NYC Round 10. BRONCOS vs TITANS
Binge holds key for NYC Titans
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Titans NYC coach Jamie O?Connor will be urging his enigmatic youngsters to look to teammate Caleb Binge to begin their climb up the premiership ladder.
The cellar-dwelling Gold Coast team clash with third-placed Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night with O?Connor frustrated by a season of mental fade-outs.
The Titans have won two from nine, but have been in the contest up until the 60-minute mark in almost every game.
?Mentally we fade,?? he said.
?Last weekend against the Dragons we weren?t switched on at the start and were down by 20 after 20 minutes. However that has not been the case in most games. Usually we have competed well through until the last 20.?
O?Connor has put plenty of time into finding the mental key to keep his players switched on. That?s why he keeps coming back to Binge, a Ballina junior who never turns off.
?He is old-school,?? O?Connor says of Binge.
?He doesn?t look like the modern player. He doesn?t look like an athlete. But he just rolls his sleeves up and gets the job done.
?He gets tired like the other players. But instead of looking for excuses or looking to the sideline he pushes through. Caleb wants to play 80 minutes and is filthy whenever I take him off.?
Binge, is a middle forward, who is at home as a prop, but has been named at 13 for Friday night?s game.
?Mentally Caleb is very strong,?? says O?Connor.
?He doesn?t talk a lot on the field, but when he does the others listen. He has such emotion in everything he does. He is a footballer and he hates losing. He competes to the very last play.
?His is the mental approach I wish all our players would adopt. If he doesn?t play well he wants to know what he did wrong and how to fix it. He takes criticism.?
O?Connor says Binge, whose older brother Chris plays for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Intrust Super Cup, reminds him of a younger Anthony Laffranchi.
?As a footballer he looks a bit untidy. He?s awkward and he just doesn?t stop.?
O?Connor is expecting ?three or four? late changes to the NYC squad named on Tuesday as he tinkers with form and injury issues.
http://www.titans.com.au/news-display/titans/74818
