What are the key areas for improvement to make us finals contenders again?

[willhelm]

I've no doubt that we are all disappointed with how this season is panning out. The issues are numerous, so rather than spit the dummy and declare everything is ****ed, I think it would be better if we instead offered our constructive thoughts on what the priority areas for improvement are. Our most active threads are signings & recruitment and match threads but we lack a general discussion thread, so hopefully this one can fill that void. Below are my immediate thoughts with more to come later.

1. The Clark Conundrum
Erin Clark is not our long-term 9. However, the guy has heart, a huge motor, and appears to be very much a team player and good for culture/morale. He's our budget Cotter and I would like to see the coaching staff identify him as such and move him to being a big minute, mobile, ball-playing lock. Obviously, that means Tino moves to prop, which is what many of us have been calling for anyway.

I don't know where this obsession with playing Tino at 13 comes from, but he plays like a prop and the modern game is not suited to the three prop strategy like the pre-6 again era. With Tino and Clark both playing big minutes in the middle, it would help with our unbalanced roster of middles (Jolliffe, Lisone, Liu and Mo are all signed until the end of 2024) and allow shorter stints for our bench rotation.

2. A Hooker Drought on the Gold Coast... Surely Not
Following from (1), if Clark is moved to lock, obviously we need a new 9. Tanah Boyd ain't it, unfortunately. Booth could be it, but we won't know until he gets a run in first grade (I don't blame the coaching staff for this as he is still coming back from injury). I'd like to see us prioritise a top quality 9 for recruitment as it would address several of our key issue areas (ruck control/speed, distribution/yardage).

Reece Robson is my #1 target as he is from Murwillumbah and the Cows could potentially consider moving Cotter back to his natural 9 role, but with him going so well as a mobile prop/tackle bot maybe not. Who else is there?

• Adrian Trevilyan is a Queenslander and looks a good prospect at the Raiders but is now stuck behind Starling and Woolford. He's also largely unproven.
• Cam McInnes is playing a Cotter-like role at the Sharks but his best position is hooker. Would he move from Sydney? Seems unlikely.
• Jayden Berrell is another option at the Sharks. He's not young (26) and has apparently been a stand-out in reserve grade. There's no chance he's getting a run ahead of Blayke Brailey, and I suspect that McInnes would probably play hooker in the event of an injury to Brailey. The only issue with Berrell is that he is managed by Mat Rogers, who I believe is not on good terms with the club.
• Matt Parcell is out as he recently re-signed with Hull KR until the end of 2024.
• Could Jayden Brailey be a left field option? The Knights are apparently chasing Turpin and may view Brailey, despite his ability and leadership qualities, to be too much of an injury risk. He would be a gamble but could pay off, assuming the Knights would entertain letting him go before his contract expires at the end of 2025.

3. Mental Fragility
We can score points, but we are mentally fragile as shown by us blowing huge leads against the Raiders and Broncos. This is unfortunately a continuation of last season. It is true that we are a young team, but so were the Panthers in 2020 when they made the grand final. It's not a valid excuse and we need to develop grit in defense. Usually, that comes from senior players (particularly middles) leading the way and I think Liu was brought in to do that. While he controls the ruck well, unfortunately he does not appear to be a strong enough personality to play that leadership role for the team. Proctor is another defensive specialist who is supposed to play that role, but he's well past his expiry date and I've never fully forgiven him for the disrespect he showed his new team with the cocaine saga. So, what do we do about it?

Better coaching is the obvious answer. Someone posted here recently that Holbrook is seen as a weak coach who struggles to give his players a spray (apparently a current player mentioned it on Triple M?). "Nice guy" coaches generally don't work out, see Garth Brennan and Trent Barrett, but at the moment it's just hearsay. Overall, I think Holbrook has done a lot of good for our club to date, so my inclination would be to replace the assistant coaches first. Does anyone have any info on how Dymock is around the dressing room? He always looks half asleep in the coaches' box but that doesn't necessarily mean he's asleep on the training paddock. However, for an apparent defensive specialist, he sure does seem to be struggling to get us to defend. Replacing Dymock would therefore be my first change in the coaching department.

Do we need a sports psychologist to assist the coaching department? I don't know if we actually already have one, so if we do, then do we need a better one, or even a whole department of them? In general, I see psychologists as lefty hocus pocus BS peddlers who try to push feminine methods onto men, and I personally prefer the stiff upper lip approach of yesteryear, but I can't deny that sports psychologists appear to have done wonders in the NBA and NFL (Tom Brady has apparently had the same psychologist/life coach since his college days). Is it a placebo effect? Is it correlation rather than causation? I don't know, but I think sports psychology is worth considering at this point.

On the field, Tino is the obvious pack leader and he leads by example, but he can't do it all. He's also not yet experienced enough to keep us calm and steel us in defense when the going gets tough. Our young spine obviously lets him down in that regard too, but with Foran coming next year I think that problem is already being addressed. As much as it pains me to say it, I'd be looking to let Fifita go at the end of his contract (I assume he already has one foot in Redcliffe given his recent dalliances with Wayne) and bring in a hard-nosed hitman in Liam Martin. I would honestly be willing to pay 700-800k for Martin, I rate him that highly. He's only 25 so won't help on the experience front but he would give us that defensive steel that Fifita the Human Highlight Reel doesn't.

Finally, I think addressing the Clark/Hooker problem in (1) and (2) would help us to regain the ruck and stop those enormous momentum swings that contribute to (3).

Anyway, that's enough of my rambling for now. Keen to hear others' thoughts on how to fix what is obviously not working this year.

[DIEHARD]

Excellent post Willhelm. So this thread will be more of an ideas and solutions thread. I like it.

Tino and Clark

I think moving Tino is a good idea. It's good for the Maroons. And shouldn't and can't be the end of all our leadership up front. I agree that I don't know where the Tino must be #13 thing came from. Last year we played Peachey there. It's not like Wally's #6. Let Tino do what he does best. And what best suits the team as a whole with the game now.

Trying Clark at 13 is a good idea. And he does have many good qualities on and off the field. Just not our 9. It would also help our bench.

Hooker Options / Creating a Watch List

I want to thank you for giving me some names to follow and look at. It's actually a good idea for everyone to suggest people that we can watch, and we can have this big pot of potentials on a watch list. It doesn't even take much effort to do that. "Oh the Raiders are on... Let's see who to keep an eye on..." Maybe we can add a Watch List to the Signings thread?

Booth seems very close to a Titans debut.

Based on the names you put up. And thanks for a significant one.

Reece Robson - [NRL] Cowboys BIO LINK
Adrian Trevilyan - [NRL] Raiders BIO LINK
Cameron McInnes - [NRL] Sharks BIO LINK
Jayden Berrell [NRL] Sharks BIO LINK
Matt Parcell [Super League] Hull KR BIO LINK
Jayden Brailey [ NRL] Knights BIO LINK

[willhelm]

Thanks for the support and the links, DH. I feel Berrell may be a smokey as others on here have been pumping his tyres. Any input from those who have watched him play?

[Just-a-Fan]

Well there are a couple I would look at for the future are they ready now don't know really

Tyson Smoothy and NSW under 18 hooker Kyle Schneider
Being a QLD team maybe Kyle would not fit but I do think he is playing with the cutter I think not sure
I really do think Booth should be given ago first
Cam McInnes would be the 1 I would chase hard to come here
would also think of Adam Keighran as a number 14 can play a lot of places even hooker

[Hail Sezer]

Fantastic thread willhelm, great idea. Thanks for posting. I'll drop in some of my thoughts a bit later on.

Thanks for the support and the links, DH. I feel Berrell may be a smokey as others on here have been pumping his tyres. Any input from those who have watched him play?

Quickly on Berrell - he's had an interesting career. Young-gun junior at the Broncos not offered a contract after making the Jr Kangaroos in 2015, and no clubs came knocking. Suggests back then there was probably something intangible that clubs didn't like. He's since grinded his way for Norths, Tigers and the WM Seagulls an in Qcup. Fast forward to 2021 where he has a breakout season and is crowned the best player in the comp.

From what I've observed since his U20 days, he's a competitive, high footy IQ hooker that is durable, tough, and has a well rounded game. One of those guys that isn't elite in any areas, but doesn't have any major flaws either. Hooker is a tough position to predict how a player will transition to NRL level from state cup but IMO he'd be an improvement on any of our current group.

[Titslover]

Great post Willhelm, will be nice to have another placd where we can add our thoughts and suggestions about the direction of the team. Just on your comment about Rogers not being on good terms with the Titans, I have no idea about the inside workings but I remember when we made the finals last year he made a massive post on instagram about his time with the club and the whole city being behind us. I guess there can be a difference between having an issue with club executives and just supporting the team, but I was just surprised to hear you say that. Heres his instagram post for reference.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTrFUAeP...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[willhelm]

Great post Willhelm, will be nice to have another placd where we can add our thoughts and suggestions about the direction of the team. Just on your comment about Rogers not being on good terms with the Titans, I have no idea about the inside workings but I remember when we made the finals last year he made a massive post on instagram about his time with the club and the whole city being behind us. I guess there can be a difference between having an issue with club executives and just supporting the team, but I was just surprised to hear you say that. Heres his instagram post for reference.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTrFUAeP...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Hey Titslover thanks for the info, it was on here that I read about Rogers not being on great terms with the club so it shouldn’t be taken as truth because it’s unsubstantiated. If it’s not true then I’d be really happy because he’s a club legend as far as I’m concerned.

[Titanic]

Onya Willy, I'm sure you can spark a debate or two :-) and now on topic:

(1) I'm in the give Aaron Booth a go mob for the moment. He's the one we have and don't need to stretch anything except the coach's belief.
(2) I also strongly support Clarke as our 13. Plays direct, has courage, an aggressive tackle, plays big minutes, some smarts and a passing game.
(3) Tino as everybody knows is a roving prop. Perhaps he likes the thought of an old fashioned 13's role but that needs a reality check. He's captain, leads the pack and he certainly doesn't need a number to create his aura ... he is an out and out champion.
(4) The cookie cutter big bodies. Except for MoFo who has exceptional talent, the rest are just the wrong shape for what's required in the modern game. I would swap any of King, Stone, Farmer, etc for Lisone, Ese'ese and Liu. I know Liu has a certain appeal but not so much for me. I feel this negatively affects the efforts of Fermor, McIntyre and Jolliffe who are having to cover the others.
(5) Fifita is an enigma. We either accept that we play 12 plus Dave and his prodigious presence or get rid of him. I think we can utilise him and with the right make up of the team play the 12+ model. I think he wins us way more than we lose especially with the right cattle around him.
(6) The Sexy half's conundrum: with a fair dinkum 9 and mobile forwards then Sexton prospers. With plodders and Clarke at 9 he fails. Foran doesn't do it for me but whatever it is Boyd is just loose change, destined to play Cup.
(7) AJ is a 1, not a 14 or a 6 or a 7 but maybe a left centre.
(8) Campbell is an NRL player when he learns to balance his body mass. He is too easily dragged around. There are other lighter players who play heavier. I like him but right now he's a liability.
(9) The others: Sami, Marzhew are lock-ins, Herbert, Thompson, Marsters and Kelly are depth while JoJo, perhaps Spry and others who get mentioned quite a bit by those who know better than me are the future.
(10) a. Losing mentality, is it in the legs or in the mind? Certainly in the mind. We can win big either half but not put the two together. We can defend big either half but not put the two together. That's not the legs, that's between the ears. The drivers for a professional footballer are simple: fame, shame and fortune. If the players aren't held accountable then they just don't give a ratz when it comes to the big moments. Case point: Tino's big minutes or Val Holmes never say die clean ups.

b. So no problem without a solution: Holbrook needs a more definitive accountability system, like Sticky. I realise we may not have the same depth but if you're losing with the same plodders then you are not proving anything but if you are losing because the plodders got sent below for a reality check and the ones that come up are at least a part of the system then you doubly win. I for one can accept lesser players having a crack than prima donnas prancing around (see what I did there MT).

And that's all she wrote ... Queenslander!

[ozynorts]

I was cautious at the start of the year due to the age of our spine but I certainly didn't expect us to be spoon contenders, figured 10-12th.
I wasn't sure about the calls for Clark at 13 but he did really well there once the subs got rolled in last game so I am warming to the idea. I think Tino will bring a lot of belief back from Game 1, the way the entire SOO team defended was awesome.
It's already been mentioned but there are 2 glaring holes in our team.
1- hooker, we made a play at B Smith so that makes me think the club/coaches acknowledge the issue. The options are thin right now but we need to be on the ball here.
2- Defense....... This is vastly more important than every other issue in my books. If we stop the opposition from rolling up the field into good position as easily as they do that is a start. We have to attack with our defence, not sit back back like some lazy python and try to strangle them once they are at our line.
The best defensive assistant right now is Ciraldo but we wont get him. Who else in the NRL system is making a name as a defensive specialist that might be available? There is Ryles at the Storm but I don't see him leaving but I don't really hear about any others. Again who is out there and will they be interested in taking us on?

[Titanic]

This is the sort of crap that really gets under my skin. Players up themselves when the are underachieving. I’ll type it again: our guys are living the life on the Goldie.

“Titans cop roasting

Gold Coast Titans players have been put on notice for their poor behaviour and attitudes towards media at training. Following complaints from local media to club powerbrokers, Titans players were last week addressed about their sloppy standards. It was not unusual for Titans players to loiter, crack jokes and carry on like clowns while teammates were fulfilling NRL-obligated media commitments. There were also numerous instances of players not turning up for scheduled media appearances. All this from a club that’s running second-last on the ladder. It took complaints from the media before the players were told their behaviour wasn’t good enough.”

Source Courier-Mail: Sport Confidential 09 June Badel/Meyne

[ALX25]

Perhaps a visit to flood affected clubs will teach them some humility.

[Whats Doing]

Dean Young is doing brilliantly as defensive coach for the Cows

[DIEHARD]

Dean Young is doing brilliantly as defensive coach for the Cows

Let's all roll up to Cowboys training but only watch what he does.