Falloon looked sharp against the Storm
The rotation with Falloon starting and Carter off the bench is a better option, Carter a gun defender and plays other positions
The big units ran straight at Srama making plenty of metres through the middle
To string a few wins Mead needs to be at fullback
Titans anxious to see if Taylor plays
The Titans' finals aspirations may hinge on the whim of Maroons coach Mal Meninga with Gold Coast coach John Cartwright admitting that he will be disappointed if Dave Taylor doesn't take the field in Game Two on Wednesday night.
The Storm were the beneficiaries of Will Chambers being released from the Maroons squad to score two tries in their 24-20 win at Cbus Super Stadium on Monday night while the Titans battled on gamely without the services of Taylor, Nate Myles and Greg Bird.
With so much conjecture surrounding the ability of Daly Cherry-Evans's left knee standing up to the rigours of a potentially Series-deciding Origin encounter, there remains the possibility of Meninga naming Ben Hunt on the bench in case of emergency.
That would almost certainly squeeze Taylor out of the 17 and delay his Origin recall for a further three weeks at least and leave a desperate Titans outfit wondering how much of a difference he could have made for his club on Monday as their losing streak was extended to five games.
"I hadn't even thought of that one, it would be a little bit disappointing," Cartwright said when the possibility of Hunt coming onto the bench in place of Taylor was put to him.
"I understand the position they're in and depending on who is available sometimes you have to make some last-minute decisions but it's certainly something we as a club would be disappointed in if Dave didn't take the field on Wednesday night."
After coming up with two classy pieces of play for tries against the Titans, Chambers suffered a severe cut just below his left knee but was able to finish the game, his inclusion a very welcome one for Storm coach Craig Bellamy.
"Every now and again you've got to shake him a little bit," said Bellamy when asked of Chambers' attitude when he rejoined his Storm team-mates on Sunday afternoon."He's still got his head in camp a little bit but when he came into camp with us we just gave him what we needed from him and he goes out there and does it.
"We probably didn't get the ball to him as much as we would have liked [against the Titans] but that try he scored was pretty easy in the end, he's a very talented player.
"I'm glad for me as a Storm person that he's going to play with us but I'd love to see him play Origin too," Bellamy added.
"He's been into three or four camps now and he's always been the 18th or 19th player so I can imagine he's probably a little bit frustrated – he doesn't admit to that or doesn't say that because I know he loves being in the camps. All of us at the club would love to see him play in an Origin game, number one because I think he deserves it.
"He's a very talented player and he's very committed to playing his footy and he loves that idea of playing Origin so I feel for him in that he's not quite there yet but I'm sure if he keeps playing well for us it won't be too long.
"He's a really good teammate and a really good player for us."
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PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!
Moejoe: "REMEMBER!!!! SLIP - SLOP - SLAP in the sun. Skin Cancer is a growing problem. It could happen to anyone!!"TITANS, DIEHARDS, WARRINGTON WOLVES, MAROONS, KANGAROOS, HONG KONG THUNDER
Mortimer joins titanic rescue mission
The Titans have thrown an NRL career lifeline to Roosters utility Daniel Mortimer in a bid to rescue their own season with the 2013 premiership winner lured to the Gold Coast by the opportunity to play in the halves on a permanent basis.
That opportunity could come as early as Sunday when the Titans host the Dragons at Cbus Super Stadium desperately trying to revive a season that has stalled under the weight of long-term injuries to halves Aidan Sezer and Beau Henry and continued uncertainty surrounding the immediate playing future of Albert Kelly.
The Titans named a provisional team on Tuesday afternoon with Brad Takairangi at five-eighth and Maurice Blair at halfback but coach John Cartwright said that he won't be afraid to throw Mortimer straight into the mix and that his new teammates may be the ones who have to make the greatest adjustment.
"If he does come into the side you've just got to build your game to suit him," said Cartwright as the Titans try to break a five-game losing streak. "Your six and your seven are your generals so we'll have a fullback, a hooker and a half who have pretty much been there from day one training-wise. Having said that, it would be a big ask to come in and do that role but it's been done in the past and we'll train through the week with a few combinations and make a decision later in the week."
In a message to Roosters members on the club's website, Mortimer spoke about the difficulty of the decision to leave the defending premiers after three seasons as well as firing a good natured shot across the bow to his now former club.
"I've had the chance to see the boys in person and the coach today, it was a very sad goodbye, but I just want to say thank you very much for the time I've had here," said Mortimer, who has played 91 NRL games across six seasons and will be at the Titans until at least the end of the 2016 season.
"It's been a great three years, I'll never forget last year for as long as I live, it's something that we'll all have in common. It's been amazing and I look forward to seeing you all in Round 22 back here (Allianz Stadium) hopefully tearing it up for the Titans."
When Scott Prince made his shock departure at the end of the 2012 season to join the Broncos, the Titans went knocking on Mortimer's door. Incoming Roosters coach Trent Robinson convinced him to stay at Bondi but reluctantly let him go on Tuesday for the sake of his career.
“On the very first day I met Daniel when I returned to the club, I asked him to stay, and it speaks volumes of the type of man he is that he did, when he had other opportunities available to him," Robinson said.
“Daniel typifies the type of player we’ve been trying to build our team around, and while it’s sad to see him go, I’m excited to see him pursue a more regular opportunity in the halves.
“Popular among his teammates and a valued contributor both on and off the field, the Roosters are certainly far better for the service Daniel has given our club. It has been an honour to coach him and he’ll always have many friends here at the Roosters."
Those closing words in particular will be music to the ears of Cartwright who concedes that the electrifying Kelly is now a "week to week" proposition as he battles ongoing soreness in his left leg.
"There are concerns there because the break in the leg has actually healed but there's still a lot of pain and he can't put a lot of weight on it," Cartwright said of Kelly's recovery from a fracture in his leg suffered in Round 8.
"As soon as he can put weight on the leg and put full weeks of training in he'll be available for selection again but that's not going to happen this week and it's probably a week to week thing now.
"We actually enquired about [Mortimer] before last season. He was on contract with the Roosters but we knew he was really keen to play in the halves and that coincided with 'Princey' going to the Broncos and we'd signed Albert pretty much on spec.
"The fact that he wanted to play halfback and he had some family ties up here, the club was very attractive to him and probably overnight it became a little bit more important when we lost Beau Henry, who'll be out for a period of time as well.
"The process has been a fairly long one but losing Aidan for 12 weeks sped the process up a bit and then overnight it became pretty important that we added a bit of depth there.
"When you can add someone of that quality to your squad, especially at this time of year with the injuries we've had in that position it's certainly a bonus for us."
Mortimer first shot to prominence when he played a key role playing five-eighth in Parramatta's charge to the 2009 Grand Final against Melbourne and then last year played in every game for the champion Roosters, starting just once when five-eighth James Maloney was on State of Origin duty.
Having turned 25 on June 13 and with bloodlines as famous as any in rugby league, the Titans can be confident that his best football is very much still ahead of him.
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PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!
Moejoe: "REMEMBER!!!! SLIP - SLOP - SLAP in the sun. Skin Cancer is a growing problem. It could happen to anyone!!"TITANS, DIEHARDS, WARRINGTON WOLVES, MAROONS, KANGAROOS, HONG KONG THUNDER
Does anyone know if Mortimer is a goal-kicker?
We have the Mead, the Mead for speed!!!
He has kicked 7 goals for the Roosters in the NRL at 64% and 31 goals for Parra at 70% in the NSW Cup. He did kick 4 goals from 4 attempts in an NRL game v Souths and the other two games were 2 from 4 and 1 from 3.
To answer your question - he does kick goals but at NRL level he hasn't had enough shots to get a reliable stat. I'm not sure whether 70% success rate that he has in the NSW Cup is good. What % do good kickers have. All I know is that Kevvy Gordon looks very hit and miss, not that we score very often to give him a chance.
We have the Mead, the Mead for speed!!!