Round 20: Gold Coast Titans vs Brisbane Broncos

[DIEHARD]

Gold Coast Titans vs Brisbane Broncos

7:30pm Friday 24 July 2009 - Skilled Park, Gold Coast

Tickets: http://www.ticketek.com.au - Limited Tickets Hurry!

Gates Open - 5:15pm
NYC Under 20’s Kick off – 5:20pm
Main Game Kick off – 7:30pm

Gold Coast Titans
1 William Zillman, 2 Kevin Gordon, 3 Esi Tonga, 4 Brett Delaney, 5 David Mead, 6 Preston Campbell, 7 Scott Prince [c], 8 Luke Bailey [c], 9 Nathan Friend, 10 Michael Henderson, 11 Anthony Laffranchi, 12 Mark Minichiello, 13 Ashley Harrison.

Subs: 14 Matt White, 15 Aaron Cannings, 16 Brad Meyers, 17 Kayne Lawton, 18 Ian Lacey (one to be omitted).

Brisbane Broncos
1. Karmichael Hunt, 2. Antonio Winterstein, 3. Steve Michaels, 4. Justin Hodges, 5. Alex Glenn, 6. Aaron Gorrell, 7. Peter Wallace, 8. David Taylor, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Joel Clinton, 11. Guy Williams, 12. Ben Te'o, 13. Corey Parker [c].

Subs: 14. Josh Hoffman, 15. Lagi Setu, 16. Josh McGuire, 17. Ashton Sims, 18. Aaron Sweeney (one to be omitted).

Referee: Jared Maxwell, Bernard Sutton

[DIEHARD]

Here is the Gold Coast vs Broncos thread! Let rip!

[Nathalie]

Shaun, Ariana and I will definitely be there! Early enough too..

[karnage]

Bring it on!!

A repeat of our performance from Friday will se us win well.

A repeat of Brisbane's performance from friday will see us put a fair dinkum lap on them.

[DIEHARD]

Bookies say Broncos are 'gone'

Bookmakers have declared finals specialists Brisbane "gone" after they tumbled to their fifth loss in six NRL games at the hands of South Sydney on Friday night.

Finalists for 17 straight seasons under former coach Wayne Bennett, Brisbane have serious defensive issues after leaking 40 points or more against Parramatta, Melbourne, Cronulla and Souths, who smashed the Broncos 44-16 in front of 50,190 fans at Suncorp Stadium.

"They're no hope," said SportsAlive's Gerard Daffy after winding Brisbane's premiership odds out to $20 from $13.

"If they weren't the Broncos, they'd be much bigger odds.

"They're just about shot ducks."

Sportingbet Australia's Billy Richmond said the six-time premiers were in "massive trouble".

"Sides who leak points like that can't win premierships," said Richmond, whose betting agency also wound out Brisbane's odds.

Brisbane were in a worse position in 2007 when they were outside the top eight with two rounds to play before scraping into the finals.

A loss next weekend to the Gold Coast at Skilled Park where the Titans are 8-0 this season would make Brisbane's task almost impossible.

Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak, who will not have skipper Darren Lockyer (knee) back in time for the Titans game, conceded his players were "struggling" and had lost some trust defensively.

Defensive coach Peter Ryan put it more bluntly.

"Pretty bloody ordinary to be honest with you," said former enforcer Ryan.

"I don't know what to say. Souths got on top of us and it went from there.

"Our attitude has been pretty good actually.

"There are a few players missing but I'm at a loss to be honest with you. This comes as a surprise to me.

"Our blokes just folded in the middle."

South blew holes in Brisbane's left-side defence with five-eighth John Sutton and centre Beau Champion, who scored three tries, running wild.

"We've done a lot of work in this area, our left side has been our rock this year but unfortunately that is where we leaked points, said Ryan,

"(Corey) Parker, (Peter) Wallace and (Steve) Michaels have been great for us this year but we have to knuckle down and turn it around somehow.

Michaels, who was shifted to the wing in the second half, said poor communication hadn't helped.

"There was a lack of communication between me and Wal (Wallace)," he said.

"We got found out a number of times so we have to stick together and try and stay positive.

"I don't want to make excuses. We can't go blaming injuries. It is a tough time. We've never had so many points put on us so it's disappointing."

Parker, who stood in as captain for Lockyer, defended Michaels, who wore the brunt of blame.

Parker said it would be "unsavoury" to point the finger at just one or two players.

"When you're down on confidence and not winning games, you start losing a bit of trust," Parker said.

There's no doubt Brisbane missed Lockyer, Sam Thaiday, Israel Folau and Nick Kenny, but they haven't been firing for weeks and time is fast running out for them.

Source: AAP

[teke]

Titans have a chance to cement a Finals birth and put one nail in the Broncos coffin. I can see score reversal to the 1st match played between the 2 this year.

[DIEHARD]

Gilly determined to tackle Titans' misses

THE Gold Coast Titans have missed a whopping 175 tackles, at an average of 44 per game, in their past five matches.

Titans assistant coach Trevor Gillmeister believes a full week on the training paddock will help iron out their defensive issues, after they missed 51 tackles in their loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night.

After starting the year with a bang defensively, the Titans have dropped off in recent weeks, much to the dismay of Gillmeister, whose stinging defence earned him the nickname 'The Axe'.

"Any missed tackle is a worry, and the other night was a little bit concerning," he said. "You are never going to have it all covered, you do go through patches every year.

"But it becomes a real worry if you don't learn and improve from it."

Competition frontrunners St George and the Bulldogs have averaged 35 misses a game over the same period.

Titans skipper Scott Prince and forward Anthony Laffranchi missed six tackles each against the Bulldogs, with Brad Meyers and Kevin Gordon missing five.

Gillmeister said it was up to the players to regroup and work on tightening the ruck and limiting the opportunities presented to their opponents.

The biggest worry was the snowball effect the misses had on the team.

"There is no doubt about it, it all comes down to a mental thing," said Gillmeister.

"I'm confident that with a full week under our belts, we will improve by the time we take on the Broncos." --

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

[DIEHARD]

Ready to raise Kayne



GOLD Coast glamour boy Kayne Lawton is on the brink of making his highly anticipated NRL debut in Friday's season defining blockbuster derby against the Brisbane Broncos.

Lawton, 20, is the clear frontrunner to replace inspirational hooker Nathan Friend, who is in a race against time to overcome an ankle injury suffered early in the Titans' loss to the Bulldogs.

Friend, who has had scans, will be given all week to prove his fitness but is in grave doubt.

Lawton staked his claim for a berth in the NRL top grade when he led the Titans' Toyota Cup team's 28-16 win over the Bulldogs over the weekend.

Cartwright has already spoken with other club coaching staff about blooding Lawton.

Lawton has trained with the Titans' top team all year and was to be given the Gold Coast's No.9 jumper next season, prior to Friend agreeing to terms with the club.

Other options at Cartwright's fingertips include giving veteran Queensland Cup star and former Brisbane Bronco Ian Lacey his first Titans jersey. Lacey has been in solid form for Ipswich since signing on at the Titans, but has rarely trained with the top squad.

The Titans would have considered 'Mr Fix-it' Luke O'Dwyer a frontrunner for the role, but he is still recovering from an ankle injury.

If Lawton is thrown into a sold-out Skilled Park cauldron, he will become the last of the 'Teenage Titans' signed to long-term deals to make their debut.

Lawton has had a rollercoaster season in the Toyota Cup, swapping between hooker and halves to plug holes because of injuries.

He was patchy with his form early in the season but over the past month it has been strong. He has captained the under-20s side and impressed the coaching staff.

The Palm Beach Currumbin High School product can bench press as much as anyone in the team, which prompted Scott Prince to label Lawton a 'freak'.

If Friend is out Lawton will join Esi Tonga, Kevin Gordon, David Mead, Will Matthews and Jordan Rankin as home grown kids to have come through the junior ranks and make their first-grade debut.

Aside from Friend, the Titans emerged from their loss to the Bulldogs without fresh injury concerns.

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

[curly_11]

Im the opposite to most of you. If friend is unable to play then we start Lawton at 9. Hes a pretty level headed bloke with huge potential. If things dont go his way then a reshuffle during the game should happen. Either moving Presto or Harrison to hooker!

Why change Presto from Fullback? Hes been in sensational form there and we dont need him performing 20+ tackles a game and risk getting him injured for our run into the finals. He will be getting a run next year and 1 week in the top grade could do him wonders for the under 20's and to his own game!

Not the ideal situation just be thankful if friend is out its not a major injury!

We really do need to tighten the ruck as it has been pretty poor the last month and has lead to teams gaining huge metres against us and ultimately why we have lost a few of the games!

WE NEED TO STEP UP THIS WEEK AND PUT THE PONYS TO THE SWORD

[karnage]

Im the opposite to most of you. If friend is unable to play then we start Lawton at 9. Hes a pretty level headed bloke with huge potential. If things dont go his way then a reshuffle during the game should happen. Either moving Presto or Harrison to hooker!

Why change Presto from Fullback? Hes been in sensational form there and we dont need him performing 20+ tackles a game and risk getting him injured for our run into the finals. He will be getting a run next year and 1 week in the top grade could do him wonders for the under 20's and to his own game!

Not the ideal situation just be thankful if friend is out its not a major injury!

We really do need to tighten the ruck as it has been pretty poor the last month and has lead to teams gaining huge metres against us and ultimately why we have lost a few of the games!

WE NEED TO STEP UP THIS WEEK AND PUT THE PONYS TO THE SWORD

I read that story in the paper this morning and I have softened my stance on this one. If Carty thinks he is ready that is good enough for me. His judgement has proved pretty spot on in the past.

[Coaster]

Lawton looked fantastic when i watched him training with the team a few months ago, i hope he does play, there is only so much you can gather from watching him in the 20's.

This could be a good thing

[DIEHARD]

Brisbane Broncos to stand behind centre Steve Michaels

COACH Ivan Henjak is set to stand behind out-of-sorts centre Steve Michaels as the Broncos search for answers to their form slump. A crestfallen Michaels will today be named for Brisbane's southeast derby stoush against the Titans at Skilled Park despite his defensive woes. The struggling three-quarter, fresh from a horror night out against the Rabbitohs last Friday night when he missed as many tackles as he made, is likely to again be heavily targeted by John Cartwright's troops at Skilled Park.

Asked if he was tempted to make personnel changes this week following a fourth slaughter in six starts, Henjak declared: "Who do we put in?"

No, we're going to go back to work, see where we fell down and try to rectify it. "The personnel we've got is the guys we've got to stick with.

"Early in the year they were doing a really good job, we've got to try to get back to it.

"I'm not blaming any one person. It's a collective thing as a team. We're just not disciplined and patient enough.

The Rabbitohs game is not the first time Michaels' defensive failings have been exposed. In round 9 he fell victim to the silky individual skills of NSW Origin star Jamie Lyon, while the Bulldogs' Jamal Idris and Parramatta's Joel Reddy have also tasted success against him. South Sydney targeted the hole between Michaels and halfback Peter Wallace with running pivot John Sutton and forward Eddy Pettybourne aiding Michaels' opposite number Beau Champion's three-try haul.

Rival clubs are certain to follow suit until Brisbane find a way to plug the gap.

Michaels, who has compiled 49 missed tackles this year, is attempting to remain upbeat as he searches to reclaim his destructive best.

"There was a lack of communication between me and Wal (Wallace)," he said. "We got found out a number of times so we have to stick together and try and stay positive.

"I don't want to make excuses. We can't go blaming injuries. It is a tough time. We've never had so many points put on us so it's disappointing."

Brisbane defensive coach Peter Ryan argues criticism of his left flank since round 13 should be measured by reference to the club's bright start to 2009.

"Our left side has been our rock for most of the year," Ryan said. "Corey, Pete, Antonio (Winterstein) and Steve Michaels have been outstanding for us. I can't say enough good things about those guys.

"They're our rock. Blokes have off-days. I hate to use the term but sh*t happens. It was uncharacteristic but I don't want to bag our players. The Rabbits played one side then switched to our left side and our left was wanting on the weekend.

"It was just an off-night, then they got flustered, and the same thing kept happening to them. They kept getting the same result."

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/

[DIEHARD]

Team leaders back Lawton to step up for their injured Friend

TWO of the Titans' most senior men, John Cartwright and Luke Bailey, yesterday endorsed youngster Kayne Lawton to replace Nathan Friend if the in-form rake is ruled out of Friday's local derby.

A day after The Gold Coast Bulletin revealed Lawton was the frontrunner to replace the injured Friend, Cartwright and Bailey came out and publicly gave the part-time male model their full backing.

Cartwright said it was still too early in the week to make assumptions on Friend's availability but admitted he was in grave doubt and said Lawton was knocking on the door.

"You know it's going to be a big challenge for him (Lawton), but he's got all the attributes, he works very hard on his game, he's tough enough and he's a good young kid," he said.

"We've had good success with the kids from our under-20s last year, that's what it (the Toyota Cup) is there for, they train with us, they prepare like a first grade side, he has been playing 80 minutes every week and he's doing a good job so he probably deserves a chance."

Lawton trained strongly with the rest of the squad at Runaway Bay yesterday.

Bailey said the club had the troops to cover Friend's likely absence, in particular Lawton who has been patiently waiting in the wings.

"I'm not sure what the game plan is but if (Kayne) gets a run he's a quick little fellow, he's strong and he loves the contest," he said.

"He's been waiting for a while and playing behind Friendy he would have learned a bit so he'll definitely be looking forward to it."

Lawton is a renowned hard worker and has trained with the top squad all year.

But Friend's tenacious attitude and work ethic would be missed by the Titans desperate to return to the winner's list.

"He's been responsible for a lot of our attack this year but defensively is where we will miss him the most," Cartwright said of Friend's possible absence.

"He does his 45 to 50 tackles every week, he puts himself in a tackle when a lot of guys are getting themselves back on side and it's the little things like that we are going to miss."

If Friend is ruled out Lawton will be thrown into what is one of the biggest games of the year for the Titans.

"It's always good to play the Broncos no matter who you are," said Cartwright.

"That's the aura they have about them, all the Sydney clubs love coming up here to play them and we've had some great games against them.

"We've played them five times now and all of them has been a thriller and we expect no different this week."

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

[DIEHARD]

Gilly's titanic tackle session

WHEN the Titans hit the sand today, it won't be for a holiday.

The Gold Coast will be punished in the sandpit as part of a `tackling master class' orchestrated by their defence coach Trevor Gillmeister.

The radical move comes after recent defensive lapses have seen the Gold Coast miss an embarrassing 44 tackles per game over the past month.

Titans co-skipper Luke Bailey yesterday declared the Titans could not display the same complacency that saw the Bulldogs jump to a 10-0 lead after 11 minutes.

It will start in the sandpit today, with Gillmeister to work with the players on rectifying their defensive weakness.

"We didn't turn up (against the Bulldogs) defensively, with some one-on-one misses that are crucial to the game coming from myself to the whole team," said Bailey.

"That's something we will work on in the sand pit with Gilly to make up for those errors."

"I didn't take too much out of that game, we did stick with them but there is still a lot of improvement needed if we are going to be where we want to be."

"Fortunately for us we have a couple of big Friday night games which we always lift for."

The Titans defensive line will be buoyed by the inclusion of Queensland Origin hero Ashley Harrison, who has not played a club match since their 24-20 victory over the Sydney Roosters in Round 14.

Harrison trained strongly yesterday, showing no signs of the rib and ankle injuries that have hampered the 28-year-old over the past month.

The former Bronco will be named to face his former club today, and his return could not come at a better time, according to Bailey.

"He is one of those blokes that every team needs," said Bailey, who likened Harrison's influence to that of Canberra's Alan Tongue.

"They clean up all the mess, they hit it up, they take it off the taps and he comes out bruised from every game."

"He doesn't get enough wraps for it (but) we definitely missed him."

Big frontrower Aaron Cannings was another to train strongly, with coach John Cartwright and Bailey confident he will be right to make a return from a hamstring injury.

While the Broncos have some issues of their own to address, after South Sydney exposed several chinks in their armour, Bailey said it was important the Titans worried about 'getting our own back yard in order'.

"They're desperate to try and stake their claim for a top eight position so they are going to be fired up," he said of the Broncos, who are at risk of missing the finals for the first time since 1991.

"Obviously they can produce a good game on any given day so we need to worry about our own back yard and worry about tightening up our defensive lapses that caused the loss on Friday night."

"But we have some big games coming up and we need the points so hopefully there's no complacency in our side."

Bailey had no doubt his teammates would lift on Friday.

"Every time you play the Broncos, even when I was at St George you lift for the occasion, they always produce the best games," he said.

"But they are hot and cold and they are coming off a loss like us so it's going to be a dangerous game for us."

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

[Coaster]

Make em bleed Gilly, i want them to understand that the tackle on Friday may hurt a little, but the practice on Tuesday will hurt a hell of a lot more.

Prince needs to stop hiding in defense and lead his troops into battle.