Aaron Woods has declared himself ready to debut for Cronulla against the Warriors on Friday night, three days after his mid-season move from Canterbury.
Less than 24 hours after his second club switch within a season, Woods expected to travel with the Sharks to Auckland on Wednesday.
Cronulla have named the prop in their 21-man squad for the clash and it’s believed coach Shane Flanagan is likely to play him off the bench.
There might even be a slim chance he could start if Flanagan decides to give Matt Prior a break following his State of Origin debut.
However he is used, the 27-year-old was eager to get straight into it.
“It’s exciting,” Woods said.
“I’m just looking forward to getting out there and running around and just playing some footy.
“Jim Dymock and Shane Flanagan and John Morris have been really good. I sat down with them and went through it all.
“I’m fit enough so hopefully can play … I’ve thrown my hand up to play. I’m ready.”
Injured second-rower Luke Lewis named Woods “a really good buy” but wasn’t putting his money on his new teammate clocking any minutes on Friday.
“Obviously I don’t think he’ll play this weekend personally,” Lewis told Fox Sports’ NRL 360.
“I think he will probably come in and get the gist of things, how our club is run and what our protocols are, and learn from there.”
Early on Lewis predicted Woods would be largely deployed off the bench to “take a lot of pressure off”.
“Obviously you’ve got Matty Prior and Fifita and Gal who are our three starters,” he said.
“Woodsy can just come and relax and not worry too much about being the head guy of the forward pack.
“I reckon he’ll play his best football with us – he’ll come off the bench and his offloads will suit our game late in halves.”
Forty Twenty
Guest
I saw a player run to the wrong end of the field to start the second half the other week. It's a big ask but I'd love to see Woods arrive late for the game and run onto the field with his Dogs jumper on. Similar colours anyway.
farkurnell
Guest
I imagine its hard to be completely motivated if your Club wants to shop you around.. Althouugh Aaron is a professional RL player his sub conscience would be actively eating away .. i reckon Flanno will have a lot to work with to get him motivated to get back to his prior years form
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
He'll need a hell of an improvement with the Sharks,based on his efforts to date with the Dogs. At his best as shown with the Tigers, he can create the second phase play needed to crack tight defences. It's a punt taking him on, then again a couple of the Shark's forwards are in the ageing mode,thus one has to be the eternal optimist,he can regain teh form that made him an SOO forward.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
I only have three things to say: 1. Never tip the Warriors; 2. Don't even consider tipping the Warriors 3. Remember Dougie the Pizza Boy ? He tipped the Warriors.