Bunch of Neville’s. Good.
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Ha ha...very good. We must be 2-2 at worst after round 4. To avoid me saying mini GF early in the year we need to get this win. Team/Fans/Owners/Community need this one.
Go Titans
Go Beautiful City
Go Beautiful Club
Please-does anyone know If the Raptors are doing parking tomorrow???
Taylor up for the test
http://www.gcbulletin.com.au
TITANS halfback Ash Taylor has spoken of his mission to live up to his $3 million contract after bouncing back from the lowest point of his career.
Taylor is racing to prove his fitness for tomorrow’s Round 1 NRL clash against Canberra at Cbus Super Stadium after being struck down by illness and injury.
The Gold Coast No.7 has been battling a virus and thigh injury this week and needs to pass a fitness test at training this morning to be cleared to face the Raiders.
Taylor will celebrate his 24th birthday tomorrow and would love nothing more than to kick off the Gold Coast’s 2019 NRL campaign with a victory on home soil.
Taylor is in the first year of a $1 million-a-season contract, making him the Gold Coast’s highest-paid player and one of the NRL’s elite earners.
Taylor said last year was the toughest of his blossoming career, but he was ready to live up to the hype.
“I want to improve on last year, I started well last year and faded away a little bit,” Taylor said. “There was a lot of pressure on me to perform and I took that on.
“It was just a slump in my career. I’ve never been that low in my career before and it was tough trying to pick it back up.
“I need to do a better job this year. I’m better for it. I’m more experienced and have had another pre-season under my belt where I have trained my backside off.”
Taylor has stripped 5kg under the Gold Coast’s new fitness regimen and is better prepared for the rigours of the NRL than ever.
But despite his lofty salary, the former Brisbane Broncos junior is adamant he cannot carry the Titans on his own.
The return of close friend Tyrone Roberts in the No. 6 jersey has alleviated some of the pressure on Taylor, and the Gold Coast has recruited well with NSW Origin utility Tyrone Peachey another attacking threat.
“You can’t really go well if the rest of the team ain’t going well,” Taylor said.
“There are 13 players out on that field, people forget that. People tend to make mistakes and that’s part of the game.”
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
'No excuses' for Canberra Raiders against Gold Coast Titans: Stuart
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/no-...15-p514fz.html
No excuses. Not the new halves pairing. Not the raft of debutantes. Not the revamped defence. Not even the Sydney storms that wreaked havoc with their travel plans.
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart is having none of it. His players are fully prepared for their season opener against the Gold Coast Titans, now it comes down to individuals performing on Sunday.
They had their flights to the Gold Coast moved forward on Friday, only for delays to then see them fly out at a similar time to originally planned.
But with their captain's run on Saturday, the Green Machine's long pre-season is done. Now the fun begins.
As the second-best attack in the NRL last season, the Raiders have put a massive focus on fixing their defence, which ranked fifth for points conceded in 2018.
Stuart said it was now down to the players putting all their hard work into practice against the Titans.
"We've had a lot of preparation and training around it. Now it's about individual performance in regards to both sides - defence and attack - and the overall result comes back to the individual performance," Stuart said on Friday.
"I'm expecting everyone to play well. We've had a very good off-season and there's certainly no excuses."
It's a vastly different Raiders outfit running out against the Titans, who have had an overhaul of their own.
Plenty of questions will start to get answered when the Green Machine run out against the Gold Coast.
Although Stuart said his Canberra side will be something of a work in progress.
Jack Wighton has jumped into the Canberra halves alongside Aidan Sezer, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad flew across the ditch to fill a hole at fullback, while Jordan Rapana's (shoulder) absence has given Bailey Simonsson his NRL debut on the wing.
While 50 per cent of the spine has changed, Stuart was happy with their cohesion - especially given Nicoll-Klokstad only arrived in Canberra about a month ago.
The Titans have a forward pack bolstered by the arrival of ex-Raiders prop Shannon Boyd, while their centres have been strengthened by Tyrone Peachey (Penrith) and Brian Kelly (Manly) joining them.
Tyrone Roberts has returned to the Gold Coast after playing in the Super League grand final last year.
"The new combinations will take a bit of time, but I'm very happy with how the cohesion and the combination with a short time together has worked at training," Stuart said.
There's also been an overhaul of the forward pack, which has been trimmed down to have more mobility.
Josh Papalii has emerged as their front-row enforcer, with another NRL debutant in Corey Horsburgh banging the door down with his efforts in the pre-season.
They've also added John Bateman and Ryan Sutton from England.
Bateman has played 15 Tests for England and more than 150 Super League games, while Sutton has more than 100 appearances for Wigan.
Nicoll-Klokstad played seven NRL games for the New Zealand Warriors before joining the Raiders in February.
In all they have five players making their Raiders debut, with two of those making their first-grade debut, but Stuart said that wasn't a concern.
"Having five new players is exciting for the club and they've got a great opportunity being a Raider and being proud of the jumper," he said.
"The best way to be proud of it is by playing well."
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
LeagueUnlimited match preview: https://leagueunlimited.com/news/328...iders-preview/
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
1 sleep before it’s Christmas morning & let’s hope the storms can hold off till after full time as we all now how Shyte a Raiders crowd is on a sunny day....
Don’t care about the weather or the crowd just want the win
#ponchopacked
#itaintweaktospeak
WB. Rain isn't looking like it will be cooperating. Hopefully we put 40 on them.
Mal Meninga’s blunt message to Titans: ‘Failure not an option’
FEBRUARY 26, 2019
Titans performance boss Mal Meninga has warned Gold Coast players there are “no excuses” and says they must make the finals this season to ensure the club’s long-term survival.
The Sunday Mail can reveal Meninga has personally addressed the entire Titans squad to declare he will not accept failure ahead of Sunday’s season-opener against Canberra at Cbus Super Stadium.
Appointed in November as the Titans’ performance and culture chief, Meninga launches his Gold Coast era determined to drive new standards of excellence, ironically against his former Canberra club. The Titans run out against the Raiders under mounting pressure to rectify almost a decade of abject underachievement.
Mal Meninga says 2019 is now or never for the Titans. Picture: Adam Head
The Gold Coast have made the playoffs just once since 2010. They have finished in the bottom four five times in the past eight seasons, sinking to an embarrassing nadir in 2011 when they won just six games to finish with the wooden spoon.
A fortnight ago, Meninga summoned the Titans squad for a meeting at a team camp at Kingscliff. The league Immortal made it clear – it’s time to perform and make the finals or risk the Titans perishing.
“If we don’t make the playoffs this season, we are kidding ourselves,” Titans skipper Ryan James said.
Ryan James says the Titans have been rebuilding long enough and it is finals or bust in 2019. Picture: Getty Images
“Mal has spoken to the group. There’s no two ways about it – finals is the expectation this season, 100 per cent.
“We had a camp at Kingscliff a few weeks ago and Mal spoke to the team at length about respect and what the Titans mean to the region.
“He said there’s no excuses. We have to do something for the Gold Coast this year. Mal has such an aura that it really hit home with the players.
“He said we have to respect the past to ensure the club’s future. He told us what we have to play for and the success we need to keep this club alive on the Gold Coast.”
The Titans begin their 2019 campaigh against the Raiders in the final match of round one. Picture: Nigel Hallett
The Titans finished 14th last season but enter the 2019 premiership armed with the playing depth to be a serious contender for the top eight.
Origin and Test star Tyrone Peachey, an off-season recruit from Penrith, adds class in the centres.
The clever Tyrone Roberts returns from England to partner $1 million man Ash Taylor in the halves and 126kg monster Shannon Boyd will make his Titans debut today against his former Raiders club.
Test coach Meninga believes the Titans have the talent, smarts and toughness to be a finals force, but says they must develop a harder mental edge to realise their potential.
“We need to build the players’ physical and mental strength to consistently win tight games,” Meninga said.
Game day is finally here. Great time of the year where we can all dream again. Here is hoping for a good year. Titans by 8 in this mini GF
Psmitty