Round 19: Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans

[Supergoose]

I really enjoyed today's game for 70 minutes. Wise to erase the last 10 minutes from the memory banks. Falloon showed he is a very capable hooker without being brilliant. He gives us options at least to play Srama in the halves if we don't think Rankin is up to it (I think Rankin is a fine half but Srama probably edges him at this stage). Idris on the right side is the way to go, he just looks more comfortable. Zillman was great today and produced what we've been missing. The left centre position is still a concern. I still think despite Zillman's star showing at fullback today he would give us more from left centre. Mead to fullback and whoever to right wing (michaels was fine today but was untested really).

[Hail Sezer]

Happy with the win..Minus the final 10..

On the performance..was happy overall, Jamal managed to run straight instead of side to side for the most part and even Zillman managed to do that thing where you get the ball and place it over the chalk at the far end of the field..

About time Sezer got a crack at goal kicking duties and I'm hoping his wrist heals up asap. As for his replacement, I'd like to see nothing more than Rankin brought in or Srama shifted to half. If Carty makes 5 billion positional changes I'm gonna be pissed.

[teke]

Quote from Raiders Forum

I'm shocked it was only six - Zillman made at least four line breaks just on kick returns. It's one thing getting carved up by Slater or Benji Marshall, but getting absolutely rogered by Zillman, Steve Michaels and O'Dwyer is truly an indictment.

[Boofhead]

Quote from Raiders Forum

I'm shocked it was only six - Zillman made at least four line breaks just on kick returns. It's one thing getting carved up by Slater or Benji Marshall, but getting absolutely rogered by Zillman, Steve Michaels and O'Dwyer is truly an indictment.

Classic haha.

Jesus guys. Zillman made 240 meters with 17 tackle breaks for 5 lines breaks. I mean, holy ****. This will surely bring some confidence in to the bloke.

[Tamwelg]

Classic haha.

Jesus guys. Zillman made 240 meters with 17 tackle breaks for 5 lines breaks. I mean, holy ****. This will surely bring some confidence in to the bloke.

He has always had the ability he just needs to do that more often now. Full credit though, he had a blinder.

[TITAN PETE]

Titans eye finals after thumping Raiders

By Crystal Ja AAP Sun, Jul 15, 2012 - 5:15 PM

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright says the Titans' 38-26 flogging over Canberra proves it's never wise to write off teams until the close of the NRL season.

With seven games to go, the Titans are only two points out of the eight after their eight-try demolition job on the Raiders at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

The Titans scored five unanswered tries in the first half to have the game all but wrapped up at the break with a 22-4 margin, on the way to a final 12-point win.

"We're at the stage now where we have to win," Cartwright said.

"There's no hiding from that.

"But with the side that we have - whether we're mathematically possible to make the eight - I wouldn't write us off.

"If we can win the majority of our games, we can find ourselves there."

It's the seventh win of the Titans' up-and-down season, but more impressively their fifth away from Skilled Park.

Captain Scott Prince was at a loss to explain their enviable away record.

"I take my pillow away. Maybe that works," he joked.

"A couple of years ago we made Skilled Park a bit of a fortress - I think we only lost one - and our away record was pretty dismal, so I don't know."

He admitted confidence was high for the visitors heading into the match.

"Our main focus was just to get into a grind with the Raiders, really work their big men in the middle and then it would open up on the edges," Prince said.

"I guess it's fortunate for us it panned out."

The Raiders, whose own finals fortunes hang by a thread, were up to their old tricks with a lacklustre defence.

Captain David Shillington said he could see a pattern emerging after scoring an early try only to let the game slip away from them.

"We actually did that against the Cowboys as well, we scored a good one early on and made an error and dropped our bundle, so there's some sort of pattern there."

Coach David Furner agreed, arguing Blake Ferguson's opening try got the Raiders feeling "too comfortable".

But he said the Raiders are still full of belief they can still make the eight, with Cronulla looming as their next challenge at Toyota Stadium in a week's time.

[DIEHARD]

Quote from Raiders Forum

I'm shocked it was only six - Zillman made at least four line breaks just on kick returns. It's one thing getting carved up by Slater or Benji Marshall, but getting absolutely rogered by Zillman, Steve Michaels and O'Dwyer is truly an indictment.

That is hilarious. They must be spewing!

[Titanic]

Although he had a fine game, I wouldn't get too carried away over that ... his last game like that was two seasons ago and then a lifetime before that.

[DIEHARD]

Although he had a fine game, I wouldn't get too carried away over that ... his last game like that was two seasons ago and then a lifetime before that.

I hope he backs up with a stellar performance against the Broncos.

I dont want to wait until 2014 for another performance like that!

[karnage]

I wouldn't count on Bird - I am hearing that he might be out for the rest of the year.

[DIEHARD]

I wouldn't count on Bird - I am hearing that he might be out for the rest of the year.

Yea.. Im not expecting him back for a while, certainly not this week. What a devastating loss. He is exactly what we need.

You hear about Origin wrecking some teams but never the Titans. But it does.

[karnage]

Yea.. Im not expecting him back for a while, certainly not this week. What a devastating loss. He is exactly what we need.

You hear about Origin wrecking some teams but never the Titans. But it does.

You might hear about it wrecking us if we were genuinely in the race for the finals. It's hard to expect quality coverage when the team can't perform well enough on the field to earn it.

[Princey's Titanz]

Its going to be a good matchup this week when we take on the Broncs

[Rage]

Classic haha.

Jesus guys. Zillman made 240 meters with 17 tackle breaks for 5 lines breaks. I mean, holy ****. This will surely bring some confidence in to the bloke.

Watch Zillman get put into 5/8 instead of further developing as a fullback...

[DIEHARD]

Stats Insider - Shoot to Zill

The Jetstar Gold Coast Titans scored an important win on the road in Round 19, with a number of players producing some of their best form, none more so than William Zillman.

The fullback scored two tries, and made an astonishing 5 line breaks, 17 tackle breaks and ran for 240 metres in a Man of the Match performance. While Zillman has had some solid outings of recent weeks, it?s finally been reflected in his statistics. If he can repeat these sorts of efforts for the remainder of the season, his opposition better look out.

Here are a few more stats coming out of the 38-26 win over the Raiders.

| STAT |
Steve Michaels made the most of his opportunity against the Raiders, scoring a magnificent double. He also produced 3 tackle breaks, a line break and ran for 104 metres, and has been rewarded with a new three year deal with the club, which you can read about here.

| STAT |
The return of Luke Bailey couldn?t have come at a better time, with the experienced prop making a game-high 21 runs for 169 metres and 2 offloads in a big 58 minute performance. Bailey displayed few signs of the rib injury that hampered his season to date - a positive sign for the Titans headed towards the back end of the season.

| STAT |
Not many props can claim to have decent play-making skills - but Luke Douglas sure does. He came up with a try, try assist as well as a handy 19 tackles and 87 metres in his 44 minutes on the park, showing just how versatile he is.

| STAT |
While there were some terrific individual performances (as mentioned above), the team as a whole dominated possession, with 57%. They also completed 29/36 sets (81%), which holds the side in good stead for the highly anticipated clash with the Broncos.

Next Up:
In Round 20, the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans welcome the Broncos to Skilled Park next Friday July 20 with kick-off at 7.35pm.

http://www.titans.com.au