Big-money forwards gamble paying off

[TITAN PETE]

Big-money forwards gamble paying off
Travis Meyn | 12:01am February 13, 2012

THEY have spent millions creating an all-star forward pack and the gamble seems to have worked, with the Gold Coast Titans starting to plug their leaky defence.

Much of the hype around Gold Coast's recruiting spree has centred around publicity magnet Jamal Idris but the addition of defensive machines Nate Myles and Luke Douglas immediately paid dividends in Saturday's trial match against Brisbane at Pizzey Park.

The Broncos struggled to make inroads with the ball and resorted to scoring their three tries from kicks.

Myles, who was named at lock, was arguably best on ground in the 18-16 win, with his bruising defence and presence plugging the many holes that plagued the Titans' wooden spoon season last year.

He was well supported by former Shark Douglas while evergreen prop Luke Bailey was also solid.

Workhorse lock Ashley Harrison did his usual job while edge second-rower Mark Minichiello bagged two tries in a bustling performance. Blues enforcer Greg Bird sat out the match with a minor chest injury.

Titans coach John Cartwright summed up the influence of Myles in one simple sentence.

"You don't realise what a good player he is until he plays with you," he said.

"He's very similar to Ashley Harrison. Very tidy around the middle and composed.

"When you talk about the attitude part of the game being so important, him and Harrison are so composed before games, at training, on the field.

"It's hard to gauge how many points that's worth but you can see the composure in the side when he's out there.

"When our best pack was out on the field, I thought they were very dominant."

The Titans leaked 629 points last season at an average of 26.21 per match.

Cartwright said he was already impressed by his side's improvements in defence.

"We've done a lot of work on defence in the off-season and all their tries came off kicks so if we can keep making sides work like that to score their points we'll be happy," he said.

"We needed to make changes on the back of last year and we did that.

"It's a trial and I won't get carried away. I'm just really pleased with their attitude in the off-season and they've taken it into the trials."

Harrison was a surprise starter in the match after suffering from a virus early last week which hospitalised him for two days.

The Queensland Origin stalwart said Myles was the perfect player to help lift the Titans out of the NRL cellar.

"You know what you're going to get with Nate," he said.

"He plugs up the middle good and is going to be a great asset for us this year. It's something we've needed over the last couple of years.

"Hopefully Nate this year will give us that and be able to be fit for most of the year."

The Titans burst out of the blocks against Brisbane, scoring three tries inside 20 minutes before the Broncos bounced back.

Cartwright said his new-look squad wanted to make a statement in front of its home crowd.

"We had a chance to put a few things to bed with our first real hit-out," he said.

"I think they went out with that in the back of their mind and they achieved it. Our points were on the back of that physical presence."

The Titans face North Queensland in their third and final trial in Mackay on Saturday night.

[DIEHARD]

I am very excited by us fielding a pack I'd hate to face. It is an All Star pack indeed. And I think Srama will surely grow further in 2012.

Myles and Mini were stand outs on Saturday but hopefully Greg Bird gets back for Round 1.

[ozynorts]

the good thing about these two are the extra starch they add in defence. at times last year it was left to bird to do all the hitting. now with help the opposition have less holes to run in and more bruises to count at fulltime

[Princey's Titanz]

the good thing about these two are the extra starch they add in defence. at times last year it was left to bird to do all the hitting. now with help the opposition have less holes to run in and more bruises to count at fulltime

Hopefully last year's woeful defence will turn into the best defence in the NRL this year.

[Titanic]

it's all only academic if we can't get early ball to the backs ... let's be honest, the Sharks have had a killer pack for years but so what.

[TITAN PETE]

it's all only academic if we can't get early ball to the backs ... let's be honest, the Sharks have had a killer pack for years but so what.

Please don't compare our pack or anything about our club to the Sharks....

Apart from Srama our entire pack are Rep Players

[Titanic]

Sure but without a functional halves pairing we are bait.

[karnage]

Perhaps a better comparison would have been South Sydney.

[thelwall]

touch wood for no injuries and this should be a good year for our forwards