2022 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread

[JunctionBlock]

Signed with dolphins

Probably their best signing to date

[willhelm]

Liam Martin to test the open market. He’s the hard-nosed forward we need. If Fifita goes to Dolphins he would be the perfect replacement on a fair bit less.

[Firetruck]

Liam Martin has reportedly knocked back Penriff’s offer for an extension. He is the type of footballer to give us defensive and offensive starch.

[indoallstars]

Liam Martin, absolutely the type of player we need. Does anyone know how salary cap is looking next year? I know we'll be without Proctor, Ese Ese and Wallace, just hoping we have enough money for a 2nd rower and either a hooker/half.

[DIEHARD]

How does the Gold Coast Titans spine compare to their NRL rivals?
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...0ee50b62f13b64

[Croc]

How does the Gold Coast Titans spine compare to their NRL rivals?
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...0ee50b62f13b64

Can’t read it, can u please post?

[DIEHARD]

How does the Gold Coast Titans spine compare to their NRL rivals?
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/

Despite the crticism they have copped in recent weeks, the Titans spine may be about to turn their season around courtesy of a key inclusion.

Returning Titans prop Jarrod Wallace has declared the Gold Coast’s spine will be a more threatening prospect this week, as young gun Jayden Campbell announces his comeback.

Campbell has not been sighted in the NRL since succumbing to a rib cartilage injury in his side’s round three second-half capitulation against Canberra.

SCROLL DOWN FOR BREAKDOWN TABLE OF EACH SPINES OUTPUT

Since then, a last minute win over Wests Tigers has been their only cause for celebration.

Wallace himself has been called back into the Titans side, having made just four appearances off the bench this season.

He will now line up in the starting pack for the Magic Round clash with the Dragons on Saturday, and backed the club’s under fire spine to rise to the occasion.

The Gold Coast have copped plenty of criticism throughout their five-game losing run, with the men tasked as the team’s chief playmakers called out for an inability to challenge their rivals across 80 minutes.

However Wallace said Campbell’s injury had thrown all their pre-season plans into disarray, having worked on finetuning his combination with halves AJ Brimson and Toby Sexton since veteran Jamal Fogarty’s exit.

He said now that the trio were back in their intended positions a return of the Titans instinctive attacking play was on the cards.

“Having JC back, for AJ and Toby after doing a whole pre-season together, I think that’s going to be fantastic,” Wallace said.

“They’ve got the confidence together, I think after having a full pre-season that a so important and then having that broken up after JC got injured was hard. But I think we’ll find our spine will be completely different having all three back together.

“I just think our attack has been very slow for us this year. Usually our attack is our main strength and we’ve really gone away from it.

“We’ve gone back to a team of one-up football, taking tackles and setting lines and that’s not us. We’re young, we’re energetic, and we play off the cuff footy.

“We haven’t seen that from us this year.”

Throughout the Titans slide down the NRL ladder, coach Justin Holbrook has defended his spine given their inability to play together as a unit.

Brimson was sidelined with a calf concern for round one, and less than two games into his return Campbell went down.

The abscence of Fogarty has stripped the Gold Coast of a composed game manager to ease the burden on youngsters Sexton and Brimson, however the output of Holbrook’s original quartet has given merit to his defence.

“I think the hard thing is what we trained pre-season – AJ gets ruled out going into round one, JC (Jayden Campbell) gets an injury halfway through game three. Our seven, six and one after eight games have played one and a half games together,” Holbrook said after his side’s loss to Penrith two weeks ago.

“I think that’s obviously the area we have to get right because our middles are trying so hard, our outside backs were brilliant again.

“It’s those key positions, we need them to be playing better collectively and we have to because we’re in a bad spot.”

So just how crucial is that continuity when it comes to the halves ability to reap the rewards for their side?

For context, the current ladder leaders in the Melbourne Storm have fielded a juggernaut combination of Ryan Papenhauyzen, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes eight out of nine games this year. In that time they have produced 24 try assists and 21 linebreak assists.

The attacking linchpins of the Parramatta Eels in Clint Gutherson, Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses have played all nine games this season, linking up with ease outside of Brown’s brief stint in the centres.

Between them they have combined for 24 try assists and 13 linebreak assists, and are the only side to beat the top two in Melbourne and Penrith.

While the reality is the Titans need more out of their halves to match it with the competition heavyweights, maintaining a stable partnership throughout those playmaking positions is a must.

Furthermore, the output of the halves goes beyond pure numbers, with the halfback in particular tasked with closing out tight contests and getting his side on the front foot with their kicking game to provide a platform for the forwards.

Barring injury, the Campbell-Brimson-Sexton combination needs to be stuck to for the rest of the campaign if they are to find the attacking flare Wallace touched on.

RANKING NRL HALVES AND FULLBACK COMBINATIONS AFTER NINE ROUNDS

The below breakdown showcases how the way a spine interacts goes beyond individual statistics. It is how they link up as a unit.

Take Cowboys breakout star Tom Dearden as an example. The 21-year-old has cast aside a turmultuos introduction to the NRL in what has by far been his finest season to date.

In the opening four games of the campaign, when he played alongside a more potent ball running fullback in Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Dearden had seven try assists and six linebreak assists to his credit.

Since Drinkwater’s inclusion at the back, the five-eighth has registered jsut one linebreak assists and no try contributions, however his form has not wavered. Frequently he has been the man to provide Drinkwater with his own attacking chances, with the former Melbourne Storm custodian creditted for nine try assists and nine linebreak assists in that period.

It goes to show that a spine is often only as good as the players they are joined by, and their success is not solely determined by personal numbers.

While they have barely had two games together, the Titans trio fo Campbell, Sexton and Brimson actually fare strongly when on the field at the same time.

Only the Storm, Sharks, Cowboys and Broncos contingents combine for my try and linebreak assists than the Gold Coast. If finals were decided by that figure, Penrith would miss the cut.

It goes to show that while there is a huge onus on the playmakers to steer the attack and control the flow of a contest, it takes more than three men clicking to orchestrate a premiership charge.

All statistics courtesy of Fox Sports Lab.







* Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s injury opened the door for Drinkwater to reclaim the jersey

** Tesi Niu and Albert Kelly’s long-term injuries, and Martin’s miracle comeback, changed the Broncos spine

*** This is one tough to judge. Youngster Tyrell Sloan began the season at fullback to plenty of excitement, however he has since been axed by Anthony Griffin from round three onwards in favour of Moses Mbye. At the same time, fellow rookie Talatau Amone was dropped to the bench and not reinstated at five-eighth until the round eight win over Wests Tigers. In his place Bird took the number six jumper. We’ve gone with the spine that has played the most together, despite Bird moving back to edge forward for the Magic Round clash.

**** Jamal Fogarty was set to play at halfback prior to his preseason injury

***** The Bulldogs are seemingly yet to land on their ideal spine, with Jake Averillo and Brandon Wakeham also used throughout 2022 in tandem with Burton.

[gotitans101_]

Reynolds carving up again. Yawn.

And again.

ffs

Our recruitment must be one of the worst in the comp.

[Whats Doing]

Just another master class from Reynolds who has transformed the Broncos but our dim witted coach and Mal thinks they know better with a 21 rookie who has the pace of a snail and we are 2nd last

[gotitans101_]

lol the pace of a snail...I like it.

[SCoast Titan]

Why the hell did we not make a play for him??

[Whats Doing]

There was a good article this week on Reynolds in that he brings so much more in salary cap funding to the Broncos by the fact if he can
make his team be top 8 and possibly top 4, players will stay for less and players and the Broncos won’t need to pay overs to get players from other clubs

[gotitans101_]

Why the hell did we not make a play for him??

We banked all our money on overpaid forwards like Fifita.

[Whats Doing]

We banked all our money on overpaid forwards like Fifita.

But we are also paying overs for so many players. I read we are paying $550k for Lui ffs and Sexton is reportedly in $500k for next year . Our recruitment is a shambles

[gotitans101_]

But we are also paying overs for so many players. I read we are paying $550k for Lui ffs and Sexton is reportedly in $500k for next year . Our recruitment is a shambles

Yep. Donkeys getting the last laugh, again. We have learned nothing.