Zillman on fast track to Titans

Ipswich Jets’ man of the match William Zillman dashes through a gap during his team’s impressive Queensland Cup victory at North Ipswich Reserve.

Sarah Keayes

WILL Zillman was too good for the Easts Tigers defenders and Ipswich Jets coach Glenn Lazarus at North Ipswich Reserve on Saturday night.

Zillman, a Gold Coast Titans regular last season, played so well in the Jets’ 32-16 win over the star-studded Tigers he may not wear a green jersey again this season.

In his Jets’ debut, he scored two dazzling solo tries and had a major hand in three others, one of which came from a flick pass that would make Benji Marshall blush.

During the second half, when Zillman was near untouchable, Jets assistant coach Ben Walker told Lazarus to avoid talking about the custodian to Titans coach John Cartwright.

“Unfortunately, Trevor Gillmeister (Titans assistant coach) was watching the game, so I think Cartwright will find out how good he played pretty quick,” Lazarus said.

“He was magnificent for us but I think once the Titans see the tape he won’t be with us for long, which is unfortunate because he’s fitted in well with the team.”

Zillman admitted to “kicking stones” during the week when he was omitted from the Titans team.

“I spoke to my family and friends after I found out and it was pretty obvious that I just had to show the Titans I want to be in the NRL team,” Zillman said.

“It was my first Q Cup game and I really enjoyed it. All the boys were good to me through the week at training and it felt pretty easy to slot in to their structure.”

But the performance of Zillman and the Jets owed a lot to a strong forward display which kept the monster Easts pack, which included NRL regular Lagi Setu, on the back foot.

Lazarus said he was proud of his players after they responded to his call to make their home ground a fortress after last year’s season began with five straight losses.

“We needed to win this first up after what happened last year, we couldn’t have that happen again,” Lazarus said.

While Zillman is bound for a Titans recall, former NRL rookie of the year Tim Smith looks set to spend the next few rounds in the Queensland Cup after an average performance.

Likewise, regular Broncos forward Setu had an inconsistent game.

Zillman was hopeful of a rebirth in the NRL on the Titans interchange bench.

When Zillman was asked what he was thinking when he unloaded his remarkable second half flick pass – which came despite him spinning and having two defenders on his back – he began laughing.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Zillman said.

“My head was on a swivel and I was being turned around and then I heard a call on the inside so I just flicked it up and it worked out.”

Just like everything else Zillman tried that night.

Ipswich Jets 32 (Will Zillman 2, Callum Waldrum, Michael Fisher, Paul Stephenson, Smith Samau tries; Brendon Marshall 4 goals) d Easts Tigers 16 (Kevin Stephensen, Ben Vaeau, Leon Panapa tries; Tim Smith 2 goals).

Real more ...

Young Jet soars in Q-Cup call up