Titan’s Albert Kelly could be sent for a stint in the Intrust Super Cup to find form and confidence after injuries have knocked him down

TITANS half-back Albert Kelly could be sent for a stint in the Intrust Super Cup to find form and confidence as he battles the mental scars of a series of serious leg injuries.

Kelly will have scans today on his troublesome left leg after struggling through Saturday’s 36-14 loss to Penrith at Cbus Super Stadium which was the Titans’ fourth straight defeat.

It was the nifty playmaker’s first game in three weeks after he recovered from a fractured fibula, torn hamstring and varicose veins problem.

Kelly went into the game at full fitness but was clearly inhibited after copping a knock to his leg in the 17th minute and missed nine tackles in the 22-point thumping.

Two poor kicks resulted in Penrith tries and he couldn’t chase second-rower Tyrone Peachey, a player he would usually run down with ease.

Titans medical staff are confident the 23-year-old is not suffering from a serious injury but Kelly admitted his confidence had been eroded.

“Yeah (it’s in the back of my mind),” he said yesterday.

“One of my traits is to be pretty quick off the mark and I couldn’t do it (against Penrith).

“At the start I felt pretty sweet then I got that knock.

“My legs flipped around and hit someone.

“It’s pretty sore. I won’t know the extent of it until (today).”

The Titans are stuck in a predicament with chief shot-caller Aidan Sezer out for possibly the rest of the season.

Maurice Blair is a handy five-eighth but they desperately need Kelly to fire in Sezer’s absence.

But if he’s not running high on confidence and at full fitness then his position will possibly come under threat.

Titans head coach John *Cartwright has a long turnaround to decide a team for Monday week’s home game against Melbourne and said some of the Gold Coast’s decision-making wasn’t acceptable after Penrith scored three tries from Titans turnovers.

“Unfortunately there’s no *defence to those things,” he said.

“You can work as hard as you like and be the best defensive side in the competition but there’s no defence when you put your team in those positions.”

Veteran forward Mark Minichiello slammed the Gold Coast’s errors after they missed 39 tackles and finished the game with a completion rate of just 59 per cent.

“Our finish to sets was probably the worst it’s been all year,” he said. “Our kicking game was terrible. They scored three tries from deflections.

“When we needed to be smart we were dumb. That was the difference in the game.”

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