08 :: R1 Fri :: Titans 36 Cowboys 18 @ Skilled

[Timmah]

​

Find Skilled Park​

SCHEDULE
5:00pm Gates open
5:30pm Toyota Cup: Titans v Cowboys
7:30pm NRL: Titans v Cowboys​

Team Sheets

Titans
1. Preston Campbell
2. Ben Jeffry, 3. Luke O'Dwyer, 4. Brett Delaney, 5. Jordan Atkins
6. Matt Rogers, 7. Scott Prince [c]
8. Luke Bailey, 9. Nathan Friend, 10. Michael Hodgson
11. Mark Minichiello, 12. Anthony Laffranchi
13. Ashley Harrison​

Int - 14. Aaron Cannings, 15. Daniel Conn, 16. Josh Graham, 17. Clint Amos
Res - 18. James Stosic​

Cowboys​

1 Matt Bowen

2 Ty Williams, 3 Ashley Graham, 4 Ben Harris, 5 Mark Henry
6 Justin Smith, 7 Travis Burns
8 Ray Cashmere, 9 Aaron Payne (capt), 10 Carl Webb
11 Steve Southern, 12 Jacob Lillyman
13 Luke O'Donnell​

Int - 14 David Faiumu, 15 Sam Faust, 16 Sione Faumuina, 17 Matt Scott
Res - 18 Shane Tronc​

Referee
Shayne Hayne
Sideline Officials: Russell Turner & Gerard Sutton
Video Referee: Tim Mander​

Betting
TAB Sportsbet
Gold Coast 1.65 :: North Queensland 2.20​

Statistically speaking
Head to head
Overall 1... Cowboys 1-0
Skilled 0... yet to play there
Last met
2007 R8 :: Cowboys 24 Titans 10 @ Carrara​

Big wins
Cowboys 24-10 @ Carrara, 2007
Titans yet to beat Cowboys​

RELATED MATCHES (all times local)
Toyota Cup
Titans v Cowboys, 5:30pm Fri, Skilled Park​

QRL Wizard Cup
Tweed Heads v Redcliffe, 2:00pm Sat
Ipswich v Wynnum-Manly, 3:00pm Sat, Briggs Rd Complex
Mackay v Northern, 5:00pm Sat, Barlow Park Cairns​

NSWRL Harold Matthews
Penrith v Gold Coast, Saturday, CUA Stadium Penrith​

​

 

[Timmah]

Match Banner:

 

[Timmah]

Gates will open 5:00pm.

 

[elyod138]

go Cowboys

 

[Shorty]

I can't see us winning against a Titans outfit in their first premiership game in their new stadium.
But I think it's possible,I hope we do it too.

 

[Mr Angry]

I am going the Titans.

At full strength they look damn good.

 

[Timmah]

Following the Odds
Gold Coast 1.65
North Queensland 2.20

Odds courtesy of NSW TAB SportsBet

 

[JB]

No Thurston. New stadium. Scotty Prince. Titans by 10.

 

[Timmah]

1. Preston Campbell, 2. Ben Jeffry, 3. Luke O'Dwyer, 4. Brett Delaney, 5. Jordan Atkins, 6. Matt Rogers, 7. Scott Prince [c], 8. Luke Bailey, 9. Nathan Friend, 10. Michael Hodgson, 11. Mark Minichiello, 12. Anthony Laffranchi, 13. Ashley Harrison
Int: 14. Aaron Cannings, 15. Daniel Conn, 16. Josh Graham, 17. Clint Amos; Res: 18. James Stosic

from www.titans.com.au

 

[Ianc]

Cowboys
Run On Team
Matt Bowen
Ty Williams
Ashley Graham
Ben Harris
Mark Henry
Justin Smith
Travis Burns
Ray Cashmere
Aaron Payne (C)
Carl Webb
Steve Southern
Jacob Lillyman
Luke O'Donnell

Interchange
David Faiumu
Sam Faust
Sione Faumuina
Matt Scott
Shane Tronc

http://www.cowboys.com.au/games.php?game=0

 

[Timmah]

Those who haven't picked their winner for this game - remember the poll closes around 1:00pm on game day to make your tip. The Titans have the most backing at the moment with 21 votes to 10.

Also note the first post of this thread has been updated with the very concise match history between these two clubs.

 

[Shorty]

Things also got a lot juicier with recent news of JT improving quickly and speaking ambiguously of his return time.

 

[Ianc]

FYI Cowboys feeder teams are Mackay Cutters & Cairns Pride. They playe each other Sat 15 @ Barlow Park, Cairns, kickoff 6.00pm.
Not being picky, just thought you might want to put it in related games bit, Timmah.

 

[Timmah]

Cheers Ian, good pickup mate.

Ref info:

Referee
Shayne Hayne
Sideline Officials: Russell Turner & Gerard Sutton
Video Referee: Tim Mander​

 

[Timmah]

Titans v Cowboys
Skilled Stadium
Friday 7.30pm (Qld time)

THE Cowboys overshadow the Titans in most people’s estimations of top premiership fancies for 2008 – although the early signs are that the Titans could easily improve on their excellent debut season, when they finished in twelfth position, and be a force deep into the semi-finals.

Conversely, the Cowboys will be hoping they can keep things together for the first month or so of the comp without their strike player Johnathan Thurston, as the mercurial halfback slowly makes his way back from shoulder reconstruction.

It’s not good news for the Cowboys, given they were the second-worst defensive side in 2007 and only maintained their momentum courtesy of the attacking blitzes launched by their no. 7.

Worryingly for the Cowboys, they’ve already been whipped by their southern Queensland counterparts in 2008 – a 30-22 trial loss that saw Scott Prince and Mat Rogers combine in the Titans’ halves for the first time – and boy did they click. They had their opposition on the ropes at 24-0 at halftime.

The Titans proved that was no fluke by upending the Wests Tigers 32-4 at their magnificent new home stadium, Skilled Park.

Meanwhile the Cowboys kicked off with a 20-10 loss to the Broncos before dipping to the Titans, before wrapping up their preparations with a 32-20 win over the Raiders.

Watch out Titans!: Luke O’Donnell is hungry to regain his representative jerseys for the Kangaroos and NSW after suffering a horror hamstring injury early last year. He played 11 Tests in 2006 and turned out for the Blues twice; the Cowboys sorely missed the muscle he provided up front and his defence is sure to make them a tougher proposition to get on top of.

Watch out Cowboys!: As if Thurston’s absence from the Cowboys won’t be enough, danger looms large for them in the shape of the Titans’ new state-of-the-art home ground.

There’s no doubt the game will be a sell-out, meaning there will be in excess of 27,500 fans as close as 30 metres to the action.

Given the Titans had the fourth-best home record last year, with eight wins from 12 games, you can bank on them doing better than that at Skilled Park.

Where it will be won: Defence will be key, as both sides are capable of piling on plenty of points.

Cowboys’ fullback Matthew Bowen teamed perfectly with Thurston last year to create headaches for oppositions – Bowen topped the NRL for line breaks (with 29) and tackle breaks (with 204) and also contributed 11 line break assists (including nine from offloads).

With no Thurston the Cowboys will look to him for their main attacking thrust. At the Titans, Scott Prince ranked sixth (to Thurston) for line break assists (with 14) and second for try assists (with 26).

There isn’t a better finisher in the game than his new five-eighth Mat Rogers and if they keep developing expect to see the Titans entrenched in the eight for much of the season.

The History: Played 1; Titans 0, Cowboys 1. The Cowboys accounted for the Titans 24-10 in their only encounter to date last year.

Conclusion: The jury is out about how the Cowboys will go in Graham Murray’s final season at the helm, the coach having been cut from their plans beyond 2008.

While their star appears to be on the wane, the opposite can be said for the professional Titans outfit; and with a new home ground the bookies ($1.65 favourites) have got it just about right.

Match Officials: Referee – Shayne Hayne; Sideline Officials – Russell Turner & Gerard Sutton; Video Ref – Tim Mander.

Televised: Chennel 9 – Live 7.30pm (Qld), Delayed 9.30pm (NSW); Fox Sports 3 – Delayed 1.00am

Statistics NRL Stats

http://nrl.com/News/Latest/tabid/10244/default.aspx?id=50024

 

[gong_eagle]

Thurston will have nowhere to hide

By Wayne Heming
March 13, 2008http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23369608-23214,00.html


PROMINENT physiotherapist Michael Dalgleish says Cowboys star Johnathan Thurston will have "nowhere to hide" if he gambles on a shock comeback after undergoing twin shoulder surgery late last year.
Dalgleish, Queensland State of Origin's team physio during the 1990s, said the recovery period for reconstructive shoulder surgery was 20 weeks.
Thurston had one shoulder done in September and the other in late October. He was initially expected to miss the first four or five rounds of the NRL premiership.
“He's right on the razor's edge,” Dalgleish said when asked if Thurston was pushing the envelope too much.
"They can be back in 20 weeks. What you'd have to be concerned about in a contact sense is has he regained all the strength he should have.
“I don't think their team physio and strength coach would give him the green light unless they were completely happy.
“It's a bit like an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), you can be back in eight months but in all seriousness most guys don't feel right for 18 months.
“It'll be the same with (Darren) Lockyer, you won't see the same confidence straight away, he'll probably be a bit tentative with things.”
Cowboys coach Graham Murray seemed to suggest Thurston would play on Friday night and Dalgleish suggested it may be wise to bring him off the bench and let him “feel his shoulders” out.
Punters have splurged more than $100,000 in the past 24 hours on North Queensland to upset the Gold Coast on the back of rumours Thurston will play.
Sportingbet Australia, Centrebet and TAB Sportsbet have all reported big bets flowing in for the Cowboys whose odds have tumbled sharply.
AAP


I am really looking forward at watching this game, I reckon it will be a cracker

 

[Shorty]

Yep,Gong it's going to be great.
You can hear the crowd on the footy show,I can't imagine how loud it's going to be tomorrow!

Sooo pumped!

 

[Timmah]

That noise for the footy show (including the booing of Simple plan lol) was something else... tonight will be interesting. Can't wait.

 

[Timmah]

Tipping closes in an hour or so's time for tonight's match here - Gold Coast the favourites at the moment with 26-13.

I'm sure some would've changed their tips knowing Thurston was available :sarcasm:

 

[thehattrickrabbit]

does anyone know the official team change to the Cowboys, knowing Thurston will come into the side, id imagine Thurston would go to halfback, Burns to five-eighth, Smith to the Bench, but who will drop off the bench ?