2022 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread

[Hail Sezer]

TITANS CIRCLING TIGER

Tigers hooker Jacob Liddle has been shopped to the Gold Coast as the Titans ramp up plans for a new No. 9.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook appears to have finally abandoned playing manufactured hooker Erin Clark at dummy-half and is on the lookout for a new rake.

Liddle’s name has been tossed up to the Titans as uncertainty swirls around the future of the Tigers following the sacking of coach Michael Maguire.

Liddle, 25, is contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2023, but that hasn’t stopped him being offered to the Titans along with teammate Jock Madden.

Liddle has played 74 games for the Tigers, including 10 this season, since debuting in 2016 but could be on move as the Titans look to beef up their dummy-half stocks.

Holbrook will blood ex-Storm hooker Aaron Booth against the Broncos on Saturday as he looks for more creativity at the ruck.


BEARS TURNING HEADS

Burleigh’s dominance in the Hostplus Cup has not gone unnoticed, with at least three Bears players in the sights of NRL clubs.

Dynamic fullback Taine Tuaupiki, prop Tristan Powell and five-eighth Josh Rogers are strong chances of landing NRL deals next year.

Tuaupiki had a strong lead at the top of the Petero Civoniceva Medal leaderboard before voting went behind closed doors last week.

He was on 16 points after 12 rounds, three clear of the Capras’ Jayden Hodges, and has attracted interest from four NRL clubs as he closes in on rookie-of-the-year honours.

“He has been one of the better players in the local comp for the last couple of years,” said Bears coach Rick Stone.

“He’s taken the next step well and is reaping the benefits.”

Powell is being watched closely by the Melbourne Storm, who have a sensational record of transforming reserve graders into solid NRL players, while Rogers has also put himself in a strong position to take the next step.

“Tristan has been contracted to the Broncos and Titans,” Stone said.

“A lot of people thought he was too small, but he’s got some real leg speed which is an advantage in the middle these days.

“He’s got a great willingness to compete and works really hard in the gym and at training. I can’t fault him one bit. He deserves every accolade he gets this year. It’s on the back of really hard work and diligence on his part.

“Josh is scoring plenty of points and his goal-kicking has been great.

“He’s raised a few eyebrows. He’s been on the fringe the last couple of years but is stepping out of the shadows now. He’s shown he is a very decent player with a lot of skill and ability.”


https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...d26812e3e251fa

What strangely coincidental choices of Burleigh players to ask Rick Stone about

http://www.leagueoftitans.com.au/sho...n-lounge/page9

Hi Pete

[Whats Doing]

^^^

HS
You can take over Ezra Howes position with your eye for talent spotting

[5 Year Contract]

Liddle would be a standard signing for us. Hes ok but we need more than ok. Slim pickings on the hooker market so I guess we hope Booth progresses or wait to see who shakes free.

[JunctionBlock]

Liddle would be a standard signing for us. Hes ok but we need more than ok. Slim pickings on the hooker market so I guess we hope Booth progresses or wait to see who shakes free.

Was thinking the same. No "big" names coming off contract anytime soon. Liddle is still a step up on what we have excluding the unknown this weekend.

[Just-a-Fan]

I would soon get Tyson Smoothy then Liddle
Liddle has been proven he can not play at NRL level
But that how our recruitment works sign player that do not add anything to our team

[Upthetits]

Signing liddle would be such a titans thing to do.

I'm totally against it

[NSW Titan]

Would rather give that Jayden Berrell a go, was good in the QCUP final last year

[The Birdman]

Yeah signing proven NRL duds like Liddle won't help us.

[NZFan]

I’d be disappointed to see Powell go after we had him in our system. Taine has been great, it’s just unfortunate that we have so many good fullbacks coming through at this point in time.

[Bayside Titan]

I’d be disappointed to see Powell go after we had him in our system. Taine has been great, it’s just unfortunate that we have so many good fullbacks coming through at this point in time.

It’s likely that one of those won’t be on the coast next year.

[Titanic]

Rothfield reporting in CM that Holbrook knocked back Pearce (for Sexton), was the driver of Fifita’s 1.2m contract and released Fogarty. I don’t care about any of them because I wouldn’t have wanted Pearce or Fogarty and Fifita is the least of our worries.

[RavShamrock]

T the whole lot of this is an absolute balls up. The club has fantastic development potential coming through (probably better than ever before) so we need to enact and get a coach that can build the platform....Hurricane is digging a very big **** hole.

[Bayside Titan]

Rothfield reporting in CM that Holbrook knocked back Pearce (for Sexton), was the driver of Fifita’s 1.2m contract and released Fogarty. I don’t care about any of them because I wouldn’t have wanted Pearce or Fogarty and Fifita is the least of our worries.

I did wonder at the time if he was shopped to us but I worried that we would take him. While a handy half his off field issues were still remaining.

[Maynard]

I did wonder at the time if he was shopped to us but I worried that we would take him. While a handy half his off field issues were still remaining.

Absolutely, there would have been huge question marks regarding his character and living on the GC.

[DIEHARD]

Now that the Titans have published an article on the topic of Clark's positional change, does that mean it will stick?

'I love it there': Clark relishes positional change in tally-topping performance
https://www.titans.com.au/news/2022/...g-performance/

It's fair to say Erin Clark took his new role like a duck to water.

Producing arguably one of his best games in Titans colours, his switch to lock by Justin Holbrook proved to be a genius move with the former Gold Coast rake dominating with the ball in hand in his changed-up middle third position against the Broncos.

"I love it there. I love running the ball," Clark said post-match.

"I'm not a fast hooker, so it's good because it takes me a while to build my speed at lock, so that's why I enjoy it there."

Playing 58 minutes, the 24-year-old made 157 metres over 12 runs - including a line-break, and led the defensive charge with 32 tackles at a commendable 92 percent efficiency.

He also topped the NRL's fantasy points tally for the night with 76 for the punters who have the Titans playmaker in their top 13.

A try from his extraordinary line-break would've raised his final score even higher, but the New Zealand International jokingly knew he would've never gone the length.

"I knew I was never going the distance. I was cramping with my leg, so that's why I came off," Clark said.

"I've never run that fair since I was a kid."

Coming off the field with a big smile on his face, the new lock forward was proud of his side's effort in the derby against Brisbane, knowing they just need to continually work on those little periods of complacency that see the opposition score points.

"I think it we showed in the first 38 minutes [what we can do]," Clark said.

"We fell asleep in the back end of the first half and that pretty much sums up our season. We do well in patches and in games and then have a couple minutes where they score a couple of points.

"It's frustrating, but I'm proud of the boys with the effort they put in."

With a bumper crowd of 19,245 filling the stands of Cbus Super Stadium for the clash, Clark was ecstatic to see so much support and thanked all of the Titans' members and fans for their continued support during the season.

I know it's been a bit of a rollercoaster this year, downwards and upwards, but we're ripping in and training for the members especially," Clark said.

"One of our goals is to make our community proud. I know it's a bit on the fence with doing that, but I just want everyone to know that we're putting in the effort and training. We just need to make sure we show that on the field.

"We appreciate your support with everyone that's standing strong with us and there's good times to come."