Interim Canterbury coach Mick Potter hopes Penrith feel the backlash of Josh Addo-Carr's State of Origin snubbing, predicting the electric winger will have "a point to prove" on Friday night.
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Addo-Carr's shock omission from Origin I in Sydney next week continues to be the talk of the NRL, with NSW coach Brad Fittler preferring Daniel Tupou's height over Addo-Carr's blinding pace.
But the Blues' loss is the Bulldogs' gain as Addo-Carr lines up for Potter's bottom-placed outfit against a table-topping Panthers side missing six stars on Origin duty for NSW.
"You can sense the disappointment but on the exterior he's upbeat. I think he'll have a point to prove," Potter said on Tuesday.
"I'm disappointed for him but you're only as good as your last game and let's see if he can get out and prove that he's a good State of Origin player and there might be an opportunity there in the short term. You never know."
Potter stopped short of saying Addo-Carr had been hard done by.
"I haven't got the knowledge that the selectors have got and what all they look at," he said.
"But I just look at Josh as a quality player and he could be one of those State of Origin players, without a doubt.
"Josh is a quality player and he makes our team better and I'm only too happy to have him but just a little bit disappointed that he didn't get picked."
Potter admitted facing the Panthers with their bunch of rep players out was "handy".
But he said it would be foolish to under-estimate the rampant premiers.
"That would be a stupid thing to do and I don't think we can afford to be in any way like that," he said.
"Most of the players coming up have played a bit of first grade. There's a plethora of them out at Penrith. They keep coming.
"So they're going to be tough regardless. We'll just be fighting for our lives to get a win up."
Addo-Carr won't be the only Bulldog out to impress, with Matt Burton facing his old club for the first time since leaving Penrith after last year's grand final triumph.
"Matt will appreciate the event and being back there," Potter said.
"He might get a little bit of stick from the crowd but that's expected and that's all part of the game, part of the threatre, and he'll want to have a big game for sure."
Australian Associated Press
