through 80 the other night first time up so he's only going to get better for it.

"The more times he does play 80 minutes the better he's going to be and most of the top NRL hookers these days tend to play 80 minutes.

"You look at the likes of Smith, Cook, Friend, McInnes, not many of them come off.

"That's just the way the game has gone these days, you can't have two genuine hookers in your team and hence the reason why I went this way this season so far."

"I'm confident Nathan will get back inside the 10 weeks.

"A few guys in the past got back in nine weeks and 'Peatsy' is super fit and looks after himself.

"If we can get him back inside 10 weeks it will be a boost to us moving forward."

The Titans have named Rein as their starting hooker this week as they face the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday evening.

Published by
Kristian Amenta