Round 8: Gold Coast Titans vs Sydney Roosters

[matti]

i love chalky he is playing sweet , i will be asking ben cummings about the refs atm, he does work with my brother. Wow didnt bird get smashed tonight

[Mushi]

Awesome goal line defence tonight - we did a lot more tackling than the chookies and withstood it well. Great to see that side of things coming along. Our attack is improving and the ball is moving around a lot more. We keep kicking ourselves in the teeth with ill discipline but it was much better than last week. Refs were an absolute disgrace and were quite humorous at the end of the game, beeping to all the titans fans as they left the stadium - seriously some of those decisions????? Anyway, as always great to get a win and the 2 points. Now it needs to be backed up with another next week!

[teke]

Geez Bodene and Tonga are defending extremely well in the centres. It's great to see the other teams getting shut down everytime they go out wide

[titansrawesome]

Geez Bodene and Tonga are defending extremely well in the centres. It's great to see the other teams getting shut down everytime they go out wide

ill agree they should stay if tomane goes to wing and mead to fullback and campbell impact player

[teke]

The best thing I like about Zillman is that he is always competing at 100% and it was shown in his 2nd try, tackle...ball pops out...boom he is on it, up then away.

[Tamwelg]

The best thing I like about Zillman is that he is always competing at 100% and it was shown in his 2nd try, tackle...ball pops out...boom he is on it, up then away.

[matti]

zilly and scuba do run like fairys though i must amit

[titansrawesome]

makes you wonder why we would want to make boyd a 5/8

[TITAN PETE]

Refereeing decisions almost killed us Again & not sure if many noticed at the game or if it came across on TV but at halftime Carty stood on the sideline & eyed the refs off the field until they disappeared up the tunnel & I'm sure Chechin & co could feel the Death Stair from the coach

[Ryan]

Refereeing decisions almost killed us Again & not sure if many noticed at the game or if it came across on TV but at halftime Carty stood on the sideline & eyed the refs off the field until they disappeared up the tunnel & I'm sure Chechin & co could feel the Death Stair from the coach

Trev should have Axed them heading into the tunnel, surely there are blind spots from the cameras?

[Rage]

Laine Clark AAP Sun, May 01, 2011 - 11:02 AM

Days after being snubbed by Queensland selectors, Gold Coast Titans captain Scott Prince has got his mojo back - and it goes by the name of Preston Campbell.

Prince had an extra spring in his step as he led the Titans to a vital 24-13 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters at Skilled Park on Saturday.

But he claimed it had more to do with Campbell's return from a month-long knee injury than missing out on Queensland's recent 25-strong Origin squad.

"There's so many things running through my head and he just settles me," Prince said of the veteran fullback.

"I told him after the game that I just felt that he eased the pressure for me.

"I've played with a lot of great fullbacks and he's certainly one of those.

"It helps when you've got a guy at the back to look up and talk to you - he's my eyes out there.

"And he brings that calmness across the park - it's a combination with him that I love."

The game's lead-up may have been about Prince's snub and hooker Nathan Friend becoming the first to play 100 games for the Titans.

But the aftermath of the welcome four tries-to-two victory was dominated by one man - 33-year-old Campbell.

Even when Titans coach John Cartwright heaped praise on his two-try hero - fullback-come-pivot William Zillman - it came back to that man Campbell.

"It's a combination of him (Zillman) having a few games there and Preston at the back - it makes everyone feel pretty comfortable," he said.

The Titans limped to Skilled Park with a 2-5 season record.

But suddenly the Gold Coast appear to have found a magic formula with Campbell at fullback complementing Zillman and Prince in the halves.

"Combination is a big thing and (Cartwright) had a bit of a headache with some selections due to injury and suspension but it's something that we're working on," Prince said.

"The core 1, 6, 7 and 9 (Friend) that we've got on the field is something that we can build on and it showed (against the Roosters)."

Zillman was a budding half before being relegated to fullback during his junior days at former club Canberra thanks to the emergence of Todd Carney and Terry Campese.

And he appears to be making up for lost time after Cartwright threw him into the Titans halves.

"I am certainly getting more comfortable at five-eighth now - the first couple of games were a bit of a shock," Zillman said.

"And we are starting to click together as a team.

"We are not playing our best footy but we are still in every game - to hang in there really shows the character of the team."

"Hopefully it (win over Roosters) is a turning point for the season."

[TITAN PETE]

Trev should have Axed them heading into the tunnel, surely there are blind spots from the cameras?

Gilly maybe the 1st trainer to be marched 10metres before being told to "Get Off"

[thelwall]

i was at the game and the drummers ( and legion ) were great , the reffing was poor .... there were an old couple behind me bagging the reff the whole game and for the first half i just sat there and put up with it :| but after the poor decisions that we had to put up with i joined them

[DIEHARD]

Ref nearly killed us. Outrageous. But luckily we won. I thought the drums were great and Im pleased with the feedback so far.

Zillman was awesome, I really want to keep him at 5/8th. James keeps getting better with every game.

How soft was that penalty on James. That was a fair hit, split second difference between ball off the boot and Jame's shoulder into Pearce. He coulnt have changed direction.

Meanwhile Prince has been getting smashed every week in far worse instances.

15k+ was IMO a solid crowd. Especially with the transport issues and wet weather.

[Rage]

Agree, what James was penalised for was nothing compared to all the late hits that have been put on Prince in the past few weeks