Round 23: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Gold Coast Titans

[GCT_07]

I feel a bit better knowing that Harrison, ODwyer and Hendoson are back on board but still not sleeping well over this one. There is a spark in that Rabbits team at the moment. Watched them (up close and personal with the seats we had ) at the double header when they traveled up here to hit the Broncos. At that stage the Broncos were still in there intimidating stage (not the imbarrasing one they are in at the moment). Anyway.... The Rabbits brought it home with intensity. The looks on their faces, the determination....... It scares me that the boys might have this 'ya made the top 8' thing in their heads and will be hit by that dertermined Rabbits team. HOPEFULLY..... the goal for the boys has quickly changed and hopefully they are now fully focussed on a home semi. I think we can take the rabbits..... but i m not overly confident........Come on boys..... ramp it up..... I m hanging out to see the 'convincing win'..... ass kicking for the season.....actually you can save that one for cronulla the following week...... a strong will will work for me with the rabbits

[karnage]

I feel a bit better knowing that Harrison, ODwyer and Hendoson are back on board but still not sleeping well over this one. There is a spark in that Rabbits team at the moment. Watched them (up close and personal with the seats we had ) at the double header when they traveled up here to hit the Broncos. At that stage the Broncos were still in there intimidating stage (not the imbarrasing one they are in at the moment). Anyway.... The Rabbits brought it home with intensity. The looks on their faces, the determination....... It scares me that the boys might have this 'ya made the top 8' thing in their heads and will be hit by that dertermined Rabbits team. HOPEFULLY..... the goal for the boys has quickly changed and hopefully they are now fully focussed on a home semi. I think we can take the rabbits..... but i m not overly confident........Come on boys..... ramp it up..... I m hanging out to see the 'convincing win'..... ass kicking for the season.....actually you can save that one for cronulla the following week...... a strong will will work for me with the rabbits

Have a look at the ALL of the results in recent weeks. The winning side has been the team with the will to win and the more to play for. It is our coaching staffs job this week to get the playres heads in the right place for this one.

If we can replicate the intensity we showed against the Warriors we will win.

Anything less and they will roll us.

[matti]

Lol diehard, my local shopping center gives away free tix for this game every year , well i hope this yr is included .

[amaline]

1. William Zillman
2. Kevin Gordon
3. Mat Rogers
4. Jordan Atkins
5. David Mead
6. Preston Campbell
7. Scott Prince (cc)
8. Luke Bailey (cc)
9. Nathan Friend
10. Michael Henderson
11. Anthony Laffranchi
12. Mark Minichiello
13. Josh Graham

Interchange:
14. Matthew White
15. Will Matthews
16. Brad Meyers
17. Sam Tagataese

No Harrison, Tonga, O'Dwyer or Cannings.

[curly_11]

No surprises except the exclusion of Tonga...didnt expect the others back this week. Cannings is likely out for 2 weeks at least ....not happy with Atkins at centre
BRING BACK TONGA!

[patskE]

no tonga? argh, atkins didnt do anything last week
atleast put walker there

[DIEHARD]

Wow no Tonga... Titans are serious and it probably isn't just about punishment but rewarding other players for hardwork. It would keep a healthy compeetitive nature between players for positions. That said, I'd prefer Tonga to be there!

Shame about no O'Dwyer or Harro. I was hoping for a Tuesday good vibes by reading at least one of their names in the squad.

Oh well... got my tickets booked, the team is named.... let's rock!

[DIEHARD]

Henderson to return against Souths
Adam Gardini

Jetstar Gold Coast Titans prop Michael Henderson has been named to return from illness for Friday night?s round 23 clash against Souths at ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

Henderson was a late withdrawal from Sunday?s 30-10 win over the Warriors in New Zealand with the flu but has been named to return for the clash against the in-form Rabbitohs.

Henderson will effectively come in as a direct replacement for fellow prop Aaron Cannings, who has been ruled out after dislocating his shoulder against the Warriors.

Click here to view the team announcement and hear from Titans Coach John Cartwright.

Titans prop Michael Henderson Outside of Henderson?s return, Jetstar Titans coach John Cartwright has stuck with the same 16 players who bounced back to form with a strong win over the Warriors.

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

[DIEHARD]

This article was written before the team was selected, but there is still some good stuff in there.

Cannings stalls op to shoulder workload

GUTSY Gold Coast prop Aaron Cannings is set to delay shoulder surgery until the end of the season and could be back in as little as two weeks to bolster the Titans' finals surge.

Cannings was helped from the field in the 46th minute of the Titans' win over the Warriors on Sunday after dislocating his left shoulder.

The big front-rower, who has been battling the problem since the pre-season, needs a shoulder reconstruction.

But Titans co-captain Luke Bailey yesterday indicated Cannings, who is known to his Gold Coast teammates as Bubba, was likely to play through the pain for the remainder of the year.

"He has been struggling with that shoulder for a while," said Bailey.

"Probably any other person would have had surgery a while ago but he has been desperate to play and to win a new contract.

"Full credit to him because he got that extension (several weeks ago) playing through a fair bit of pain.

"He thinks he might be right in two weeks. The doc probably thinks otherwise."

The Titans returned from their New Zealand raid last night and have just two days of training before flying out for Sydney on Thursday for their clash with Souths on Friday.

Cartwright conceded it was a big challenge to back up against the in-form Rabbitohs, who defeated defending premiers Manly at the weekend, with such a disrupted preparation.

"We won't get much training done this week," he said.

"Tuesday will be pretty light, Wednesday is generally their day off before a Friday game."

So it will be just about freshening them up.
``We have set ourselves up with an opportunity and the higher up you finish the more chance you are.''

Cannings' place will be taken by prop Michael Henderson, who travelled to New Zealand but was a late omission as he was suffering from the flu.

Queensland Origin back-rower Ashley Harrison (ribs) and strike utility Luke O'Dwyer (ankle) are unlikely to be fit to take on the Rabbitohs, but are a good chance to return against the Sharks at Robina next Sunday.

Winger Chris Walker (quad) should come into selection equations against the Rabbitohs.

Bailey said Cannings was a big loss. ``He has been enormous for us,'' he said.

``But in saying that, Hendo will be fit this week so the ball keeps rolling.''

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

[DIEHARD]

And here is the other mob.

STUART TO CAPTAIN RABBITOHS IN ASOTASI'S ABSENCE

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their team to take on the Gold Coast Titans in round 23 of the 2009 NRL Premiership this Friday 14 August at ANZ Stadium.

Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor has named Luke Stuart as Rabbitohs captain for this important clash with the Titans in his 165th game for the Rabbitohs. David Fa'alogo has been named in the front row and Michael Crocker has been promoted to the starting side at lock, with Dave Tyrrell moving on to the interchange bench. Shannan McPherson will play his 50th NRL game this Friday night, all of which have been played in the red and green since making his first grade debut in 2005.

The Rabbitohs vs Titans match is one of the first games to be played in the NRL's Close the Gap Round, highlighting the 13-year difference in life expectancy between indigenous men and non-indigenous men in Australia. Rabbitohs halfback Chris Sandow is an ambassador for the Close the Gap campaign alongside Australian halfback Johnathan Thurston and Titans player Shannon Walker.

The NRL match is scheduled for a 7:35pm kick off with the Toyota Cup match due to begin at 5:20pm. Gates open at 5:15pm.

The Rabbitohs NRL side is:

1) Nathan Merritt
2) Jamie Simpson
3) Colin Best
4) Beau Champion
5) Fetuli Talanoa
6) John Sutton
7) Chris Sandow
8) Luke Stuart [c]
9) Issac Luke
10) David Fa'alogo
11) Ben Lowe
12) Eddy Pettybourne
13) Michael Crocker

14) Craig Wing
15) Shannan McPherson
16) Dave Tyrrell
17) Scott Geddes

Coach - Jason Taylor

Source: www.rabbitohs.com.au

[karnage]

Argh... come on Carty.

We need somebody tough in the centres who can stand toe to toe with Champion and their big backrowers who hit the edes hard.

I reckon you have proved your point with Esi - just put him straight back in!!

[karnage]

From NRL.com - maybe I have changed my mind a little from my previous post having read this. He is a pretty straight shooter old Carty:

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright says he's happy with team discipline at the moment, but it's not something a club can ever take its eyes off.

"You've got to remember you're dealing with 30 guys, a lot of them under the age of 25 and every now and then they get a little bit loose," he said.

He's declined to comment on the Greg Inglis affair apart from saying he was pleased to see Melbourne take prompt action.

"I don't know what's happened but I applaud the fact that Melbourne acted quickly (in standing Inglis down), at least we won't be wondering what's going to happen."

Titans centre Esi Tonga missed Sunday's 30-10 victory over the Warriors in New Zealand after being dropped for missing a compulsory recovery session.

And the coach said Tonga won't play against the Rabbitohs on Friday night either.

Cartwright says while some people might think missing one recovery session is a small lapse he wasn't prepared to let discipline slip.

"You've got to look at small things and that's where breaches start, and knowing the individual, some guys need a bigger kick up the bum than others.

"It could end up costing Esi a hell of a lot.

"He's going to have to bide his time now and hope for an injury or a lack of form.

"There's no point sending a message out and then taking the message away.

"I was very happy with the guys that came into the side (for the Warriors game) ... they did their job and put the team above themselves and in big games that's what you need.

[Adelaide Titan]

Both teams are strong. Wouldnt mind having Tonga for some extra speed down the wings..

[patskE]

wait for lack of form? atkins wasnt in form?
like i agree tonga had to be discipline, but wow, wat about walker? or someone else? tagatese?
souths have two of the biggest's centre's in the game, we need someone strong to over come this. i can just see atkins getting streamrolled

[teke]

Its good Cartright has stuck to his guns on Discipline and/or form. However I think Kingi Akoula would be a much better option than Atkins, actually i probably rate Kingi equally as good as Esi.

Taga is slowly coming into form and this is because of fitness, once this guy is up to game speed watch out.

I also think Cartright needs to tinker the Mead/Atkins combo. To me Mead is a natural centre who has good fotwork runs great lines hard and fast. Mead would be an absolute handful for any opposing defending centre in comp.