Round 12: Newcastle Knights vs Gold Coast Titans

[TITAN PETE]

I didn't see the game but listened to it on AM. Sounded like Newcastle played like under 9's more than Titans playing out of their skins.

Not trying to be Mr negativity, especially after a much needed win, but how bad was Newcastle?

You are being a bit harsh mate, it was quite a good defensive game but our attack was much better than theirs with Seazar looking dangerous every time he touched the ball & his kicking game good too.

Thought Beau Champion showed his class when he put Mead in the corner & big J.I may be carrying an extra kilo or 2 but that ball he put on Minni's chest brilliant

Bird carried on where he left off in the SOO & looked dangerous all night.

The comp is pretty tight now as we are 1 win out of the 8 & only 6 points behind the Donkeys who are in 2nd place

All in all a very solid win & with hopefully 2 changes next week
Falloon in for Odwyer
BJ in for White

[TITAN PETE]

Titans beat Knights 24-14
AAP **|**07:22pm May 26, 2012


Titans v Knights, May 26, 2012

THE Gold Coast Titans have beaten the Knights 24-14 in a strong performance in Newcastle.

The victory gives them back-to-back wins and will be a big boost for morale.

Newcastle's brave new world under Wayne Bennett was rocked by the loss at Hunter Stadium.

The Knights were outfought and outhought by a Gold Coast side who went into the game as the lowest scorers in the NRL.

The evening started in the best possible way for the hosts when NSW winger Akuila Uate, backing up from Wednesday's State of Origin clash in Melbourne, reached over Kevin Gordon to put the ball across the line in the fifth minute.

John Cartwright's side struggled to get out of their own half in the opening 15 minutes but managed to open their account with their first attack of the game, when livewire hooker Matt Srama darted over after a decent break from William Zillman midway through the first period.

The Titans added their second four-pointer in the 22nd minute when David Mead finished off a flowing move that was started by a sweet inside pass from Jamal Idris to Mark Minichiello, the winger touching down in the right corner.

Boyd, who scored twice for Queensland on Wednesday, is yet to open his account for the Knights, and his poor club form continued when he knocked-on just in front of his own goal area.

And from the resulting scrum, the Titans, growing in confidence, added their third try of the game when Nate Myles powered his way over from close range and Scott Prince's conversion opened up a 16-4 lead at halftime.

It was the first time since the 2010 finals series the Titans had scored 16 points in the first half of a game and they continued where they left off in the second stanza with Greg Bird stepping over for an excellent try after another Boyd knock-on.

Prince's conversion gave a comfortable 22-4 advantage as the Titans continued to control proceedings for the rest of the half.

GOLD COAST 24 (G Bird D Mead N Myles M Srama tries S Prince 4 goals) bt NEWCASTLE 14 (A McKinnon T Roberts A Uate tries T Roberts goal) at Hunter Stadium. Referee: Shayne Hayne, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 15,792.

*

[TITAN PETE]

Titans embarrass Knights 24-14 in NRL

By Ian McCullough AAP Sat, May 26, 2012 - 9:10 PM

Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett says he's "embarrassed" by his struggling side's current run of form after the Knights slumped to a dismal 24-14 NRL defeat to lowly Gold Coast on Saturday.

On a cold evening in Newcastle, Bennett's side produced another limp performance, handing the Titans their first back-to-back victories in almost two years.

It was the fourth time this season the Knights have lost at home and the seven-time premiership-winning coach admits it will be a huge challenge to get the team into the finals.

"My greatest difficulty right now is that I have to pick the teams," Bennett said.

"If everybody's doing their job, then the team picks itself."

Many of the 15,792 crowd vented their frustrations at the final siren, with two late tries giving the scoreline a flattering look, in a game the Titans dominated for large periods.

Bennett has urged supporters to be patient, but admitted he understood their frustrations.

"They can get impatient as much as they like, but it isn't going to help anybody," he said.

"Nobody is more impatient than myself. I am embarrassed by the way we're playing.

"But if we could just wave a magic wand and get it right we'd do that.

"That's not going to happen. I understand their frustration, it's no greater than mine."

However, the 62-year-old said he would get things right and turn the situation round.

"I've been here before, so I know what is in front of me and I know what I've got to do," he said.

"My coaching career has been long, but a lot of people forget where I came from and they look at the results.

"But there has been a lot of indifferent stuff over a long period.

"But at the end of the day, I always get where I want to go and it's no different here."

Titans coach John Cartwright was full of praise for the performances of his State of Origin stars Greg Bird, Nate Myles and Ashley Harrison who all produced strong displays just three days after Wednesday's clash in Melbourne.

NSW back-rower Bird and Queensland star Myles both scored tries and Cartwright said he was delighted with the way his side overcome a slow start that saw them concede a try to Akuila Uate after four minutes.

"I thought there were patches in that game that is the best we've played this year," Cartwright said.

"I thought Birdy was one of our best and Nate and Harro were great. It is a tough ask to ask them to back up from Origin and the signs are great."

[Princey's Titanz]

we have found a winning formula.

[C-Whiz]

You are being a bit harsh mate,

Sorry if it sounded that way, was just asking the question, not making a statement. I will watch the game today, but even Bennett says his team is pretty close to useless at the moment.

The comp is pretty tight now as we are 1 win out of the 8 & only 6 points behind the Donkeys who are in 2nd place

This is quite amazing. I had no idea. I'd given up on the race for the eight to be honest. I was just hoping to start winning before I worried about where we were on the ladder.

[Tamwelg]

You are being a bit harsh mate, it was quite a good defensive game but our attack was much better than theirs with Seazar looking dangerous every time he touched the ball & his kicking game good too.

Thought Beau Champion showed his class when he put Mead in the corner & big J.I may be carrying an extra kilo or 2 but that ball he put on Minni's chest brilliant

Bird carried on where he left off in the SOO & looked dangerous all night.

The comp is pretty tight now as we are 1 win out of the 8 & only 6 points behind the Donkeys who are in 2nd place

All in all a very solid win & with hopefully 2 changes next week
Falloon in for Odwyer
BJ in for White

As much as I love BJ and would like to see him out there, I think White played well and deserves to keep his spot.

[Nick]

As much as I love BJ and would like to see him out there, I think White played well and deserves to keep his spot.

Definitely! White had a very solid game. O'dwyer was the only thing keeping the knights in the game, he made some very costly errors.

[Tamwelg]

Mini has found a home ever since he was moved from the left side of the field to the right. His hole running has gone up a level and I can't remember him dropping the ball on that side of the filed(touch wood).

Zillman was pretty good for the second game in a row. Occasionally I'd like to see him sweeping out the back as a second man in a deep back line move, a move that just about every other team in the NRL (and some QRL) use with success. I'm not sure if that is coaching or Zilly just doesn't have that in his game. I saw us use that type of play 2 or 3 times last year when Rankin was back there.

Bird was tremendous again last night and is having the best season of his career to date. How he didn't get picked in the Australia team that played the Kiwis earlier this year, I'll never know. I'm a Queenslander through and though and was calling him all the names under the sun on Wednesday night, but truth be told I thought he deserved to get Man of the Match. Yes I thought Myles played great and was the best Maroon, but Bird was the best player on the park.

Srama seems to have his spark back, that's 2 weeks in a row we've seen some great games from him as well.

Idris is overweight and would be unstoppable and take his game to the level we know he can play. He has the potential to be as dangerous as GI in attack, which makes me wonder, if Idris gets into shpae, can he play fullback?Just a thought.... He's good under the high ball, good in open play running and we saw last night he can throw a good pass. Fitnees nowhere near fullback material right now, but way be worth a look down the track. GI was in a similar boat Idris a few years ago, overweight and out of form, but in the off season this year he got his head right, got into magnificant shape and look at the way he is playing.

[Smakked]

We played really well but still patchy, but was a godo win and will build confidence, i think we will roll the cows on friday night aswell. A win at home would be awesome.

[Princey's Titanz]

Idris is overweight and would be unstoppable and take his game to the level we know he can play. He has the potential to be as dangerous as GI in attack, which makes me wonder, if Idris gets into shpae, can he play fullback?Just a thought.... He's good under the high ball, good in open play running and we saw last night he can throw a good pass. Fitnees nowhere near fullback material right now, but way be worth a look down the track. GI was in a similar boat Idris a few years ago, overweight and out of form, but in the off season this year he got his head right, got into magnificant shape and look at the way he is playing.

You have brought up a very valid point. He could play fullback but he seems too lazy for that type of role right now. He could be exactly like a Greg Inglis if he wanted to be. We could consider that when he gets his fitness levels up. Fullback makes a lot of metres so im not sure if Idris is cut out for that role. He probably wont take kick returns. We will probably get Mead to do that anyway.

[Julius Sezer]

LOL at the Knights Forum

Someone in their forum said 'Knights 40+ Titans 6 MOTM Boyd' before the match

And their were others that had more sense in them 'got a feeling we will lose this one'.

After the game everyone on the forum was having a bash at their own players and saying stuff like 'This is pathetic. The worst team effort ever'.

I feel for them. We were in the same situation as them last year.

[eelectrica]

Picked the Titans in all tipping comps. Newcastle are hopelessly out of form, Titans finally starting to click.
We might be wondering 'what if' we beat the Roosters and Tigers by the end of the year. Two games we really should have won.

[DIEHARD]

I agree completely with Pete and Tam's take.

I can now taste the Top 8, we can actually do this. I think we will only improve as the season goes on.

[C-Whiz]

[QUOTE=Tamwelg;300891]

Mini has found a home ever since he was moved from the left side of the field to the right. His hole running has gone up a level and I can't remember him dropping the ball on that side of the filed(touch wood).

Yep, he has been as good as i remember him ever being. Good to have him back!

He has the potential to be as dangerous as GI in attack, which makes me wonder, if Idris gets into shpae, can he play fullback?Just a thought....

He could be exactly like a Greg Inglis if he wanted to be. We could consider that when he gets his fitness levels up. Fullback makes a lot of metres so im not sure if Idris is cut out for that role. He probably wont take kick returns. We will probably get Mead to do that anyway.

Sorry, but you guys are kidding yourselves. Inglis has natural athleticism, a fluid running style etc. Idris' only similarity to Inglis is their height and size. Idris could be a great centre (one of the true greats) if he sheds some kilos and gains some speed and works on his step and fend, but he is not GI and he never will be. Totally different style. Idris will never be a FB. Ever. Sorry. I'd put Idris closer to Meninga than Inglis. When/if he reaches his full potential.

[Titanic]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves lads, nothing much has changed ... at this rate you'll be hailing Cartwright as our saviour. The Cows will not be easy and we will be without who?

Myles, Bird and Harrison replaced by Lawrence, Rankin and the goat or wishful thinking Falloon. They will be without Thurston, Tate and Tamou replaced by Morgan, Fai Fai Loa and any number of quality forwards such as Bolton or Patterson.

Also Idris' defence would be even more exposed at fullback. He needs to lose weight before he explodes.