Bryce Cartwright knows who he has to impress to earn an NRL return with Gold Coast - Garth Brennan's grandmother.
It sounds odd, but that's the Titans coach's personal test to determine whether a player is doing enough in the Queensland Cup to warrant a recall to the top grade.
Cartwright was dropped after a string of poor performances earlier this month and wasn't considered for Sunday's away clash against Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
Some reports suggest the Titans have lost patience with the 23-year-old, who was recruited from Penrith on the eve of the season, and are keen to offload him to another club.
"The way I look at a player when they play in a Queensland Cup level, especially NRL players, is they need to stand out," Brennan told reporters on Tuesday.
"If my grandmother goes along to watch a game of football, who's never watched a game of football in her life, and she says to me 'gee, that guy's good, why is he playing at that level?', then you know that's an NRL player playing at that standard.
"It's a really good competition, the Queensland Cup, and it's a good gauge on where players are at."
Cartwright seemed to stand out well enough on debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their last-start win over Norths Devils.
He played the full match in the back-row, running for 177m with five tackle busts and two offloads.
However, the only change Brennan has made to the Titans team that defeated Canterbury 32-10 is the inclusion of Queensland Origin forward Jarrod Wallace, who returns from suspension.
Brennan said Cartwright needed to string several good games together before he could mount a convincing selection case.
"He's probably not where he wants to be," he said.
"Obviously he would like to be playing NRL ... but he knows he needs to do some work back there.
"He played some decent football which you'd expect at that level and he needs to just keep showing me that on a consistent basis."
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