A fit and injury-free Tyson Frizell is hoping his good form for the Newcastle Knights over the opening eight rounds will put him in the thoughts of Westpac NSW Blues selectors.
The Knights back-rower has scored three tries, run an average of 100 metres a game and has a 97.6 per cent tackle efficiency rate.
The 31-year-old True Blue has become famous for his cross-field cover defence, where he puts on the burners to grab players who’ve made a break.
Frizell has played 14 Origins from 2016-2020, being a part of the 2018-19 series-winning sides for the NSW Blues.
In the past he’s been troubled by ankle, neck, lower back ailments, and even a ruptured testicle but he feels like he’s in the clear now.
“I feel pretty good this far – hope it stays that way as it’s a long year,” Frizell said.
“My body has been in pretty good nick. I had a big pre-season to hold off a few injuries so let’s hope it stays that way.”
As for returning to the Origin fold, he’ll take it a step at a time.
“I’d never say ‘No’ that’s for sure,” he said.
“Like always you try and play as well as possible for your club to get yourself into a position near the top of the table.
“Representative footy usually comes along with that.
“Look it’s not in the forefront of my mind but it is in the back of my mind. You never know – I might get an opportunity.”
Frizell’s form is being helped by a Knights outfit showing a fair bit of ticker in 2023.
“I think we’re a lot more comfortable in tough periods of the game when we’re going set-for-set and the score line is going back and forth,” Frizell said.
“In the past we slid away a bit when the games got out of hand. This year we’ve been able to stay in the contest.
“We want to keep fighting to the death and in saying that, come away with a few wins. But we let two games slide the past two weeks so hopefully that doesn’t happen this week (v Parramatta).”
The Knights are 3-4 in win-loss and are in 12th position – they have a small for-and-against so a win over the Eels followed by the bye in Round 10 will have them knocking on the door of the top-eight.
They have had a couple of tough results already to deny them, including a one-point loss to the Panthers (16-15) in Round Seven and a two-point loss to the Cowboys in Round Eight (18-16).
