Titans' Prince fighting fit

TITANS' captain Scott Prince has declared himself fighting fit as the Gold Coast sets itself for another tilt at an NRL title.

The halfback hurt his shoulder at the end of last season, when the Titans crashed out of the finals with a 32-6 hammering at the hands of Sydney Roosters in the preliminary final.

While there were fears the injury might require an operation, Prince said yesterday during a visit to Mackay that the news was all good.

?I?ve spoken to the surgeon and the medical staff at the Titans. It?s all good and I don?t need any surgery at the moment,? he said.

?I?m feeling good going into the pre-season.?

Prince was joined yesterday by Mackay?s Aiden Higgins, 17, and his mate Brandon Vella at a lunch at Outback Jack?s, won at Meng Tyre Sales.

?It?s a bit of a surprise,? Higgins said.

?But it should be a good afternoon.?

The Titans have looked the Queensland team most likely to break through to the NRL grand final over the past few years, and successive lacklustre exits in 2009 and 2010 don?t sit well with their captain.

?It?s a little bit disappointing that we couldn?t go that one step further,? Prince said.

?That is what every player dreams about, to make the NRL grand final and certainly win it; that is our ultimate goal but at the end of the day it?s the hard work and doing the little things right that will get you there.?

Prince said the retirement of Mat Rogers would be a massive loss to the Titans, but the signing of former Rabbitoh Luke Capewell gives them options in the halves.

Capewell, who can play fullback or five-eighth, is seen as a possible combination with Prince in the halves but the Titans have plenty of other candidates including Preston Campbell, Greg Bird and Jordan Rankin.

Prince, 30, who was born in Mt Isa, has played for all three Queensland NRL clubs, making his debut with the Cowboys before moving on to the Broncos.

He said he believed there was room for a fourth Queensland NRL club, now being pursued by the CQ Bid to base a team at Rockhampton.

?There are a lot of good players in the Central Queensland region who are local and could make the transition into playing NRL,? he said.

?With the mining industry such a big part of the area I?m sure a team could get the financial support, and maybe one day we could see a team in the Central Queensland region.?

http://www.dailymercury.com.au/