Titans' pre-season clash with Warriors

A NEW Zealand showdown against the Warriors will add some sting to the Gold Coast Titans' pre-season campaign.

Gold Coast will travel to Auckland to face the 2011 premiership runner-up in a February trial which is sure to blow out some cobwebs.

Coach John Cartwright is planning to move away from the tradition of resting players in the first trial, instead choosing to run a full-strength squad against the bustling Warriors.

The change comes on the back of the Titans' horrible campaign this year which saw the wooden spoon land at Skilled Park.

The new-look team has had more than enough time to recover after a premature end to the season and Cartwright is expecting his bulk of the squad to play in the North Harbour Stadium match on February 4.

The Warriors trial will be played on the same night as the Indigenous All Stars match at Skilled Park, which Titans Scott Prince and Jamal Idris are likely to feature in.

Round 1 of the NRL has been scheduled to begin on Friday, March 3, with the grand final to be played on October 1, the same weekend as the AFL decider.

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