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Michael Westlake

Scott back for more

Queensland enforcer Matt Scott is adamant a degenerative back condition will not hamper his ability to spearhead the Maroons’ quest for a seventh consecutive Origin series victory in 2012.

With front-row partner Petero Civoniceva still weighing up whether to play representative football this season, Maroons coach Mal Meninga is sweating on a fit and firing Scott quelling a NSW uprising against a Paul Gallen-inspired Blues forward pack.

But the Cowboys co-skipper must follow a carefully tailored injury-management plan to ensure his body withstands a gruelling NRL season.

Last year, Scott carried a minor back problem through the Origin campaign, an injury which worsened after the series, to the point where the Test prop required an epidural injection on the eve of the NRL finals.

Cowboys medicos have told Scott his back will never be 100 per cent due to a degenerative disc, but the 26-year-old is confident the injury will not derail his Origin ambitions this season. “My back is feeling much better, the time off over summer has been good for my body and to get the bumps and bruises out of me,” Scott said.

“I haven’t played too many games this year, but training wise I got through everything in pre-season and I haven’t had any flare ups yet. Hopefully it stays that way for the entire season. “It (his back ailment) is something I will always have with me, but it’s a case of managing my rehab and looking after it so I don’t have any major problems with it. “There wasn’t much I could do about it when it happened last season, you’re getting by week to week, so the goal is to stop it getting to that point this year and I’ve got a few things in place to help that.

“Training has been modified for me slightly in the gym and I’m managing my back that way … hopefully it doesn’t get bad enough to need surgery.” Scott knows he is entering a critical phase of his representative career.

With Civoniceva, who turns 36 next month, likely to retire from the NRL altogether at season’s end, Scott has been anointed as the man to accept the front-row leadership baton and lead Queensland and Australia into a dominant new era.

Scott’s reputation was franked last November, when he was named the world’s best prop at the International Rugby League awards in London. And while he feels ready to take over from Civoniceva as the Maroons’ forward kingpin, the Cowboys co-captain says he is getting adequate support from a posse of exciting Queensland forwards.

“I don’t necessarily see myself becoming the main man (for Queensland),” said Scott, who has played eight Origin matches and nine Tests. “The good thing about the Queensland team is we work well together as a group and part of that is coming through together and the workload is shared together a bit.

“Guys like Sam Thaiday and Nate Myles have played more Origins than I have and ‘Smitty’ (hooker Cameron Smith) gives us that direction. “I just want to keep doing my job for the team, but there’s no doubt being given the co-captaincy at the Cowboys has been good for me. “It’s been more responsibility but it’s something I enjoy, it’s taken my game to another level.”

Scott was a member of Australia’s victorious Four Nations squad last November and said the tour was an invaluable experience. “You always learn so much in those rep camps,” he said.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to go on a few Aussie tours. Every time you are on those trips it adds to your game and hopefully I can continue to improve my game this season.”

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