Gold Coast Titans’ disappointment at missing NRL finals tempered by potential for 2019
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PACK leader Jarrod Wallace says the Titans’ disappointment at missing the NRL finals is tempered by excitement at potential for next year’s campaign.

Gold Coast’s season will end after Saturday night’s clash against the Cowboys, with the Titans able to finish as high as 11th place on the ladder depending on other results.

It’s the club’s second successive season outside the eight after their push into the playoffs in 2016 but Wallace can see light on the horizon after the debut of several exciting youngsters this season.

“It’s very disappointing we’re not playing finals, we train so hard to get to that spot where we want to play and unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” Wallace said.

“But I think we’ve done a lot of good things this year where we can really build for next year and we’ve got a lot of young talent that we’ve found that probably wouldn’t have played as many games if we hadn’t had the year that we have.

“It’s really good because they’ve showed us what they’ve got and that’s only going to help them going into next year.”

With injuries to players including Max King and Morgan Boyle — among the finds of 2017 — the Titans were forced to blood youngsters including Moeaki Fotuaika and AJ Brimson, who have kept more fancied teammates out of the side.

“I definitely think it’s building nicely, the depth,” Wallace said.

“Last year we probably had a couple of boys — you look at Maxy King, Morgan Boyle, Tyronne Roberts-Davis — who probably wouldn’t have played at all or maybe around Origin time or if there were some injuries and got one or two games.

“They ended up having to play (several) games because we didn’t have the full depth there but that made them better players.

“And then you look this year and guys like Moe (Fotuaika), they weren’t even in that 17 but now they’ve brought themselves into that 17 and they’re hungry.

“Obviously AJ (Brimson) has brought himself up and we’ve got a lot of young guys coming through and then there’ll be more guys there next year, so it’s really exciting.”

While Wallace again played Origin this season, he said the season had been a learning experience after arriving at the Titans with few expectations at the start of 2017.

“Obviously last year there was no expectation, I just went in, played footy and did what I did,” he said.

“The this year I probably had a little bit more expectation on me and I learnt a lot about myself and my body and the way that I need to go about the rest of my career.

“I think it was a real learning curve and stepping stone for me.

“I really enjoyed it for other areas. Last year it was so different, it was a new club, it was easy, I just came in.

“Whereas this year, my expectation on myself and from other players was high … (that need) to perform at a consistent level every week was a lot higher than it was last year.

“And I really found out a lot about myself and where I want to go next year and future years in my career.

“I’m really excited to be going into next year because I know it can only be better.”