Wests Tigers five-eighth Josh Reynolds has put forward his case to retain the No.6 jumper after impressing in their golden-point loss to Penrith.
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Playing in his first NRL game since last July, Reynolds showed glimpses of being back to his dynamic best by setting up both his team's tries on Friday.
And while he missed five tackles, Reynolds also went within a whisker of nailing what could've been a game-sealing field goal late in the match.
His display could leave coach Michael Maguire with a headache for next week's match against Brisbane, with Benji Marshall a chance to return from injury.
"I'll assess that when the time comes," Maguire said.
Maguire said it was important Reynolds proved that his body would allow him to string together back-to-back games of football.
The former Canterbury star managed just five matches last year.
"We spoke about him just going back and playing a couple of reserve grade games and just enjoying playing football. That's one thing he showed," he said.
"Unfortunately Benji had that slight strain to his hammy which gave an opportunity and those two work really hard together.
"I can imagine down the track, I'll be trying to work out how we can get them into the team."
Maguire also hinted he would consider playing either Reynolds or Marshall off the bench after his forwards punched out some major minutes against Penrith.
"It's all dependent on your forwards and how you can roll your forwards. That was something there I had to look at in the first few rounds," he said.
"Obviously our rotations through the middle and how much time they can play plays a part in how you're going to carry your bench, your impact.
"It's one of those ones that when the time comes, I'll assess where we're at.
"A number of our forwards are starting to get some really good game time now so it allows me to carry a different bench if need be."
Australian Associated Press
