Gold Coast Titans shrug off salary cap drama ahead of Cowboys clash ?
THE salary cap storm swirling around the Titans shows no sign of abating but coach John Cartwright says the mental fortitude of his side will ensure they are not blown off course.
The NRL intensified its investigation into allegations of salary cap breaches made by disgruntled builder and former sponsor Alex Simpson this week as auditor Ian Schubert flew into the Coast to meet with both Simpson and Titans CEO Michael Searle.
To make matters worse, the man at the centre of the allegations, skipper Scott Prince, was sidelined with a broken thumb. But if people are expecting the unbeaten Titans to crack, Cartwright says they have badly under-sold the character of his team.
"I am very proud of the players the way they have handled themselves, very professional," Cartwright said.
"They have just got on with the job.
"The club has been great as well. Michael (Searle) and his team have kept us informed of everything that is going on and what has been going on in the papers isn't a concern.
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"It is very easy to make big statements in a paper, but we are confident time will prove who is right and who is wrong and in the meantime we have to get on with it and play good football.
"We know where we stand. We have total faith and confidence in Michael and his team."
Cartwright expects that same resolve to be on show tonight when the Titans play the Cowboys in Townsville.
While much has been made of Prince's absence, Cartwright points to the fact that his team won both games they played without Prince in 2009 and there will be no room for excuses against the Johnathan Thurston-led Cowboys.
"We have trained really well and we're enthusiastic about our chances," Cartwright said.
"There is a lot of people saying we can't win, and the more they say it the more we like it."
The Cowboys are set to unleash a host of promising rookies, headlined by five-eighth Ray Thompson, but Cartwright said targeting the youngster was not part of his game plan.
"We don't pay too much attention to the opposition," Cartwright said.
"We concentrate on what we have to do."
Asked about what he knew of Thompson's abilities, Cartwright said: "He looks promising. He's a bit Preston Campbell-like actually, he's a young Aboriginal boy, very nippy on his feet and they've obviously got a high opinion of him."
Cowboys coach Neil Henry said he expected Thompson to handle the step up in grade from Toyota Cup.
"He is a confident kid, he is used to doing that role back in the under-20s and JT has been very good with him this week," Henry said.
"They get together to have a talk and he guided him through a few things when we did ballwork yesterday.
"I expect him just to step up and do the job."
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