Titans sure NRL fortunes will change

Robert Lowe AAP Sun, Mar 25, 2012 - 5:58 PM

Skipper Scott Prince is confident Gold Coast aren't suffering a hangover from their nightmare NRL season of 2011.

Coach John Cartwright backs that view, believing the club will turn their fortunes around.

The Titans finished last year as wooden spooners and, despite a multi-million-dollar strengthening of their squad, find themselves again languishing near the bottom of the table.

After opening with an 18-0 win over North Queensland, they have fallen to three successive defeats, the latest to the Warriors, who cruised to a 26-6 victory in Auckland on Saturday night.

It doesn't get any easier next weekend, with Canterbury the visitors at Skilled Park.

But Prince is confident Gold Coast have turned the page from last season.

"It's a new year, new season, new players, new game plans," he said.

"It's all different now for us. We have to play each game as it comes, take each week as it comes."

The Warriors hit the front in the 11th minute with the first of their five tries and kept the Titans scoreless until Luke O'Dwyer got a consolation touchdown with five minutes to go.

Prince admitted that his side's ball security could have been better but refused to blame the wet weather.

"One would say we should be used to it, because it's rained a hell of a lot back home, but no excuses, both teams had to play in it," he said.

"I guess they controlled the ball a lot better than us on the night."

Cartwright, while lamenting the Titans' completion rate of below 60 per cent, saw plenty of positives at Mt Smart Stadium.

One was the performance of his forward pack, which he rated as competitive as any in the NRL.

He was also happy with the overall effort of his players in a physical contest, citing the defence of fullback William Zillman as one example.

"Zillman came up with some huge efforts," he said.

"You don't do that unless you're working for each other."

In one incident just before halftime, Zillman and Nate Myles, in an impressive feat for a prop, chased down a flying Manu Vatuvei, reining the winger in five metres short of the line.

Unfortunately for the Titans, the dummy half was halfback Shaun Johnson, whose twinkle toes took him over for the first of his two tries and a 14-0 lead to the Warriors.

"We're just not getting the critical moments go our way at the moment," Cartwright said.

"There's a football side there waiting to happen and I have no doubts I leave here totally convinced we're going to turn this around and we're going to start winning games."