Round 22: Gold Coast Titans vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

[DIEHARD]

Luke Bailey's the benchmark for Titans' new boys

LUKE Bailey has never played a good game of football.

It might sound like a harsh assessment, but Gold Coast Titans coach John Cartwright believes it is that type of self-assessment which has made the veteran prop one of the most committed and determined front-rowers in the game today.

When you set standards like Bailey expects of himself, you are never going to be satisfied.

"He is very hard on himself,'' Cartwright said. "He is never happy with his own game. For some guys that can be a negative, but for him it's a positive because he is always looking to improve.

"At his age that is a rare quality. Sometimes you get to a stage of your career where you think you've been there done that, but not Bails. He is always looking to improve his game.

"He is a bit of a marvel. His strength and his fitness just keeps improving.''

How is it that at 32 after 229 NRL games where his body has been broken and battered, Bailey is still doing the hard yards of a prop, and the one per centers that don't create headlines. Why is he always the man leading the kick-chase to trap the fullback in goal, or being the only man rushing up to pressure a kicker?

"It's pride in performance,'' Cartwright said. "There's still things in the game he hasn't achieved, I know for a fact he is desperate to win a grand final.

"He is the best at any club in those little one per centers.''

Those efforts are why Bailey is the man Cartwright points young players towards when they first arrive

"I often put him with younger guys to train because he is such a good leader,'' Titans strength and conditioning coach Chris McLellan said.

"Because he is fit, fitter than most of them, he is the benchmark.

"If you look at his testing results physically, he is not the fittest bloke in the club, not the strongest bloke, not even the fastest bloke. But his commitment to what he requires of himself on the field just goes beyond all of that.

"You can look at three different guys and they might have fairly similar physical results in terms of their fitness. But he will beat them every time because of his commitment.''

Young forward Ben Ridge is one of several Titans to have learnt from Bailey.

"You just look up to him and know where you have to be to perform at that sort of level,'' Ridge said.

"Some of things he does is unhuman (sic) like.

"You could be in the 75th minute of the game and you have to kick-chase and he will be the only one down there chasing and tackle the fullback in goal.

"He pulls things like that out of his hat. NRL is a lot more mental than physical and Luke Bailey is one of the mentally strongest.''

Ashley Harrison knows better than most the value of little efforts.

His own small contributions have helped Queensland to seven consecutive Origin wins.

For Harrison, Bailey's ability to perform at the elite level for over a decade sets him apart.

"That is the difference between just an average player and a good or great player,'' Harrison said. "Bails has been able to do this over a long period of time.

"You see some guys come in and they might have a good season or two in them, but he seems to be doing it every year.

"He is a guy I've never seen cut a corner at training.''

Modesty is another widely used term for Bailey.

When The Sunday Mail first broached the subject of an article about "Bull'', the club suggested he would be the last person wanting to participate.

"Bails is more an actions type guy,'' Harrison said.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au

[TITAN PETE]

Game day & I can't wait to get out there

If we are to be taken seriously this season we need to give the Bunnies a real shake & do it with our defense.....I have faith in Bails Boy's having RBbit Stew tonight



Brad enjoy your trip mate

[Chaos]

"At his age that is a rare quality. Sometimes you get to a stage of your career where you think you've been there done that, but not Bails. He is always looking to improve his game.

Well that is just the opposite of Jamie Soward, who thinks he has already done it all.

[TITAN PETE]

Titans on way up, says Douglas
Date
August 5, 2012
SMH
Daniel Lane


Gold Coast prop Luke Douglas reckons Scott Prince has fulfilled an enduring thought offered by Aristotle about 350BC, when the Greek philosopher suggested ''pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work''.

Prince's fine form has helped the Titans claw their way into top eight contention and, as they prepared for today's showdown with hotshots Souths, Douglas credited his halfback's attitude as crucial in the team's late surge.

''He's starting to enjoy it,'' Douglas said of Prince. ''You know he's 'on' when he starts doing the little flick passes and stuff. Sometimes you don't need it but, when you're going forward for him, and he has a little bit of time, he comes into his own. He's enjoying himself.

''I'd guess that, in the past, he had to do it all on his own, but with [five-eighth] Aidan Sezer there, his kicking game takes an added pressure off Scott. We also have a few forward plays which allow Scott to sit back and we don't really need him. He only has to come in when he sees something, or if he wants to to do it.''


Douglas, who left Cronulla at the end of last season, described the Rabbitohs as a team that kept opponents guessing. ''They have strike power across the park; a great forward pack and [halfback Adam] Reynolds is controlling them well. Then they have the outside speed with guys like Nathan Merritt. There's a logjam in the eight. We have one toe in, but have to also kick the door down. We have a fair bit of work to do to get ahead of the pack but we've been playing with a bit more confidence.''

While their season started poorly, the low note being news the club was in danger of collapsing under its debt, Douglas said the team's collective confidence grew with each game.

''We had a slow start,'' he said. ''We had a lot of new players and it took time to build that confidence and get to know each other's play. We had a little patch in the middle of the season with a few good games, but lost it with a few injuries. I reckon time, and the fact that we're finding [form] at the right time of the season, is great. We're controlling the ball and not coughing it up like we were.''

Souths prop Eddy Pettybourne, who will match muscle with Douglas, said he'd learned a lot this season from the likes of Michael Crocker and Roy Asotasi about leading from the front. ''I try to do be the best I can,'' Pettybourne said. ''I don't act as a leader but I follow their footsteps. I try to do the little things right because I think that's why the likes of Michael Crocker and Roy Asotasi are still here.''

[Tamwelg]

Game day & I can't wait to get out there

If we are to be taken seriously this season we need to give the Bunnies a real shake & do it with our defense.....I have faith in Bails Boy's having RBbit Stew tonight



Brad enjoy your trip mate

I haven't been this excited for a match in a long time.

For those who already commented on the Roosters win on Friday night. I was sitting at home watching the game cheering so hard for them. I actually felt a little bit dirty cheering for the Roosters like that.

GO TITANS

[Julius Sezer]

Asked to explain the secret to his form reversal, Prince said: "I wanted to turn it all around and play September football.

"If we don't make the eight I see it as an unsuccessful year."

This is a good sign. Shows that Prince is hungry for success.

Boys are really going to put in a solid effort today.

[Titanic]

There will be spoilers on here for anybody with a delayed telecast ... and I am one of them.

[Titanic]

Great start ... an arm wrestle, an opportunists try and a sideline conversion.

[Titanic]

I just want to mark this for anybody who was at the game ... was Idris hurt then?

[Titanic]

Prince didn't compete for that and they go 80 meters and score.

[Titanic]

Zillman has hands like feet and should stay away from dummy half and the halves..

[Titanic]

That adjustment they've made to the left side seems to be helping Michaels.

[Titanic]

O'Dwyer is honestly a poor reader of the play. Puts Mead into the sideline ... gee.

[Titanic]

How was that not a try?

[Titanic]

How was that a try? Geezuz crap and sh1t.