Round 13: Gold Coast Titans vs St George-Illawarra Dragons

[DIEHARD]

Gold Coast Titans vs St George-Illawarra Dragons

Monday June 8 - Skilled Park

Tickets: http://www.ticketek.com.au

TITANS

TBA

DRAGONS

TBA

[DIEHARD]

Seening as we have the BYE this round, let's focus on this big match and talk it up for 2 weeks.

We have killed the Manly monkey, now it's time for the Dragons!

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

I'll be there, its my rdo on friday so spending the long w/e down the coast, stimulate the economy and hopefully watch the dragons make it 7-0.

[DIEHARD]

7-0?

We have only played 5 times.

[TITAN PETE]

7-0?

We have only played 5 times.

Hopefully he's not a Terminator sent back from the future & he knows something we don't or he just can't count

[DIEHARD]

Sent back from the future to try and change history... because the Dragons will continue to choke in the finals for the next 5 decades and are about to merge with Cronulla. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Dragons allied with the evil that is SkyNet.

Although they did stay loyal during the Super League war and I'll give them credit for that at least.

But hey, Terminator Salvation comes out next week, should be great. So many awesome films out this year.

Back on the game, I'm hoping that the Maroons can do us a favour by squashing the Dragons NSW reps in Weyman, Poore and Creagh.

[DIEHARD]

Coops is out for this weekend's game against the Panthers. Maybe it might be out for a 2nd? Miss the game against the Titans? It would be a big blow to the Dragons.

COOPER RULED OUT OF PANTHERS MATCH

Dragons centre Matt Cooper has today been ruled out of the clash against the Panthers at WIN Stadium tomorrow night.

Cooper will be sidelined with a calf injury that is expected to only keep him sidelined for this week.

Coach Wayne Bennett has yet to name a replacement and a decision will be made on game day in relation to the make up of the side.

Source: http://www.dragons.com.au

[karnage]

The 9 day turnaround will be in his favour so if they say 1 week you would expect him to front.

I agree with what you say about the bye Diehard and the interest that it creates for fans. I went around to my Dads for tea and we did up a table after this current round based on who we think will win. I will cut the whole thing short but we came up with this:

Assuming that the Dragons beat the Panthers (they are favourites but it is less probable now that Cooper is out) and the Dogs beat the Gidley-less Knights the table will look like this:

1. Dogs - 18 (1 bye)
2. Dragons - 18 (0 byes)
3. Broncos - 18 (1 bye)
4. TITANS - 16 (1 bye)
5. Storm - 15 (1 bye)
6. Rabbits - 15 (1 bye)
7. Panthers - 14 (1 bye)
8. Nth QLD - 14 (1 bye)
_________________________________
9. Knights - 14 (0 byes)

The Warriors and the Eels are likely to be next down on 11 points and it looks like it is going to be really tough for anyone from position 10 down to qualify for the finals.

So... Titans v Dragons looks set to be a 2nd v 4th blockbuster. On a freakin' Monday. Hopefully the combination of the public holiday, the slightly earlier 7pm start and the lack of free-to-air coverage will see this game get the coverage it deserves.

[karnage]

The 9 day turnaround will be in his favour so if they say 1 week you would expect him to front.

I agree with what you say about the bye Diehard and the interest that it creates for fans. I went around to my Dads for tea and we did up a table after this current round based on who we think will win. I will cut the whole thing short but we came up with this:

Assuming that the Dragons beat the Panthers (they are favourites but it is less probable now that Cooper is out) and the Dogs beat the Gidley-less Knights the table will look like this:

1. Dogs - 18 (1 bye)
2. Dragons - 18 (0 byes)
3. Broncos - 18 (1 bye)
4. TITANS - 16 (1 bye)
5. Storm - 15 (1 bye)
6. Rabbits - 15 (1 bye)
7. Panthers - 14 (1 bye)
8. Nth QLD - 14 (1 bye)
_________________________________
9. Knights - 14 (0 byes)

The Warriors and the Eels are likely to be next down on 11 points and it looks like it is going to be really tough for anyone from position 10 down to qualify for the finals.

So... Titans v Dragons looks set to be a 2nd v 4th blockbuster. On a freakin' Monday. Hopefully the combination of the public holiday, the slightly earlier 7pm start and the lack of free-to-air coverage will see this game get the coverage it deserves.

Well as usual my tipping was no good with the both the Dogs and the Bunnies getting rolled. What these results do create, for the first time this year is a clear gap between the top and the bottom 8.

1 Dragons 12 9 3 18
2 Broncos 11 8 3 18
3 Bulldogs 11 8 3 16
4 Knights 12 8 4 16
5 Titans 11 7 4 16
6 Storm 11 6 4 15
7 Cowboys 11 6 5 14
8 Panthers 11 6 5 14
___________________________
9 Rabbitohs 11 5 5 13
10 Warriors 11 4 6 11
11 Sea Eagles 11 4 7 10
12 Raiders 11 4 7 10
13 Tigers 11 4 7 10
14 Eels 11 3 7 9
15 Roosters 11 3 8 8
16 Sharks 11 2 9 6

The Eels, Roosters and Sharks are gone and we are yet to play ANY of those teams. Infact we have not played any of the bottom 4. That looks like a pretty good position for us to be in except when you look deeper you find that we only play each of the bottom 4 teams once. That is offset to a certain degree by the fact that we play 3 of those teams (Sharks, Tigers, Eels) at home and the 4th (Roosters) at a neutral venue but it still would have been nice to get at least one of those bottom 3 strugglers twice.

By way of comparison Brisbane are 2 points ahead of us on the table but they have already had games against the Tigers, Roosters (admittedly both away) and the Eels at home.

While games like this week against St George are important I think these 4 games identified here against the bottam 25% of the comp are the 'must-win' games. It would also be handy to pump a bit into the 'for' column with places in the 8 almost certain to come down to for and against.

[DIEHARD]

I agree Karnage, I also went pants over the weekend tipping wise. I dropped Parra, Bulldogs and Bunnies!

But the results does spread out the field a bit more. You are right, we have to win the games against the lower ranked team, dropping one or two could really burn us.

Also in our draw, we only play the Roosters or Sharks once.

BTW Karnage I love your contribution to the Titans forum, it is always informative and insightful.

[dee13]

1 Dragons 12 9 3 18
2 Broncos 11 8 3 18
3 Bulldogs 11 8 3 16
4 Knights 12 8 4 16
5 Titans 11 7 4 16
6 Storm 11 6 4 15
7 Cowboys 11 6 5 14
8 Panthers 11 6 5 14
___________________________
9 Rabbitohs 11 5 5 13
10 Warriors 11 4 6 11
11 Sea Eagles 11 4 7 10
12 Raiders 11 4 7 10
13 Tigers 11 4 7 10
14 Eels 11 3 7 9
15 Roosters 11 3 8 8
16 Sharks 11 2 9 6

The Eels, Roosters and Sharks are gone and we are yet to play ANY of those teams.

Does that mean, when the Sharks come to town, we can officially sing "43 years and nothing"

[karnage]

Does that mean, when the Sharks come to town, we can officially sing "43 years and nothing"

Yes it does.

You can take it officially from me that they are NO CHANCE!!

[daveyk]

Does that mean, when the Sharks come to town, we can officially sing "43 years and nothing"

isnt it 42yrs and nothing this time around???

or should it be 43 yrs and GOOOONNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[DIEHARD]

The Titans team to take on the Dragons has been announced on Titans TV!

http://bigpondvideo.com/NRL_Titans

Chris Walker named to start.

[karnage]

Good to see Cannings named as the #14 interchange player as that should mean he will be given a run, he gives some size to the pack that we really have lacked lately, especially with Meyers named to replace Mini.

There are 2 things I am hoping for tomorrow and each is equally important to me:
1. QLD win.
2. None of our boys pick up serious injuries. Fingers crossed, touchwood etc.