Trouble at the Gold Coast

The Gold Coast Titans are sitting on the very bottom of the NRL ladder with three losses, including one thrashing and one match they should have won by 20 points according to the statistics. Their Under 20’s side is also propping up that table following three beltings. So what the heck has gone wrong at one of the new age ‘glamour’ clubs?

Dad’s Army

I’m only going to focus on the NRL side and remind you at the start of the year I tipped the Titans to run 13th – I can’t see them playing Finals Football this season.

I agreed with what many people are now saying ... the Titans are an ageing team that’s not getting better.

And when you have an ageing team not getting better ... there’s only one way to go.

Peter Sterling mentioned on Triple M Monday Night Football (a very good show by the way), the Titans have a mix of veterans and kids. However there’s not really anyone between the ages of 24-28 who are hitting their peak form. They don’t have a Chris Lawrence, David Shillington, Matt Scott or a Cooper Cronk in the side.

I believe there would also be a feeling of missed opportunity at the club. They have buckled under the pressure of Finals Football – the Titans have failed each year and haven’t won the big September games when they had a team who could have won the whole thing. I don’t know why it happened, but past scoreboards don’t lie.

For this current squad their time might have now passed and as a result, they’ve now been surpassed it seems by at least half the sides in the 2011 competition.

Scott Prince

I’m in the minority, but I don’t think Scott Prince had a great season last year. He will always be solid and do some good things because he’s a quality player. But when the whole show runs through one guy ... when he’s down, the whole show is off too. That creates major problems.

Prince, for mine, hasn’t been the same player since missing Australian selection for an ANZAC Test two years ago. He was the form halfback for the opening eight weeks that year – there was absolutely no question about it. However Jonathan Thurston was the incumbent and a proven match-winner across all forms of the game. While JT and his Cowboys were down a bit, Thurston wasn’t playing so badly that the axe hovered. However had he been overlooked for Prince, that would have been justified and few arguments would have been made of it.

Since missing out then, Prince has been down. As an outsider looking in it appeared he was shattered almost to the point of finding it impossible to crack into that next level. We see it all the time; look at Brad Hodge in the cricket. Sometimes no matter how good you are or how well you play, there’s someone in front of you and the player becomes a victim of their era.

Prince has since wavered, or been over-taken, to the point where now he’s Queensland’s clear third choice halfback behind Thurston and Cronk. Along with those guys he’s also got Mitchell Pearce in front of him at Test level.

Prince is still the Titans main man and without a foil since Mat Rogers retired, Prince will have to lift his game to help the Gold Coast succeed this year – I don’t know how he’ll do it, but look forward to watching him try.

Solution?

I’m not ready to put the bullet through any team but as I’ve said, I don’t think they will make the Finals this year. I don’t think the Titans have one of the top eight (fully fit) squads in the competition.

But one thing we do know is in the regular 26 round competition, the Titans are a team of winners. They will however have to change their game to remain that way in season 2011.

Tipping
Tips – Souths, Brisbane, Canberra, Parramatta, Warriors, Dragons, Roosters, Storm
Last Week – 3/8
Total – 9/24 (38%)

Thanks for reading again, if you have anything to say or Titans fans want to blast me I’m on Twitter (@keyto316), email (andrew.keyte@gmail.com) or comment below.

Good luck,
Keyto