Titans: The Run Home.....

[DIEHARD]

Titans: The Run Home.....

Gold Coast Titans

Current Position: 16th

Points: 12 (8 points out of the eight)

The Run Home: Cowboys (H), Knights (A), Sharks (A), Storm (H), Raiders (H), Tigers (A), Eels (H)

Key Matches: Every match is a grand final for the Titans if they are going to make the semi finals in 2011. The tough road trips to Newcastle and Cronulla could be the difference if they are to make a late season charge towards the finals.

Key Players: Matt Srama has become a vital cog in the Titans spine since his debut in round 12, but the key for the Titans is the back-row. Anthony Laffranchi, Ashley Harrison, Greg Bird and Mark Minichiello are all representative standard players, and need to find the creativity and edge running that made them so dangerous over the past two seasons.

Key Stats: The Titans formerly slick attack has struggled in 2011 so far. They have only had more line-breaks than their opposition once in 17 games, which has seen them rely heavily on the kick to score points. This means completing sets is vitally important to their attack, with their last victory against the Dragons coming off an 85% completion rate.

Key Injuries: Ben Ridge is due back within the next two weeks, but Kevin Gordon (knee), Nathan Friend (shoulder) and Ryan James (knee) won?t be back in 2011.

Bunnies: Tigers - The Titans have a fairly rich history with the Tigers, which includes premiership winners from 2005 Scott Prince and Anthony Laffranchi leaving the club to join the Gold Coast. Their round 6 victory on the bell has only heightened this, and improved their record to three wins from the last four meetings.

Bogey Side: Cowboys ? Although the Titans overall record against their Queensland rivals is quite even, the Cowboys have had bragging rights in recent seasons, winning three of their last four meetings, including a 22-12 win in round 5.

Straight Shooting: The Titans remain a mathematical chance of making the semi finals this year, with the close nature of the competition meaning that eighth spot will probably fall to 26 points. Unfortunately, they haven?t got the momentum at the moment to make a late run towards the finals, but their draw against fellow finals chasers presents an outside chance. The emergence of Matt Srama during this year provides plenty of encouragement for John Cartwright for next season and beyond, as does their recruitment for next year, which includes Jamal Idris, Luke Douglas and Nate Myles.

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

[C-Whiz]

All a bit of a joke really. And this is from the Titans website.

I especially liked the bit about "Srama being a vital cog in the Titans spine", yet he was pulled at a crucial time, in a match that was an arm wrestle, while playing out of his skin.

We are a mathematical possibility to avoid the spoon before worrying about making the 8.

Straight shooting: Cartwright needs to do better, decide on the team, play the best team, in their best positions, and let the players get creative rather than being bogged down with tired plays from tired players.

[DIEHARD]

I think we look good to win 2-3 home games. Cowboys, Raiders and Parra. And you never know our luck against the Storm, we did emmlast year but we were in another galaxy in terms of form. The Storm will grow in strength as they sniff the NRL Finals Series. I tip them to be Premiers.

[Titanic]

Cons: I just don't understand how anyone can get enthusiastic about our pack against the Cowboys ... even on their most woeful day they stand deep and hit the line with aggression ... we stand so flat that the pivots have to run to put us on-side ... diabolical.

Pros: This week we have backs in the backline and perhaps, once they get over the shock of that, they will recall how to draw and pass and a few other little basics that seem to have been archived from our game plan this year.

Titans x 4

[eelectrica]

The wheels seem to have fallen off Newcastle a bit in the last few weeks, and we're normally pretty competitive agains them.

Sharks are beatable, but we made them look premiership favorites at skilled with that pitifull second half.

Canberra is an absolute must win game, but it would be nice to jag a win or two before that. Starting with the Cowboys!

[TITAN PETE]

Let's work on Saturday nights game 1st..

[C-Whiz]

This is on NRL site. Someone linked it on FB. http://www.nrl.com.au/sterling-gold-...9/default.aspx
The part down the bottom about the Broncos sort of sums up what/where we should be at this time, this season. We should be at the back end of a re-building phase, even though we had nothing to rebuild at the start of the season.

However, as the season disintegrated before our very eyes, someone, somewhere, should have been asking the serious questions of how can we prevent this from happening next year, and started the process.

Like I've said before, I can handle losing if there is some future plan in place, but I get the feeling we are focusing on the wrong priorities, and whether we win the next 3 games or not is not as important to me as whether we are in a position to win more than we lose next season.

[Titanic]

I get the feeling we are focusing on the wrong priorities, and whether we win the next 3 games or not is not as important to me as whether we are in a position to win more than we lose next season.

this +100

[Rage]

Couldn't agree more. It's been said alot in recent weeks but all the star signings in the world aren't gonna help next year unless the right structures are in place.

[DIEHARD]

Couldn't agree more. It's been said alot in recent weeks but all the star signings in the world aren't gonna help next year unless the right structures are in place.

And as someone said, sorry I can't remember who. Our signings are coming from clubs who aren't travelling well. Souths, Roosters and Sharks. So we must provide the right culture ourselves.

[Titanic]

And as someone said, sorry I can't remember who. Our signings are coming from clubs who aren't travelling well. Souths, Roosters and Sharks. So we must provide the right culture ourselves.

add Bulldogs ... we are in danger of being seen as or already are viewed as the halfway house for fringe ex-Sydney players ... this was the problem with the Giants/Seagulls/Chargers and is very disheartening from a life-time Gold Coast rugby league player/coach/fan's point of view.

We can talk-up Idris/Myles/Champion/Douglas et al but we cannot hide our poor record with young players, our lack of creativity on the field and the loss of form of players who should be at their prime.

[C-Whiz]

but we cannot hide our poor record with young players, our lack of creativity on the field and the loss of form of players who should be at their prime.

+100 back at ya.