Round 7 2013: TITANS vs KNIGHTS

[Titan Dad]

There are a couple of ppl who have great influence over squad selection.

By this comment, the people that have the influence on team selection would only be the likes of Carty Gilly and Murphy. Is there anyone else who could influence the coaching staff as to who gets the run.....

[kevrab]

There are a couple of ppl who have great influence over squad selection.

By this comment, the people that have the influence on team selection would only be the likes of Carty Gilly and Murphy. Is there anyone else who could influence the coaching staff as to who gets the run.....

Maybe Rogers?

[teke]

There are a couple of ppl who have great influence over squad selection.

By this comment, the people that have the influence on team selection would only be the likes of Carty Gilly and Murphy. Is there anyone else who could influence the coaching staff as to who gets the run.....

My pt was its not soley Carty picking the team, some dubious calls in the past have come from others that are not the coach

[Titanic]

Who honestly believes that Searle isn't in that mix?

The point about Hunt is surely that he's shown enough to make the Maroons 20's so why not give him a shot? If you were stuck behind Michaels and O'Dwyer getting the nod all the time, how motivated would you be? I happlily accept that he's maybe not NRL standard now because he's never even tasted it ... give him a go before we write him off. Remember Srama and Ridge and Ryan, etc?

[TITAN PETE]

Bird to face potential bro-in-law on field
Travis Meyn | 12:01am April 25, 2013



IN the blue corner is a 102kg State of Origin weapon with 170 games of NRL experience who has been the Gold Coast Titans' best player of 2013.

In the red corner stands a 103kg NRL rookie of just 16 first-grade appearances intent on earning bragging rights over his possible future brother-in-law.

Meet Robbie Rochow: Newcastle's boom youngster who's ready to confront rampaging Titans co-captain Greg Bird on the field for the first time.

Rochow is the younger brother of Bird's partner Becky Rochow and the two bruisers will come face to face at Skilled Park on Sunday as she watches on.

Bird is salivating at the opportunity of giving his 22-year-old opponent "a lot of special treatment" as Becky watches from the stands.

"He's been on their left side for most of the year but last week switched to the right so I think we'll be marking up directly in front of each other which should be fun," Bird said with a grin on his face.

"I've been telling Becky that he's going to get a lot of special treatment.

"She told me she's going to go get a Knights jersey for this weekend. She's trying to stir me up as much as I was stirring her up about bashing him.

"She just wants to see a good game and both of us walk off the field healthy.

"We're good mates. It's going to be interesting."

While the 29-year-old Bird holds the upper hand in the age stakes, Rochow has proved he is a bona fide NRL player this year.

Both are Maitland products with Rochow spending time in Melbourne's system before finding his feet under Wayne Bennett back on home turf.

The growing back-rower has made 176 tackles this year -- at an average of 29 a game -- and is regularly playing 80-minute games just like Bird.

And while Rochow declined an interview request from The Bulletin, Bird was quick to strike the first blow.

"He has been going really well. Even in their star-studded line-up he's found a permanent role," Bird said.

"He's still only in his early years of first grade and is growing as a player. I've been there for a while so it'll be interesting coming up against him.

"He's only 22 and he's getting bigger. He's destined for the front row with the size of him.

"I'll have my work cut-out just as much as he's going to have his work cut out with me running at him."

Bird emerged unscathed from last Friday's Anzac Test and said he was looking forward to the return of back-row buddy Dave Taylor from a two-week club-imposed suspension.

"It's going to be a massive boost for us. Losing him when we had a few injuries was always going to be tough but it's something that had to be done," he said.

"He went out and played a big game for Tweed last weekend and earned his spot back.

"He's done the punishment and served the time and is ready to get back on the field."

[Chaos]

My pt was its not soley Carty picking the team, some dubious calls in the past have come from others that are not the coach

I thought Carty was the coach?
Surely we don't have selectors within the club and Carty provides a game plan to suit.
Has Carty full control of the side now?

[TITAN PETE]

I thought Carty was the coach?
Surely we don't have selectors within the club and Carty provides a game plan to suit.
Has Carty full control of the side now?

What Teke is trying to say is Gilly has far too much input

[teke]

What Teke is trying to say is Gilly has far too much input

yep

[Toads]

Considering Gilly's work ethics and his never say die attitude. And how we've stopped others teams rampantly scoring points against us, with our solid defense (apart from the left side edge). Gilly having a say in Team selection seems a worthy appointment. If that wasn't the case, it'd be understandable though..

Gilly didn't score the nickname "The Axe" by standing around making numbers. If every one of our players had a little bit of Gilly's mongrel in them, we'd be unstoppable.

[DavidBouveng]

Considering Gilly's work ethics and his never say die attitude. And how we've stopped others teams rampantly scoring points against us, with our solid defense (apart from the left side edge). Gilly having a say in Team selection seems a worthy appointment. If that wasn't the case, it'd be understandable though..

Gilly didn't score the nickname "The Axe" by standing around making numbers. If every one of our players had a little bit of Gilly's mongrel in them, we'd be unstoppable.

True, but his job is to help defensive technique and attitude.

If he has much more say in our team selection, bird will stay at five eighth, and mini and odwyer will be our centres. There is a bias towards older, harder heads rather than giving young guys a crack

[DIEHARD]

Titans v Knights preview

The Titans and Knights have both made solid starts to the season, with four wins and two losses apiece. The Titans have won three of their four home games, beating the Raiders, Sea Eagles and Eels and losing to the Broncos. The loss to the Broncos is the only real blot on their copybook so far ? they were whipped, 32-12. Their other loss was a narrow one on the road against the Sharks.

The Knights have a 100 per cent winning record at home, where they have beaten the Wests Tigers, Raiders, Cowboys and Panthers, but have a zero record on the road. They have lost to the Sea Eagles and Dragons in their only two away games, but were much more competitive in the second of those games after the Sea Eagles blitzed them.

The challenge is there for the Knights to start winning their fair share of away games if they want to make the finals. It's okay to have a good home record, but constantly losing away from home just puts more pressure on you to win the home games and that can bring teams undone. Still, the Titans were a bit lucky to beat the Eels at home in their most recent game. The Knights have a chance here.

There are a lot of changes to both sides from their most recent outings. Luke O'Dwyer and Jamal Idris go from the back row back to the centres for the Titans, while Ashley Harrison goes from hooker to his normal lock spot. Mark Minichiello will start in the second row, promoted from the bench. Aidan Sezer is back at five-eighth, replacing Beau Henry, and Matt Srama is back at hooker. Steve Michaels has dropped from the centres to a five-man bench. Centre David Mead is out, and Sam Irwin is gone from the bench. Back-up hooker Beau Falloon returns to the bench.

For the Knights, Dane Gagai returns to the centres, replacing BJ Leilua. Lock Jeremy Smith is suspended, so Chris Houston has dropped back from second row to lock and Alex McKinnon will start in the second row. Neville Costigan and Korbin Sims have joined the bench.

Watch Out Titans: Here's a trio of danger men for you, in the Knights' backline: Akuila Uate, who has run for a total of 310 metres in his past two games, and scored seven tries this season. Darius Boyd, 298 metres and two line-breaks in his past two games. Dane Gagai, 153 metres and two tries in his only full game this season, against the Wests Tigers.

Watch Out Knights: Titans second-rower Greg Bird has run for more than 100 metres in each of the six games he has played this season, and in his most recent game ? against the Eels ? he recorded a double century, running for 202. He also made two offloads (taking his tally to 14 for the season, the fourth most by any player). Bird is in great form, in attack and defence. He just keeps trying to make things happen. More often than not, they do.

Plays To Watch: Knights winger James McManus is a great target man for his halves, because of his ability to jump very high and safely bring the ball down for tries off kicks. He has made a line-break in each of his past two games as well, and has scored four tries this season.

Titans No.1 William Zillman has looked great out of the backfield at times this season, and has five line-breaks to his name. He just needs to become more consistent.

Key Match-Up: We all know what Kurt Gidley can do from hooker ? or several other positions ? for the Knights, but what about Titans hooker Matt Srama? He has come up with four line-breaks, two offloads and two tries in his five games this season.

Where It Will Be Won: The halves will have a lot to do with it, particularly because of the dynamic nature of the Titans pair, Aidan Sezer and Albert Kelly. The Knights are going to have to work hard to limit Kelly's opportunities, because he is one of those players who can suddenly explode into action. He has four tries, one line-break and five offloads so far this season.

The History: Played 9; Knights 5, Titans 4. The Titans won the last time they met, securing a 24-14 win at Hunter Stadium in Round 12 last season.

Match Officials: Referees ? Jared Maxwell & Luke Phillips; Sideline Officials ? Jason Walsh & Peter Gough. Video Referees ? Ashley Klein & Grant Atkins.

Televised: Fox Sports 1 ? Live, 2pm.

The Way We See It: There is no doubting the Knights are capable of winning this, but it's hard to put your full trust in them on the road at the moment. It is likely to be close, but at home the Titans should be able to exercise a critical advantage. Titans by four points.

http://www.nrl.com/

[DIEHARD]

Mullen confident to play Titans

Newcastle Knights five-eighth Jarrod Mullen is confident of playing this weekend against the Gold Coast Titans after recovering well from minor knee surgery.

Mullen, who has been playing with and managing a knee issue this season, made the difficult decision to undergo surgery last week, making himself unavailable for Sunday?s Country v City Origin match.

?I was disappointed to miss the Country team but my first priority is the Knights and I am happy now that my knee has been sorted,? he said.
?It has now been over a week since the operation now and my knee is feeling good.

?All reports back have been positive so the injury is out of my head now and I'll be good for the rest of the season.?

Mullen will spend this week undergoing rehabilitation before returning to the field for what he says will be a tough match against the Titans on Sunday.
?I will spend a fair bit of time in the gym with our performance staff this week and hopefully they can get me back on the park as soon as possible,? he explained.

?We are expecting a tough game against the Titans who have a big forward pack and are also big out wide.

?Hopefully we can go up there and get the two points.?

Captain Kurt Gidley said the procedure will put Mullen in good stead for the rest of the season.

?Jarrod is an important part of our team and hopefully he is going to be right for Sunday?s match,? Gidley said.

?Any little niggling injury certainly plays in the back of your mind when you are going in to a game.

?He hasn?t been 100 per cent right but has still been playing pretty well for us and hopefully now he will be feeling more confident in his body and ability to play.?

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/

[Toads]

True, but his job is to help defensive technique and attitude.

Yup, well aware of Gilly's position

If he has much more say in our team selection, bird will stay at five eighth, and mini and odwyer will be our centres. There is a bias towards older, harder heads rather than giving young guys a crack

How do we know that's what he's calling for each week though? If it was, they mustn't have been listening to him earlier in the year when Mini 'n Odwyer weren't getting picked.

[DavidBouveng]

Yup, well aware of Gilly's position

How do we know that's what he's calling for each week though? If it was, they mustn't have been listening to him earlier in the year when Mini 'n Odwyer weren't getting picked.

I was exaggerating to an extent, but in recent times when we could have gone down path A with selection issues, gilly has steered us down path B towards a more negative path. Bird to five eighth, harro to hooker type stuff.

And I love Gilly as much as the next bloke,he's a legend of QRL, but to credit him with our defense this year is to have selective memory. Was he not our defensive coach in the last few years?

I think our attitude in defense, and our mind set overall is due to increased fitness, leadership and a tighter group of players.

[Titanic]

Selections ultimately fall on the coach no matter who's in his ear, so the debate is irrelevant, however, we would be the weirdest (least offensive word I could think of) when it comes to the logic behind selections and promotions.

There is a comfort zone in our club which is very galling.