anjado - I really rate Srama, I think he's the perfect replacement for Friend. Plenty of ticker and isn't afraid to ask questions of the defence.
Tough to say how the side will shape up let alone how they'll fare in 2012. They have a strange mix of over the hill players, raw young players, decent club players and players who could go either way. If they had a Bellamy or a Hasler at the helm I'd be confident of a Top 8 finish but Cartwright is more or less in that Neil Henry category for mine. Has his moments, but hasn't discovered that consistency great coaches need.
Idris is a good signing, they've always lacked in the three quaters and I rate Idris as one of the best young centres in the game. He was in for a big season last year until it was stunted by a nagging injury. With Prince around I believe he'll get much more time and space.
Forward pack is good but I wouldn't say great. Bailey is in the twilight of his career and while he's still one of the better props in the game I don't think he has the ability to step up in the tougher games. Similar story with Douglas but he's never shown it before. Will the move up north help his game? With the exception of 2010, Myles hasn't impressed me at club level. He'll still be a solid hand and better than Laffranchi post 2008 but not by that much. Like his former Sharks team mate, Bird is an interesting one to watch. He's been dicked around a lot at the Titans having been moved to and from the halves on a consistent basis. With some stability in the position and an improved pack around him maybe he'll be able to rediscover his 2006-08 form. Harrison is solid, Mini is inconsistent and the young forwards coming through could be anything.
The spine will surely depend on how well that pack performs but it's hard to nail down who will exactly play where. All we know is Prince will be the halfback and Srama will be his hooker. The latter is a good gain for the Titans and should make life a lot easier for Prince. We hear a lot about worst hookers in the competition...none of the names thrown around had anything on Riley Brown. That guy was ridiculously bad for the Titans. The Tits didn't fair much better in the five eigth position last year so you'd have to think Sezer or Henry would be welcome additions. But the biggest head scratcher is fullback. Now from where I sit there's two options. Short term, Zillman who has enough speed, agility and acceleration to scare people. Then there's Rankin who's raw but showed some promising signs last year and I think could be a better playmaker. It's going to be interesting to see who he goes with. If it was up to me, it'd be Zillman as I already have enough young players in the side and I'd prefer his speed but it's hardly an ideal situation for Johnny.
Already touched on the backs but I think Gordon is a big return and I think Champion might fit in at the Titans.
Ultimately, there are too many question marks for me to be confident of their chances. I'd say about 10th-11th.
.......... And then improve dramatically. Be f**ked if I wanna see the suns in the papers everyday and the titans get the spoon and forgotten about.
