2023 Season General Discussion Thread

[ozynorts]

Advertising must have been free for last nights game

Gooolllddd.
That game would have rated so badly and being up against the Aussie women in the soccer world cup opening game as well.

[Hail Sezer]

Khan-Pereira makes scoring tries look easy as record looms

By the time Alofiana Khan-Pereira is finished his debut NRL season, the Titans' record for tries in a single season will not only be beaten but obliterated... much like the defensive lines the 21-year-old flyer has bamboozled in his 16 games in the top grade.

Since making his NRL debut in Round 1 against Wests Tigers, Khan-Pereira has chalked up 30 tackle breaks, 22 line breaks and 17 tries, equalling the mark set by David Fifita in the 2021 season.

Included in Khan-Pereira's impressive CV are six doubles racked up against some pretty handy opposition in the Storm, Cowboys, Broncos and Sea Eagles and twice against the Eels.

With seven games still to play and a possibility of playing finals, it's anyone's guess how high the record will go by the time Khan-Pereira is finished, with interim coach Jim Lenihan adamant that "scoring tries and running hard is the easy part" for the youngster.

"That’s a natural skill for him, he's got exceptional speed, he's certainly someone who can find the tryline and he’s been doing it for a long time," Lenihan said on Friday.

"We all know he can finish off tries really well but the next thing about being a professional rugby league player is getting all the details of your job and he is working really hard at that and getting better.

"It's the defence and the mindfulness to set our edge, our bounce on the line when you’re nowhere near the ball - there's lots of little parts that are very detailed in his position that he has to get better at and he is getting better at but still has a lot to work on."

The prospect of Khan-Pereira getting even better at his job in his second season and beyond is a scary one for rival teams, but Lenihan has no doubt the Keebra Park State High graduate has only scratched the surface in his rookie year.

Lenihan sees a healthy confidence and limitless potential in a kid who has already surpassed a couple of pretty handy speedsters in David Mead (16 tries in 2011) and James Roberts (16 tries in 2015) for four-pointers in a season at the Titans.

"Like most young blokes he’s cocky but he needs that little bit of swagger that makes him who he is. We don’t want him to lose that, it’s what makes him who he is," Lenihan said.

"It's really important that he harnesses all his effort into getting the ball over the line and defending well."

Helping Khan-Pereira hold the line in Saturday's must-win game against the Rooster will be AJ Brimson, who returns at fullback after a week off to recharge his batteries.

The livewire No.1 has played just nine games for the Titans in 2023 but is coming off an Origin appearance for the Maroons in Game Three and should be ready to fire in the run to the finals.

"Brimmo didn’t have any major issue [last week], he is just so tightly strung that playing State of Origin into a game next week could pose a problem moving forward for rest of the year so just to give giving him those few days off is smarter for us to ensure he plays deep into the back end of the year," Lenihan said.

With the loser of Saturday's clash likely to be three games out of the eight by the end of the round, the electric skills of Brimson and Khan-Pereira are critical to the Titans' chances of staying alive in the finals race.

If Khan-Pereira can take sole possession of the 'yellow jersey' from Fifita for tries in a season then Gold Coast could be well on their way to breaking a nine-game losing run against the Roosters.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/07/22/...-record-looms/

[Hail Sezer]

Lofi doing the thing he's required to do turning half opportunities into 4 pointers. More yardage and the rest will hopefully come with time.

Favourite part of the article is Jimmy talking a little footy beyond the cliche's/easy to digest coach talk.

[Whats Doing]

I am of the view that our forwards, apart from Tino and to an extent JJ, are just not hard hitters in defence, which in turn enables the opposition’s forwards to be fresher.

Yesterday loss was so notice where the Roosters with JWH, Collins and Brown just belted our forwards in the 1st half and we offered very little in terms of brutality in defence resulting in being mauled in the ruck and significantly losing the yardage down the middle.

It is so evident that our sting in defence is just not there without Tino and to a certain extent JJ.

I am sure Des will change the tackling technique of team next year or get some heavy hitters in the forwards.

Unfortunately Palasai does appear to be a heavy hitter in defence either but rather a worker in defence.

[Cowabunga]

From the Tiger Shark Article...

Since the start of 2019, the Sharks have played 46 matches against teams in the top half of the ladder, and been victorious only on 10 occasions. Only the Gold Coast – excluding the Dolphins, who joined the NRL this year – with seven victories, have managed less.

Storm, Eels and Broncos this year with Eels still potentially dropping out hahahha, Knights in 2020 and 2021 and Sea Eagles and Broncos in 2019.... It's actually wild seeing it like that.

[DavidBouveng]

anyone have a link to the keebra v pbc livestream?

[Hail Sezer]

anyone have a link to the keebra v pbc livestream?

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...5fd4f715c01a24

Keebra were really poor

[Hail Sezer]

Someone on YT has put together a highlights clip showing some clips from Keano playing for PBC, Titans 19's, QLD Schools, and Qcup. Showcases some key parts of his attacking game well.



I've said it and I'll say it again - an 18 year old fullback fresh out of school should not be having the impact he is having on games at Qcup level. It's astounding.

[MaroonTitan]

Thanks HS. He looks like Ben Barba in his prime playing at QCup level. Very exciting!

[Hail Sezer]

Thanks HS. He looks like Ben Barba in his prime playing at QCup level. Very exciting!

Yep. Similar stylistically. There's a lot of really good plays that didn't make the video either.

I'm sure you'll remember who coached Barba in his Dally M season too.

[MaroonTitan]

Yep. Similar stylistically. There's a lot of really good plays that didn't make the video either.

I'm sure you'll remember who coached Barba in his Dally M season too.

Great point. I'd forgotten that.

Can JC be a solid 7 with an offseason training there? Do I remember correctly that Presto was a Dally M 7 in his breakout season?

[Titslover]

Great point. I'd forgotten that.

Can JC be a solid 7 with an offseason training there? Do I remember correctly that Presto was a Dally M 7 in his breakout season?

I've thought about JC possibly being a Jahrome Hughes type 7. I just am worried that making him take control of the team and game management will take away his greatest strengths, which is his X-factor and running game. I'd like to see us give it a go soon if Tanah has another poor game this week.

[NZTITAN]

Someone on YT has put together a highlights clip showing some clips from Keano playing for PBC, Titans 19's, QLD Schools, and Qcup. Showcases some key parts of his attacking game well.



I've said it and I'll say it again - an 18 year old fullback fresh out of school should not be having the impact he is having on games at Qcup level. It's astounding.

Best Titans junior talent ever by a mile, generational player.

[NSW Titan]

Someone on YT has put together a highlights clip showing some clips from Keano playing for PBC, Titans 19's, QLD Schools, and Qcup. Showcases some key parts of his attacking game well.



I've said it and I'll say it again - an 18 year old fullback fresh out of school should not be having the impact he is having on games at Qcup level. It's astounding.

Cant wait for this kid to start killing it for us. hopefully we can find a way to keep him and our other guns long term

[Blade07]

I’m hoping for a lineup come next year of:
1. Campbell
2. Sami
3. Jojo
4. Kelly
5. Akp
6. Brimson
7. Boyd/hunt
8. Mo
9. Verrills
10. Tino
11. Fifita
12. Fermor
13. Randall
14. Stimson
15. Jollife
16. Liu
17. Palasia
18. Kini