Gold Coast's Bryce Cartwright put in a decent, honest shift in Saturday's NRL trial against Brisbane and, as far as coach Garth Brennan is concerned, that's just fine.
The under-fire utility is desperate to atone for an underwhelming 2018 campaign at the Titans, where he went from star recruit to Queensland Cup player in a matter of months.
Cartwright hardly put a foot wrong in an 80-minute performance in the 25-22 defeat to the Broncos at Cbus Super Stadium, opening the door for him to be in contention for the round-one clash with Canberra.
"He had some big guys running at him all game and he just kept turning up and doing his job," Brennan said.
"That's all I want from him.
"We all know what he can do with the football, he can do some remarkable things ... but defensively is where he needs to be and I thought tonight he really stood up."
Cartwright wasn't alone in impressing, despite the Titans blowing an 18-0 lead to fall to defeat to their south-east Queensland rivals.
Kevin Proctor scored a first-half double, while the halves pairing between Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts looks very promising.
Ryley Jacks continues his return from an elbow injury while Mitch Rein is pushing hard to usurp Nathan Peats as Brennan's first-choice No.9.
Brennan is also excited by the impact recruit Tyrone Peacehey could have on his team's campaign.
"It helps having a player like Tyrone Peachey in your team," Brennan said.
"You can throw him in the middle, throw him in the halves, throw him in the centres.
"He's ideal to have in your side and you don't necessarily need to have that utility on your bench when you've got someone like Tyrone who can adapt fairly quickly."
