Titans V Wests Tigers preview
Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - 4:10 PM
Five weeks ago the rugby league world was pinching itself that the newest Gold Coast franchise, in its first year, might just be a force through the finals.
The Titans were fourth, for goodness sake, and seemingly on track for an historic year.
But injuries have conspired against John Cartwright and his men; theyve lost their past five games to now sit in 11th position, four points away from September footy.
Some of those losses have been significant including a 56-10 thumping at the hands of the Raiders and a 36-12 touch-up by the Bulldogs leaving many wondering whether they are seasoned enough to make a late run.
On the plus side their inspirational co-skipper Scott Prince returns a week earlier than expected after a couple of weeks off with a sternum injury.
The Wests Tigers, meanwhile, are on a high after walloping the Tigers at Leichhardt Oval last Monday.
The 54-10 thrashing was an important psychological boost, earned amid the return of stars Benji Marshall and Brett Hodgson.
Before that their premiership campaign looked decidedly shaky; they were comprehensively out-played by the Warriors at Campbelltown 28-16 and the Sea Eagles 34-4 before refloating the ship.
The Titans know they can compete with Tim Sheens men they beat them 16-14 at Campbelltown, with former Tiger Prince starring, in round 14.
The game looms as a danger clash for the Tigers on the short back-up. They have everything to play for, including a possible top-four berth; a loss might even see them back to ninth place.
The Titans need to win, and by a large margin, if they are to progress beyond round 25.
Watch out Titans: The Tigers appear in a hungry, attacking mood. Their 12 line breaks against the Cowboys last week were the second most by a team this year.
Playing without pressure given Marshalls return, Robbie Farah revelled to compile one of the most outstanding individual performances for 2007.
He grabbed hold of the footy 92 times, made 11 runs for 105 metres, made 38 copybook tackles, kicked 12 times for a whopping 324 metres, made two line breaks, three line break assists and assisted four tries.
Hes improving his already excellent effectiveness out of dummy-half, too hes run 91 times (fourth most in the NRL) and leads the comp for dummy-half breaks with four.
Watch out Wests Tigers: The all-important Titans player combination of Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi, Mat Rogers and Scott Prince takes the field together for the first time since the rot set in.
With the former three on deck last week they were unlucky not to get the cash against the Rabbitohs; with Prince back in the fold they are an altogether different outfit.
These guys thrive on each others presence Prince tops the comp for try assists with 21, Laffranchi and Luke Bailey are ranked 10th and 11th respectively for most hit-ups and Rogers is ranked ninth with 13 line breaks.
In isolation theres great pressure on the individuals to perform but collectively they can be lethal.
Where it will be won: Theres nothing in the defences of these two teams the Titans have yielded 419 points so far in 07 just five more than the Tigers.
But the Tigers have displayed more enterprise in attack, scoring 16 more tries and 107 more points than the Titans (440 to 333).
Expect attack to be the focus again close wins are no good to the Titans, who need big winning margins to possibly leapfrog others should they happen to stumble into a share of the eighth-place points cut-off.
Likewise, the Tigers will be looking for a heap more points to boost their differential they wiped a -18 deficit last week and now sit healthily on +26. Where will the points come from?
The Titans have scored 24 of their 59 tries down the left-hand side of the field and the Tigers have conceded 27 tries through their left-side defence. Meanwhile the Titans need to watch their right-side defence the Tigers have 30 tries down the left corridor, the third most in the NRL.
The History: Played 1; Titans 1, Wests Tigers 0. The Gold Coast franchise drew first blood with a hard-fought two-point victory at Campbelltown in round 14.
Conclusion: Consensus is this will be an easy win to the visitors but were not so sure.
Theres bound to be a huge crowd at Carrara Stadium for what looms as the home teams final throw of the dice the Titans are averaging 22,319 at home in 2007.
Ultimately it may boil down to the Benji factor he was missing in their round 14 loss and usually strikes form quickly after returning from injury.
Hell also prove a factor in defence, with Tim Sheens keen to shield him from the big forwards.
That could play into John Cartwrights hands dont be surprised to see Bailey and Laffranchi hanging wider than normal and the Titans employing short blinds often to spot Marshall.
In the spirit of season 2007, well opt for the upset.
Match officials: Referee Steve Clark; Sideline Officials Paul Holland & Adam Devcich; Video ref Chris Ward.
Televised: FoxSports 3 Live 5.30pm.
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
