Sharp start set to help Cowboys takedown

Brian Kelly knows the key to the Titans' success is the opening half.

Giving teams too much of a head-start before coming home strong with a resurgent final 40 minutes has been all too common for the Gold Coast in the opening six weeks, but the situation is not all doom and gloom.

There has been plenty of confidence taken from knowing the side can pip the top teams in the second half and should a complete 80-minute performance be put together, the success is likely to come.

"It's sort of a bit of a habit at the moment, playing two halves and not starting off as sharp as we want," Kelly said.

"We've just got to start the way we finished the game and put ourselves in a winning position.

"We don't have to worry about our attack. We just have to stick to our game plan and back our defence, but we haven't shown that for the full 80 yet."

Training on Tuesday with the no-contact bib on, the 113-game back was a little batted and bruised from the contest against his former club, but has given the thumbs up to being right to play this weekend.

"I just have a few little niggles from the game. Just a little tweak to my knee, but it's a long week, so I'll see how I go over the next couple of days and just take it day by day, but it shouldn't be too bad," Kelly said.

The same goes for his outside partner Phil Sami, who left the field in the 70th minute clutching his shoulder, but he is also expected to play with a solid week of recovery.

"Phil's in the wars at the moment... he's just got a few niggles and that. I think he was sort of similar to me with a bit of a sore knee and shoulder," Kelly said.

"Depending on how his week goes on, we'll see if he's likely or not likely to be in the team."

An important clash against the Cowboys for a plethora of reasons - a must-win Queensland derby on ANZAC Round - the strike centre knows the North Queenslanders will be no easy beats after a commendable start to their 2022 campaign.

"They've been playing pretty good footy. They've been competing for the full 80," Kelly said.

"I think last week against our Raiders, they just kept staying in there with them and then at the end, they came out on top.

"We need to perform the way we want here training and then put onto the field."

Starting well will go a long way to coming home with the two competition points.

"At the moment we've just been chasing so if we start the first 20 well and just build from there, we should be right," Kelly said.