Round 20: Gold Coast Titans vs Brisbane Broncos

[TITAN PETE]

Coaster is right , they'll have 13 players on the field all trying to save the Boncos season but we need our 13 players to shut them out of the game completely & not give them a sniff of points

[karnage]

I think this is as good a time as any to be getting carried away.

If they run out without those 7 frontline players, with the form they are in, they are ripe for the picking.

If we can't bet that lot convincingly at home then we are not worthy of a top 8 position let alone a top 4 position.

All year Carty has been saying how we are winning but there is still improvement in us and how we will be hitting our straps later in the year as we seek to avoid a finals fadeout. Wel lit's Brisbane at home in Rd 20, it is late in the year against a weakened powerhouse - the very team that our front office aspires to be. Time to stop saying they can improve and go out there and show it. Put up or shut up time.

Our season will be far from over if we lose but that would be an unacceptable result.

PUT THEM TO THE SWORD!!!!

[curly_11]

Heard on the radio the Hunt is playing, he has overcome his corked thigh....

And wallace only had hamstring tightness....not a tear....we will see if he plays....

[Paul]

Heard on the radio the Hunt is playing, he has overcome his corked thigh....

And wallace only had hamstring tightness....not a tear....we will see if he plays....

The radio report this afternoon confirmed Wallace is out, hunt is in and Nathan friend trained well today and will be given until kickoff to prove his fitness

[GCT_07]

I m hoping for a thrashing.........not a close game but an absolute thrashing...........

[Coaster]

I think we all are expecting a thrashing, have no doubt, we have been expecting this great performance for a long time now, i would rather forget who they do or dont have and actually see our best performance.

I would much rather see us play for a full 80 extremely well, then play touch football and win by 30.

We need to concentrate on our game, and do everything right. The result will look after itself.

[Adelaide Titan]

Sportal's Preview on the match:

Preview: Titans v Broncos
Scott Brooks, Sportal

VENUE & TIME: Skilled Park, Friday July 24, 7.35pm (AEST).
COVERAGE: Channel 9
LAST TIME: Broncos 32 - Titans 18 at Suncorp Stadium, Round 10, 2009

WALKING WOUNDED: The Titans have lost pivot Mat Rogers with a groin injury, forcing Preston Campbell to five-eighth and giving William Zillman another start at the back. Forwards Aaron Cannings (hamstring) and Ashley Harrison (ankle) return to the squad, while Chris Walker (quad) and Luke O'Dwyer (ankle) remain on the sidelines. Hooker Nathan Friend (ankle) is in doubt, putting former Bronco Ian Lacey on standby.
For the Broncos, Origin duo Darren Lockyer (knee) and Sam Thaiday (ribs) are still out of action, along with Test winger Israel Folau (ankle), who is due back in Round 25. Veteran Tonie Carroll is out with a knee injury suffered in that unfortunate collision with the head of referee Tony De Las Heras. Prop Nick Kenny (knee) is hopeful of a return next week and full-back Karmichael Hunt is in slight doubt with a corked leg suffered at training.

FORM: The Titans' top-four hopes took a blow last Friday night when a sluggish start cost them dearly against the in-form Bulldogs in the second match of the double-header. It wasn't until mid-way through the second-half when they began their charge back from a 16-0 half-time deficit, leaving it all-too late in the final wash-up. They remain in the top-four, but are no certainties to stay there.
The Broncos have now lost five of their last six matches and during that period have copped some right royal hidings to crash out of the top-eight. Last Friday night's match wasn't pretty either with the Brisbane side copping a 32-point flogging at the hands of Souths. The Broncos now face the real possibility of missing the finals for the first time since 1991.

WHO'S HOT: Not too many highlights for the Titans last week, but five-eighth Mat Rogers was on song, scoring two tries and making a couple of line breaks. Unfortunately injury has robbed the Titans of his services for this week.
Justin Hodges was one of the only rays of light for the tragic Broncos at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night. He made the most metres of any player in the match (223) and was rarely grounded on the first attempt. Half-back Peter Wallace also tried hard in a losing side.

WE THINK: The Titans remain undefeated at home this season and they should continue the run given the Broncos are a rabble at present. On paper the Titans have a distinct advantage in the forwards, creating room for their far superior halves combo of Scott Prince and Preston Campbell to orchestrate the rest. Titans by 16.

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

Referees: Jared Maxwell & Bernard Sutton

http://sportal.com.au/league-match-p...s-74491/page/1

[kwigibo]

Gold Coast News seems to think Hunt AND Wallace are out, but their journalstic standards rarely peek above the toilet bowl, so who knows.

[Paul]

Hunt will play,Wallace won't.I've been hearing it all day

24 hours until I suffer laryngitis from abusing Justin Hodges

Can't wait

I WANT a humiliating,embarassing defeat of the donkeys.This "sneaking home" like we have been the past month is not good enough against these jokers.I want them hurting both physically and on the scoreboard

[amaline]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...018866,00.html

Another article saying Hunt wil be out tomorrow night. By the sounds of it we'd be better off with him playing.

[GCT_07]

I WANT a humiliating,embarassing defeat of the donkeys.This "sneaking home" like we have been the past month is not good enough against these jokers.I want them hurting both physically and on the scoreboard

I m so there with ya Paul... cept for the physical hurt..... cant quite come at that....... but I want them shamed out of the stadium..........


Hmmmm I m having a anti chant comin to me..... thinkin of all those donkey fans that cant be bothered watching them ......

Something along the lines.................. Even your fans ditched ya.................................I ll hand that thought over to the chant squad from last night to perfect

[Adelaide Titan]

Whether Hunt is playing or not it shouldnt matter, they have lots of their best players out anyway and we must take full advantage of that! We may have Rogers out but we have the depth to replace him at 5/8 with Campbell and chuck Zillman who has been great this season into fullback. cant complain! whereas Brisbane have a few unfamiliar faces

[Rage]

I'll be disappointed if we only win by a little bit, like against the Eels but I can't even comprehend what it will be like if we lose

[DIEHARD]

Titans v Broncos
Skilled Park - Friday 7.35pm

The Broncos venture down the corridor to the Gold Coast strip with their 2009 premiership aspirations well and truly on the line.

Co-competition leaders approaching the halfway stage of the regular rounds they?re now sitting in 9th place on 22 points, sharing the rung with three other sides. But they?ve exited the finals zone due to their wretched -65 points differential ? the fourth worst differential in the competition.

They?ve now lost five of their past six, including last week?s record 44-12 defeat at home to the Rabbitohs. While defence is clearly an issue for Ivan Henjak?s charges they are also struggling to score points (an average of 15 in their past six games which has dragged their season average down to 20.9). That?s particularly worrying given strike players Israel Folau and Sam Thaiday, plus defensive rock Tonie Carroll ? not to mention key playmaker Darren Lockyer ? remain sidelined with injury.

Their line-up tweak for this clash sees Dave Taylor start at prop in place of Josh McGuire, while Ben Te?o earns a starting spot in the second row to cover for Thaiday. Ashton Sims and Josh Hoffman earn bench call-ups.

With 30 competition points figured the guaranteed cut-off for a finals berth, the Gold Coast need just two wins to play semi-finals football for the first time in their latest incarnation.

Their progress through 2009 has mirrored that of their first two years ? although whereas they hit turbulent patches in 2007 and 2008 to slide out of calculations that doesn?t appear to be the case in 2009.
They?ve won four of their past six and were impressive even though defeated by the Bulldogs 23-16 last week.

Their playing roster is relatively unaffected, with only Mat Rogers, Luke O?Dwyer and Chris Walker missing from this clash. To counter Rogers? absence Preston Campbell shifts from fullback to five-eighth, with William Zillman to wear the no.1. Aaron Cannings and Kane Lawton (on debut) join the bench.

Watch out Titans: Everything falls on the shoulders of stars Justin Hodges and Karmichael Hunt. The duo did some good things against the Rabbitohs last week and can?t be blamed for their massive defeat but they still need to do plenty more if the Broncos are to get the points.

With Lockyer gone expect Hunt (17 try assists, fifth in the NRL) to take more of a dominant playmaker role, dictating one-off the ruck especially on the short blindside, where he?ll look to suck in defenders with his prop and step, before offloading or grubbering for a support.

Also look for the Broncos? forwards ? and their backs ? to ?spot? five-eighth Campbell in the defensive line. The diminutive Campbell is averaging three tackle misses a game ? but the last time these two sides met in Round 10 he missed five.

Watch out Broncos: The Titans? forwards combine strength and mobility to great effect. The likes of Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi and Mark Minichiello will keep punching up the centre of the field gaining good territory and looking for offload opportunities. Their average 1358 metres gained per match ranks them fourth in the comp. And controlling everything will be hooker Nathan Friend, whose 1957 receives is a whopping 177 touches more than the next most prolific game dictator Michael Ennis.

If the Broncos fail to stop the Titans from breaching their advantage line with regularity, they will find it tough to win.

Where it will be won: How Brisbane defends will be key. They have been simply woeful in past efforts and unless their troops muscle up and shut down the ball carrier early they will haemorrhage points again here.

Over the past five weeks they?ve conceded 169 points for an average 33.8 points a game. That?s seen their average points conceded blow out from 20 points to 24.7. They have the worst tackle effectiveness percentage in the game (82 per cent). They?ve missed 734 tackles all year ? a whopping 130 more than the next-worst side.

Their biggest problems lie in their left-edge defence, where centre Steve Michaels and winger Antonio Winterstein were cruelly exposed last week by John Sutton and his try-hungry team-mates. Heading into this game it seems all the Titans have to do to manufacture points is work into that sector of the ground and pop a short flat pass to a fringe runner.

But the flipside is at least the Broncos are aware of their massive shortcomings. Hopefully some corrective surgery during the week will leave the patient a lot healthier this time around.

The history: Played 5; Titans 2, Broncos 3. That head-to-head record is a little misleading as the Titans surrendered their ?home-ground? advantage to Suncorp Stadium on one occasion. The Titans have won the only game at Skilled Park, a 26-24 thriller last year.

Conclusion: The loss of Thaiday and Lockyer proved insurmountable last week when facing the lowly Rabbitohs. Minus that duo the Broncos look decidedly thin on attacking options other than Hodges, Hunt and possibly stand-in skipper Corey Parker. If that?s all they?ve got expect Scott Prince to be salivating at the thought of adding to his 12 try assists and keeping his side?s unbeaten run at Skilled Park in 2009 intact..

The Broncos have a fine tradition of making the semi-finals, having played post-season for the past 17 years straight. But defeat here will make it tough to extend that streak. The Titans by eight.

Match officials: Referees ? Jared Maxwell & Bernard Sutton; Sideline Officials ? Jeff Younis & Adam Devcich; Video Ref ? Tim Mander.

Televised: Channel Nine ? Live 7.30pm (Qld), delayed 9.30pm (NSW); Fox Sports ? Delayed 11.30pm.

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[DIEHARD]

Gold Coast v Brisbane
Friday, Skilled Park, 7.35pm

Referees: Jared Maxwell, Bernard Sutton
Head to Head: Broncos 3, Titans 2
Last clash: Broncos 32 bt Titans 18 at Suncorp Stadium (Rd 10, 2009)
TAB Sportsbet: Titans $1.22, Broncos $4.10
Centrebet: Titans $1.24, Broncos $4.05

The Broncos are in all sorts of trouble. They opened the season strongly, winning six of their first seven games, but have since lost seven of 10 - including five of their last six. And included in those last five losses were four games in which they conceded more than 40 points. Their only recent win was at home against the Warriors, who have been struggling themselves this season. Why the Broncos are failing is hard to say. They have had a few injury problems - and they've got them again this week - but you're a lucky team if you haven't got injuries at this stage of the season and not every team reacts by becoming like swiss cheese in defence.

It doesn't get any easier for the Broncos here, going up against the Titans at Skilled Stadium. The Titans have won eight from eight at home this season, and the only time these two have clashed there - last season - the Titans won. The Titans have had injury problems themselves recently, but have remained highly competitive. They have lost two of their last three, but hung in there in both games. Before that, the Titans put together a four-game winning streak that lifted them into the top four, where they still are. Their injury problems have eased a bit this week, as well, although five-eighth Mat Rogers is still among those out.

The Broncos have dropped out of the top eight off the back of their recent run, and will again have to do without the leadership of injured five-eighth Darren Lockyer. Plus, some of their big-name players who are out there simply aren't playing well. The Titans look like winners here.

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