Those questioning Jarrod Wallace's place in Queensland's State of Origin side have been slammed by his club coach Garth Brennan after the forward stood for Gold Coast.
Playing his second game in three days, the Titans prop was forced to work overtime when bench forwards Max King (shoulder) and Moeaki Fotuaika (head knock) both lasted less than five minutes.
Wallace finished with 34 tackles, 14 runs and 142 metres gained in the side's 18-16 loss to South Sydney in an effort Brennan said should silence his doubters.
But the coach emphatically argued those same stats shouldn't be the ultimate judge of his performance, pointing to Wallace's comparatively quiet 43m gain on Wednesday.
"How anyone could be questioning Jarrod Wallace's position in a Queensland Origin side has got me absolutely amazed," Brennan said.
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"People who looked at his runs the other night are Supercoach fans, they look at how many metres they make, they don't look at what coaches look at.
"Kevvie (Maroons coach Kevin Walters) isn't that silly, he's a smart operator, he's not getting caught up in all that rubbish."
Wallace owned up to his performance on Wednesday, while critics are calling for change after NSW's starting forward pack dominated at the MCG.
But Brennan said Wallace had no case to answer.
"Look at what they do off the ball; I thought his defence was good, his support runs," Brennan said.
"Yeah, OK, he didn't make the metres that everyone seems to look at, but coaches and players know the effort players put it so for Jarrod to be questioned of his performance is absolutely ridiculous."
Brennan said both King and Fotuaika had bounced back well from their respective injuries.
