DIEHARD
23-07-07, 05:49 PM
TITANS forward Mark Minichiello says his side must regain its `pack' mentality in defence in a bid to arrest the form slump which threatens to tarnish the Gold Coast team's inaugural season.
After building a reputation as one of the toughest defensive units in the competition, the Titans' renowned grit in defence has gone AWOL in recent weeks as the injury-ravaged outfit has conceded 92 points in consecutive losses to Canberra and the Bulldogs.
Of as much concern for coach John Cartwright is not just the sheer numbers which his side has conceded, but the soft fashion in which some of the tries have been scored.
With the club's impressive first season fast turning pear shaped, Minichiello said the Titans had to regain their faith in the man alongside them in an attempt to produce the steely attitude in defence they showed earlier in the season.
"We've just got to address a few things defensively especially," said Minichiello.
"We have all got to collectively take a look at ourselves and individually try and be better than we have in the last couple of weeks.
"At start of the year our defence was really tough and we held out most things. But of late we have let easy tries in.
"Defence is more about attitude anyway, you don't forget how to tackle. It's more mental in the way you approach it.
"So we have got to go back to being confident in each other in making each tackle and start hunting together as a pack, which is what we've lacked over the last couple of weeks."
After four successive losses, the Titans are now facing an uphill battle in attempting to qualify for an historic finals berth, needing to win four of their remaining six matches.
They were favoured by weekend results, though, and slipped only one place to 10th on the ladder, two points outside the top eight.
Aiding the Titans cause ahead of Saturday night's crunch match against South Sydney is the likely returns of workaholic forward Anthony Laffranchi and star centre Mat Rogers, who have both been sidelined with knee injuries.
The pair will be assessed at the team's medical on Wednesday.
Lock Luke Swain will undergo scans today after suffering an ankle injury in the 36-12 loss to the Bulldogs at Gold Coast Stadium on Friday night while hooker Clint Amos (concussion) and Michael Hodgson (knee) may also be available for selection this week.
But inspirational halfback Scott Prince is considered another week away from returning from a shoulder injury.
Fill-in halfback Josh Lewis said the Titans would simply have to forget about the loss to the Bulldogs in a bid to stop the rot.
"It's just a confidence thing. We've been down in the dumps for about four or five weeks now and as soon as we get that win we will be right," said Lewis.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/
After building a reputation as one of the toughest defensive units in the competition, the Titans' renowned grit in defence has gone AWOL in recent weeks as the injury-ravaged outfit has conceded 92 points in consecutive losses to Canberra and the Bulldogs.
Of as much concern for coach John Cartwright is not just the sheer numbers which his side has conceded, but the soft fashion in which some of the tries have been scored.
With the club's impressive first season fast turning pear shaped, Minichiello said the Titans had to regain their faith in the man alongside them in an attempt to produce the steely attitude in defence they showed earlier in the season.
"We've just got to address a few things defensively especially," said Minichiello.
"We have all got to collectively take a look at ourselves and individually try and be better than we have in the last couple of weeks.
"At start of the year our defence was really tough and we held out most things. But of late we have let easy tries in.
"Defence is more about attitude anyway, you don't forget how to tackle. It's more mental in the way you approach it.
"So we have got to go back to being confident in each other in making each tackle and start hunting together as a pack, which is what we've lacked over the last couple of weeks."
After four successive losses, the Titans are now facing an uphill battle in attempting to qualify for an historic finals berth, needing to win four of their remaining six matches.
They were favoured by weekend results, though, and slipped only one place to 10th on the ladder, two points outside the top eight.
Aiding the Titans cause ahead of Saturday night's crunch match against South Sydney is the likely returns of workaholic forward Anthony Laffranchi and star centre Mat Rogers, who have both been sidelined with knee injuries.
The pair will be assessed at the team's medical on Wednesday.
Lock Luke Swain will undergo scans today after suffering an ankle injury in the 36-12 loss to the Bulldogs at Gold Coast Stadium on Friday night while hooker Clint Amos (concussion) and Michael Hodgson (knee) may also be available for selection this week.
But inspirational halfback Scott Prince is considered another week away from returning from a shoulder injury.
Fill-in halfback Josh Lewis said the Titans would simply have to forget about the loss to the Bulldogs in a bid to stop the rot.
"It's just a confidence thing. We've been down in the dumps for about four or five weeks now and as soon as we get that win we will be right," said Lewis.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/