Myles the ‘standout’ candidate to captain Titans solo

[K2G]

TRAVIS MEYN | GOLD COAST BULLETIN | JANUARY 07, 2015 4:23PM

NATE Myles has all but secured the sole captaincy of the Gold Coast Titans with coach Neil Henry saying the Origin hardman was the “standout” candidate to lead the club.

Myles has assumed the role individually since his former fellow co-captain Greg Bird was stripped of the honour after being caught urinating in public last month.

Myles and Bird were appointed by former coach John Cartwright in 2013 and co-*captained the Titans for two seasons.

But with Bird ruled ineligible to lead the team, the job has fallen solely to Myles and Henry said he had no plans of making further changes.

“I haven’t really thought too much about the dual model or one captain,” Henry said.

“Now that Greg’s not the captain, it leaves Nate. ‘I see no reason at the moment to change that.

“He’s got great leadership and is a big part of what we’re doing as well.

“Outside that, William Zillman has stepped into the breach a few times. Beau Falloon is part of a leadership group as well as Luke Douglas and Josh Hoffman comes in with a bit of experience.

“At the moment the standout is Nate.

“He’s one of the faces of the club that’s out there and he’s certainly got the respect of the players and coaching staff.”

The Titans returned from their Christmas break on Monday with the majority of the squad in good shape.

Myles is on restricted duties after having minor shoulder surgery over the break to clean up the shoulder he had his *biceps reattached to in the off-season.

Bird returns to training on Friday and, like Myles, will miss the annual Auckland Nines because of the knee injury he sustained before the break.

Bird injured the medial ligament in his right knee during his first pre-season session after the Four Nations and won’t play until the Gold Coast’s final pre-season trial against North Queensland in Cairns on February 21.

Henry said he was not worried about the Origin duo *suffering pre-season injuries.

“Nate’s a little sore but he’s running and doing most things,” he said.

“Birdy’s had a brace on it to start off with which really restricted his knee. He then went on to a more flexible brace and has been away on his honeymoon.

“He (Bird) should be back into running pretty quickly but it’s probably scratched him from the Nines and he’ll be looking at the Cowboys trial in Cairns.

“He’s disappointed in his own actions and he takes great pride in being one of the leaders at the club but that leadership doesn’t change.

‘‘He doesn’t have to have the captaincy next to his name to be a leader.’’

Henry has to lodge a preliminary squad for the Nines this week and said he was looking at giving young halves Kane Elgey and Jamal Fogarty a chance to impress in the nine-a-side tournament on January 31-February 1

“There’s good prize money on offer and that’s a carrot for the players but it’s about us blooding a few guys like Kane Elgey and Jamal Fogarty maybe and having a go,” he said.

“We won’t do a lot of preparation for it but it’d be nice to go well because it’s quite lucrative.”

[K2G]

Zilly and Falloon still coach's pets despite the regime change it seems. Zilly is going to have to pull a Gidley and captain from the bench if/when Myles is out. I just can't see how Zlater fits in the starting 13 anymore.

Really excited to see Elegy and Fogarty go round in the nines ... I hope one of them pushes Mortimer out as incumbent #7 this year (ASAP). Same goes for Moseley. Hope he has a few killer performances in the nines and in the Allstars game and makes it onto the bench at the very least. I'd be stoked if he unseated Falloon as first choice hooker 2015 through consistent performances (no doubt he will eventually).

Edit: Throw Hazard in the same category.

[Hail Sezer]

Myles will be a shoe in for cap'n 2015

I'm looking forward to Elg and Fogs having a go at 9s as well. It's kinda cool to think that these 2 partnered each other in the halves in high school, aus schoolboys, a bit for u20s and are now on the verge of NRL together. Chuck Moseley in at 9s as well and get that future spine working together early

[Mexican titan]

Geez you blokes are placing a lot of faith in Elgey and Moseley ....based on what? Not even a game at Qcup level yet. Surely any performances at the 9's are not going to determine anything in regards to the NRL team for round 1. I am excited by the talent that Elgey obviously has but he needs time in Qcup first to prove himself.
As for Moseley I can't get it out of my head that Penrith looked around and signed another hooker in preference to retaining him. Again, I hope he comes up as both Falloon and Srama have shortcomings.

[Hail Sezer]

.......we just enjoy seeing our young kids succeed man, thats it. We are excited to see how our promising youth go against men. We arent saying they are going to make us premiership favourites.

Thats it bro.

- - - Updated - - -

And where did anyone say we think 9s will push them to NRL selection in r1?

Positivity and hope is fun mate, give it a go

[Titan4Life]

Geez you blokes are placing a lot of faith in Elgey and Moseley ....based on what? Not even a game at Qcup level yet. Surely any performances at the 9's are not going to determine anything in regards to the NRL team for round 1. I am excited by the talent that Elgey obviously has but he needs time in Qcup first to prove himself.
As for Moseley I can't get it out of my head that Penrith looked around and signed another hooker in preference to retaining him. Again, I hope he comes up as both Falloon and Srama have shortcomings.

I admit that we are placing a lot of faith in the youngsters but we are eager to see them have a chance to shine in first grade. Elgey has shown huge promise in the 20s which I don't consider a proper competition either, but the talent is definitey there. Moseley was let go from the Panthers for another hooker which was a silly move from them in my opinion. Going by your logic, Moseley has played NSW CUP and he played good so he should get a chance at NRL

Both will obviously need time to practice and improve their games but at least we know that we have some youngsters with lots of promise waiting in the shadows ready to shine in first grade if given the chance when ready.

[K2G]

Nate Myles wants to keep Gold Coast Titans captaincy but won’t push Neil Henry into decision
ED JACKSON AAP | From Couriermail.com.au | JANUARY 08, 2015 2:58PM

IT’S a job he loves but Nate Myles says he hasn’t spoken to Neil Henry about becoming the sole NRL captain of Gold Coast in 2015. Myles has been co-captain of the Titans along with Greg Bird since the start of 2013.

The club dumped Bird as one of their leaders last month following his embarrassing public urination incident in Byron Bay. No formal announcement has been made on who will be the Titans skipper under new coach Henry but Myles is clearly the favourite.

The Queensland State of Origin and Australia representative says he’s just as much in the dark about Henry’s choice as anyone.

“I don’t really think it’s a decision that’s up to me,” he said. “It’s something I enjoy and have enjoyed doing for the last few seasons.

“I’d love to keep doing my job.”

Bird’s indiscretion capped a horror fortnight for the Titans who also sacked young utility Paul Carter following a second drink-driving conviction inside a year and fined James Roberts following an alcohol-fuelled run-in with police.

Myles said the distractions were an issue but was confident the squad had kept their focus. He also praised the attitude of Bird, who returned to the club this week following the Christmas break.

“He’s a good man Gregory ... I think he was a bit disappointed with how things worked out,” Myles said.

“He’s come back good and he’s ready to go. Everyone expected that of Greg and that’s how he’s come back.” Myles, who says his recovery from an off-season shoulder surgery is on track, added he expects several of his teammates to take on increased leadership responsibilities in 2015.

The Titans farewelled veterans Ashley Harrison, Luke Bailey and Mark Minichiello through last season.

Myles says players such as Aidan Sezer, Luke Douglas and William Zillman must step into the experience gaps that trio leave.

“We lost some fantastic footballers and some, I don’t like saying old heads, but really experienced players,” he said.

“Guys that probably don’t think they are leaders or senior members of the group now are senior members of the group ... they need to step up.”

__________________________________________________ ______________________

Myles tips Bird to bounce back
By Tony Webeck, Chief Queensland Correspondent | NRL.com | 3:55pm Thu 08th January, 2015

Gold Coast captain elect Nate Myles has tipped Greg Bird to win back the trust of the playing group and make better personal decisions after the Kangaroos back-rower made his return to pre-season training on Thursday.

Stripped of the co-captaincy he shared with Myles due to an incident in Byron Bay in December, Bird (pictured) returned from his extended lay-off in impressive shape as the Titans ripped into a physical session with the Surfers Paradise skyline as their backdrop.

Although no formal decision has been made on the captaincy structure at the Titans for the 2015 season, Myles indicated his willingness to continue in the role he has held for the past two years and for Bird to make a major contribution to the team's success.

"[The captaincy] is something I enjoy doing and have enjoyed doing in the past few seasons so in that sense I would love to keep doing my job but in regards to 'Birdy', I'd like to knock this on the head early," Myles said.

"Birdy's decisions now are totally up to him and that's the way he's come back to training, ready to go. He's enjoyed his holidays that he deserved after a long year and now he's here to play footy and I'm sure he's going to do that the way that he does.

"He's a good man, Gregory, and I think he was a bit disappointed with how things came out but he went away and had some much-needed time with his wife after their wedding – which I might add was beautiful – but he's come back today and looks good.

"I was a bit worried with him going on a cruise for a couple of days but he's come back good and ready to go. Everyone expected that of Greg and that's how he's come back."

Gold Coast coach Neil Henry intimated on Tuesday that Myles was the most likely captaincy candidate but the veteran of 10 years in the NRL said it is now beholden on all players to take ownership of the team.

More than 800 games of NRL experience walked out the Gold Coast doors when Mark Minichiello, Luke Bailey and Ashley Harrison all departed at the end of the 2014 season and Myles said that he had noticed the emergence of leadership qualities in younger members of the squad.

"Probably a few of our younger guys that have played a bit of football now, what our squad needs is for those blokes to stand up," said Myles, who is in a race against time to be fit to play for the NRL All Stars after undergoing a second minor operation on his left shoulder.

"Guys that probably don't think they are leaders or senior members of the group now are senior members of the group. We lost some fantastic footballers and some really experienced players last season so our guys that don't think they are in that position, now find themselves in that position and they need to stand up and a lot of them have been doing this pre-season thus far.

"Will Zillman, Luke Douglas, fellas like that who as soon as they have touched foot on the field they've been fantastic... Aidan Sezer is another one. They're guys that probably didn't think they were senior members and people look up to them and now they are in that position and doing a good job."

After a gruelling pre-Christmas regime of running, running and more running, Titans players seemed eager to mix it up in opposed sessions on Thursday, just three weeks out from the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines.

Kevin Gordon was left reeling – and the plastic base of an agility pole snapped – by a flying tackle from Ryan James but Myles said it may be a few more weeks before he can participate in full contact sessions.

"A couple of the sessions prior to Christmas were pretty physical, I think now we're leading into trial time I think a few of the boys are definitely starting to fight for some positions now," he said. "The physicality of training is definitely picking up and even when it's not meant to be it doesn't take long for it to overflow.

"I'd love to be a part of [the All Stars] for sure but that's all telling on how the body holds up. I didn't plan on the second operation on the left shoulder but now it is there and I've just got to deal with it and hopefully be all right because it's a fantastic concept that I really enjoyed playing in before.

"Just contact at the moment. Strength wise [the shoulder] is slowly building but just that initial contact. As you can see some of our boys don't like to slow down when they're running; I'll stay out of their way."

[Mexican titan]

.......we just enjoy seeing our young kids succeed man, thats it. We are excited to see how our promising youth go against men. We arent saying they are going to make us premiership favourites.

Thats it bro.

- - - Updated - - -

And where did anyone say we think 9s will push them to NRL selection in r1?

Positivity and hope is fun mate, give it a go

Yeah good points bro.
K2G made reference to the 9's and future selection and that's cool as well. If you check my posts you will see that I am positive about the changes made. It's just that I might be a harder marker re the young blokes at this stage. I want nothing more than some of the young blokes to not only succeed but be the future of this club.

[teke]

Geez you blokes are placing a lot of faith in Elgey and Moseley ....based on what? Not even a game at Qcup level yet. Surely any performances at the 9's are not going to determine anything in regards to the NRL team for round 1. I am excited by the talent that Elgey obviously has but he needs time in Qcup first to prove himself.
As for Moseley I can't get it out of my head that Penrith looked around and signed another hooker in preference to retaining him. Again, I hope he comes up as both Falloon and Srama have shortcomings.

Based on what?? Me watching Elgey play/train and a number of his clubmates rating him as a very good prospect. Elgey reminds me of a young DCE and maybe a bit more talented in some areas. Means nothing atm but im sure as **** dont wanna see Sezer/mortimer partnership guide the ship around for the next 2-3 yrs

[TITAN PETE]

Based on what?? Me watching Elgey play/train and a number of his clubmates rating him as a very good prospect. Elgey reminds me of a young DCE and maybe a bit more talented in some areas. Means nothing atm but im sure as **** dont wanna see Sezer/mortimer partnership guide the ship around for the next 2-3 yrs

Agree with you mate on everything

[shamus]

"fined James Roberts following an alcohol-fuelled run-in with police."

I hate the way the media like to over exaggerate (is there such a word) things..