Round 23: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Gold Coast Titans

[Adelaide Titan]

hmmmmm me thinks this guy been having drinky poh instead of concentrating on what he s writing........I m sorry matey...... but red and white just wouldnt suit me..... that red would just clash.....

hahaha i think they are just trying to say we are just as good but seriously those mistakes shouldnt be made! needs to be edited!

[Coaster]

wow just read an article saying carty said esi prob wont play finals footy...
like come on.... he stuff'd up once, he dont deserve to loose his spot which he has made his own to some guy who cant play as half as good, i dnt care wat other ppl think of atkins, tonga is 5 times better then atkins n grahman, put 2gether. we need him for our finals campaign.

It might be a scare tactic, but he will need to lift his attitude to change his mind.

He can not come out and say he will play finals, it doesnt send the right message.

[squirrell]

15hrs till my flight to sydney whooo hoo tickets sect 101 to 103 bring it home titans

[Adelaide Titan]

We definately need Esi back sooner rather than later. He just adds that extra spark when we need it.

[Coaster]

Agree, but he needs to now get back into the side.

There are no free rides, he mucked up, time to go back to the start and not collect 200 dollars.

I know he can do it, we all do.

Great kid, with awesome talent, just needed a little push to set him straight again

[Rage]

So move Rogers to 4 and Esi to 3?
Just can't leave that Tonga Gordon combo out.

[Coaster]

My only issue with that is how Rogers plays on the other side, has he ever done it?

[TITAN PETE]

Titans wary of desperate Bunnies

By Samantha Broun AAP Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:59:24

Gold Coast enforcer Anthony Laffranchi admits the high-flying Titans are wary of a South Sydney side fighting desperately to stay in the race to the NRL finals.

Souths have had their necks on the top-eight chopping block for weeks.

But with their season on the line last Saturday, coach Jason Taylor's Bunnies had their tails up as they managed to pull off the unthinkable.

The Bunnies dug deep to overturn a 12-point deficit against defending premiers Manly and went on to score their biggest victory at Brookvale since 1954 to remain in finals contention.

It's that fighting spirit which has caught the Titans' attention and Laffranchi says no one should underestimate a desperate side fighting for survival.

"Souths are dangerous across the park and manage to score points," Laffranchi told reporters on Thursday.

"But as they showed last week, they were able to stop points as well.

"They're desperate. It goes to show last week against Manly, 12 points down and claw their way back to win the game.

"They're playing like a desperate team, defending desperately and putting out some good wins."

The Titans are firmly entrenched in the top eight and a win on Friday against the Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium would go a long way to sewing up a top-two finish and snaring the all-important double chance.

Next up, they'll return to Skilled Park to host strugglers Cronulla and an unpredictable West Tigers outfit before playing their last-round match against Manly at Brookvale.

But Laffranchi says the Titans aren't getting ahead of themselves.

"We're in that (finals) position now and I suppose each week you just want to win," he said.

"I suppose whilst we're doing that we can lock that top two away."

The Rabbitohs have lost Roy Asotasi for the season through injury and will have to dig deep to cover the workload of their sidelined captain.

The Titans have yet to post a win at ANZ Stadium and the Bunnies will be hoping the home ground advantage will benefit them.

Former Rabbitoh Mark Minichiello says the Titans have drawn a lot of confidence from their massive victory over the Warriors in New Zealand last week.

"We did a lot of work on our defence the last couple of weeks and it really paid off for us," Minichiello said.

"Our defensive effort against the Warriors is probably the best we've had all year.

"So if we can take that into the game against the Bunnies, I'm sure our attack will fall into place and the points will come.

"Our momentum is starting to build from here on in, we get a win this week, then two home games coming up I think. We'll have a really good run coming into the semis.

"There's a lot of confidence within the group so we're pretty confident that we can get the job done."

[Adelaide Titan]

Looks like Atkins would have to make way as everyone has been saying for Tonga to come back and join Gordon. Rogers did well at 4 last weekend

[patskE]

rogers is a vertan he could play anywhere in the backline, iam sure he can adjust. but yeh tonga gordan combo has been great for us

[GCT_89]

but even as rogers has said before........they all fight for their positions every week.....so now that tonga is out of the side, he has to fight his way back.....he'll have to prove that he wants that spot more than anybody on the Coast.....so i hope he has a blinder for the jets against the dolphins (i think)....... good luck to him getting back in the side, i look forward to seeing him in the 17 again.......

in regards to this weeks game, i am scared we might not be 'Needing' a win as much as souths are, and that we might get caught out......im hoping we grind out a win......and a blowout score would be amazing, but i think this will be a close game.....hopefully we finish with the goods.....

GO THE COAST!

[DIEHARD]

Great pic of the boys celebrating Nathan's 100th!

[GCT_07]

Regardless of his talents and his ability.......the absolute bottom line is disipline. From what I ve read this doesnt look like a one off for Esi and it appears he is falling into a bit of the puffing up of his own chest. NOW if we sit back and say.... come on let him play.... what message do we send to the team. We have the best disiplined team in the comp for a reason. Its when teams turn a blind eye that we end up with the rubbish we have seen this season.

If he were standing right in front of me I would say..... pull your head in mate..... your here to do a job and not to get carried away with your own press. Time to suck it up young man and toe the line if you want a future with the Titans. You now have to earn it back......

I know we want him....... I know he s good...... but team disipline is more important than any of it and i would expect that regardless of the player that the club always take a strong line.

I respect the titans even more for taking a strong hard line.

[teke]

If he comes back into the side I want him next to Mead.

Rogers can pass well to his left, he can cut sharply off his left (to straighten the attack) and can also skip out off his right - all these are good attributes of a left centre.

Esi can pass well to his right, can cut sharp off his right foot (to straighten the attack) and can also skip out off his left - all these make for a good right centre.

I think the pieces fit perfectly if Rogers stays left and Esi can come over to the right.

I have a really good feeling about this Rabbits game

[Steve]

I worry about this game, we always seem to struggle against the bunnies, even when they're in terrible form. They're going well at the moment. I hope that confidence the boys are feeling isn't overconfidence.
If they don't turn up because they think it's a sure thing like they did against the Cowboys, we're stuffed.

I hope they watched the parra game last week too! See how you put a team away once you're ahead, not switch off and let them back into the game.