Sometimes timing is everything and that could certainly be the case for Sam Kasiano this week.
The powerful prop has not played since the Round 15 win over Newcastle due to a knee injury but could be set for a recall against the Gold Coast.
Kasiano has been named on an eight-man extended bench, leaving him in contention for a bench spot to replace one of injured pair Nelson Asofa-Solomona or Brandon Smith.
He has played one game in the Intrust Super Cup in his return from injury which came two weeks ago against the Falcons and showed he was ready to step back up to first grade with 116 metres,1 line break and a try in 48 minutes.
Christian Welch is another forward who is ready and willing to step up in the absence of Asofa-Solomona and expressed his excitement at the wealth of depth in Melbourne's forward pack.
"It's an exciting thing for me to play a bit more but at the same time we have some really strong forwards with Vete joining us midseason and Tui (Kamikamica) who should be playing more NRL as he is that good of a player," Welch said.
"Sam Kasiano is back from injury so I think we have a good amount of depth in our forward pack and we are always driving ourselves hard out there at training."
"It's a bit of a blessing to have a guy like Sam Kasiano coming back from injury.
"I think he won a Dally M prop of the year award not too long ago [2012] and he has played a lot of NRL and finals footy, so he is a great addition for us to call upon. And in the games he has played you can see the big impact he can have."
Storm Media: Christian Welch
