Titans coach Garth Brennan has held his final press conference ahead of tomorrow’s match against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Cbus Super Stadium.
1. Team changes
Brennan admitted there would be a couple of changes for tomorrow’s fixture.
“Shannon Boyd won’t play,” Brennan said. “He’s failed the concussion test and won’t be in the 17. Jai Whitbread will come into the 17.”
The other major change is the absence of veteran Michael Gordon with a leg injury, which has seen AJ Brimson move back to fullback.
“It’s exciting,” Brennan said. “It’s always a case of when, not if with AJ to get himself into the side whether it be in halves or at fullback, and as it turns out with the injury to Michael Gordon, he’s able to slot in at fullback. It’ll be good to have him out there for the 80 minutes.”
2. Titans need to own the ‘moments’
“I don’t think it was overly harsh (the comments in last week’s press conference),” he said. “I know I used the word ‘dumb’, but that was in relation to moments within the game where we could have taken better options.
“All the boys know we need to be better and learn how to handle different moments. Overall, we’re not a dumb football team. We just need to keep working hard and nail an 80-minute performance.”
3. Working towards an 80-minute performance
“Their work-ethic has been fantastic all year,” Brennan said. “I can’t fault how hard they work at training. I see how much effort they’re putting in. It just doesn’t translate into the game.
“Stringing that 80-minute performance together is important, and that’s what the good sides do.”
4. The return of Tyrone Roberts
“It helps (Roberts’ inclusion). It helps when you’ve got an experienced halfback out there,” Brennan said. “Having experienced players in key positions helps – when you’ve got your experienced players calling the shots, controlling the kicks, last plays and things like that.
“It helps having Tyrone back, and I know Ash (Taylor) will enjoy having someone of his experience back and educating him through that. There are momentum swings during a match, and how you react to that is key.”
5. The experience in the Bulldogs team
“(Dylan Napa is) a quality player, they’ve got some quality in their team,” Brennan said. “Josh Jackson is an Origin player and a fantastic competitor.
“We’ve spoken about Napa and (Aiden)Tolman, he’s played finals for Melbourne. They’ve got Kieran Foran, who’s a fantastic player and we saw what a difference he makes to that football team last week.”
Come and show your support for your team, the Gold Coast Titans, tomorrow at Cbus Super Stadium. With a family-friendly kick-off of 3pm, it’s the perfect time to come along and enjoy a fun day out and support your team. Click here to purchase your tickets.
