Hannant hyped up for Bulldogs return
Bulldogs prop Ben Hannant says he can't wait to get back into NRL action against Parramatta on Saturday after spending a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Hannant, who damaged his medial ligament playing in the second State of Origin clash for Queensland in Sydney, said he had to be held back from returning too soon by the Bulldogs medical staff.
"My recovery has been great," Hannant said.
"Tony (Ayoub) our physio has done a great job and I have been working with him and following his orders to make sure I am back in time for Saturday.
"I am dying to get out there, in Origin three I was doing everything I could to convince them to let me play and last Friday against Gold Coast I wanted to play but they wanted to give me one more week's rest.
"Now I am running around fine and it's just exciting to be back in the blue and white for the Bulldogs."
Hannant has seen Parramatta's in-form fullback Jarryd Hayne at close quarters during Origin games and said stopping the 21-year-old would be the key to beating the Eels.
"It is going to take 17 players to stop him, he is like Greg Inglis, he is a freak of the game and we need to be at our best to handle him," Hannant said.
The Bulldogs have been the surprise package of the season, having been transformed on and off the pitch to sit in second spot on the NRL ladder with just seven rounds of the season remaining.
Michael Ennis, who along with Hannant has been a huge success since joining from Brisbane, said the club was exactly where it wanted to be at this stage of the season, but dismissed any talk of a grand final.
"It would be nice to get the reward for what we have done this year and we are happy with where we are at the moment, but we are going to need to be good for the next six weeks as a lot can happen in that time," Ennis said.
"There are lot of good teams playing good footy, St George, Melbourne, Manly are near the eight and know all about winning a grand final so there are a lot of good teams there."
Ennis said the return of Hannant and also 19-year-old centre Jamal Idris, who made a brilliant return to action from an elbow injury last week, has come at just the right time.
"Jamal has a lot of ability, he is a natural athlete and blessed with great size and it is great to have him out there," he said.
"I thought for his first game out for a month he showed some good signs last week and it is good to have him back at such an important part of the season.
"And it is an enormous boost for us having Benny back.
"Anyone who can get a front rower of his quality is going to find it beneficial this time of year."
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