By Nathan Beuman
St George Illawarra Dragons lock Jake Marketo believes his teammates will need to ‘muscle up’ against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park on Monday.
The Holy Cross Rhinos junior is part of an 18-man extended squad named for the upcoming fixture and hopes he does enough at training this week to cement a spot on the interchange bench.
Marketo, 26, returned to first-grade action in the local derby fixture against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks last round and admits he relishes whatever opportunities he is provided to represent the Club.
“If the Bulldogs have their full forward pack then we will have to muscle up in the forwards again,” said Marketo.
“They have quite a dominant forward pack, so we can muscle up against them, which gives more ball to Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop to do what they do on the edge.
“It was good to get the win against the Sharks at home and put on a really dominant display for the home crowd.
“I’ve been sort of on the edge or in the team since the start of the year.
“I’ve just been doing what I’m doing, making sure I’m eating right, doing my extras and that kind of stuff.
“It was good to get a bit more time last round and I hope to keep putting myself in positions where I get to continue receiving these opportunities.”
