Gold Coast Titans to field a pack from land of the giants

[DIEHARD]

Gold Coast Titans to field a pack from land of the giants

GOLD Coast coach Neil Henry says he has “no concerns” about his squad’s ability to cover the departures of veteran trio Luke Bailey, Ashley Harrison and Mark Minichiello.

It suggests the 2015 Titans would likely boast the most imposing pack in the club’s short history. While co-captains Nate Myles and Greg Bird, along with workhorse Luke Douglas, will again lead Gold Coast’s forwards next season, the arrival of hulking prop David Hala from the Broncos is generating some excitement.

Hala and fellow giants Dave Taylor and Ryan James will provide Henry with a formidable three-pronged “powerhouse” attack that he hopes can terrorise the edge defence of rival teams. Given the presence of so many players with representative experience, the Titans pack has long been the club’s strength.

However, whereas in the past it has been the experience and workrate of the group that has stood out, in James, who played just four matches last year, Hala and Taylor, Henry has an offensive ****nal which will be the envy of most of his rival coaches.

“Those three guys, and you can probably throw Paul Carter in that bunch too, they certainly bring the combination of size, skill and power in their games which can really trouble defences,” Henry said. “I think the forward group here at the Titans has been pretty strong for quite a few years, but I think the emergence of a few young guys and even the development of Nate and Birdy into strong on-field leaders gives this group an especially good look.

“I think we probably have a bit better balance. Where we had a lot of great workers there previously, having guys like Dave Hala and Ryan James to throw into the fray off the interchange, I think will give us a fair bit of punch. That is the hope anyway.”

While Taylor had one of his most consistent seasons to date this year, more is expected of the 124kg backrower.

The same can be said for James and Hala, whose careers to date have been heavily hindered by injury.

Since making his debut in 2010, James, who stands 195cm and weighs 121kg, has managed just 47 first-grade appearances.

The numbers are worse for Hala, who burst on to the scene with a scintillating debut in 2009 for Brisbane in which he finished the match as his team’s most effective forward with more than 125m in just over 40 minutes.

Since that night, Hala has added just 36 matches to his NRL resume, including seven in 2014.

“Getting those two guys on the field and hopefully seeing them play a good stretch of football without injury will be half the battle,” Henry admitted.

“Their talent and ability to really cause some havoc with size and speed, whether they are in the middle of the park or out on an edge, is pretty well-known.

“The pre-season is hugely important for Ryan and Dave (Hala). They need to get a good base under them so they give themselves a chance of playing some good football this year.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/

[Titan4Life]

So we are most likely looking at:
8. Douglas
10. Myles
11. Bird
12. Taylor
13. Carter

14. Hala
15. James

Not a bad forward pack. Hala and James will provide size and power off the bench. Douglas and Myles are workhorse props. Taylor and Bird (hold the bloody ball!) on the edges with Carter in the middle of the park whose hard hitting defence is an asset to the team.

[Ausphin]

So we are most likely looking at:
8. Douglas
10. Myles
11. Bird
12. Taylor
13. Carter

14. Hala
15. James

Not a bad forward pack. Hala and James will provide size and power off the bench. Douglas and Myles are workhorse props. Taylor and Bird (hold the bloody ball!) on the edges with Carter in the middle of the park whose hard hitting defence is an asset to the team.

As much as I would prefer not to have Myles in the front row, I think it gives us more impact off the bench.

My preference would be :-

8. Douglas
9. Srama
10. Myles
11. Burr / Ridge / Robinson
12. Taylor
13. Bird

14. Ioane
15. James
16. Carter

Really like the impact the 3 bench players would bring when injected in to the game.

If we could find a decent halfback (maybe Elgey with some time) then could rotate in Mortimer off the bench to spell Srama as well. Until then expect to see Falloon.

[hammer]

Spotted Ryan James pounding the pavement in what I assume was an outside team training run during the week...couldn't help but smile...looks like he is putting in some hard yards and I am hoping he has a breakout season.

[Titanic]

I do too and also hope he hardens-up, losing that cheap shot mentality.

[karnage]

The two break out candidates are Ryan James and Ben Ridge. Ridge is a long shot, but I think we are all hoping that James finally delivers on his potential.