Coaches Last Words: Titans focused ahead of Panthers
Gold Coast Titans Head Coach Justin Holbrook said he was focused on his own team's performance rather the dangers presented by a Panthers side that can regain top spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder with a win on Sunday.
"They're playing really well, they're completing really high and they've got some dangerous strike players," he said of Penrith.
"We've got to play better ourselves. We competed well for 25/30 minutes last week and then got overpowered making too many errors against the Storm. We've got to play the full 80 minutes tomorrow and I'm confident if we do that we can get the win.
"They're a side that don't beat themselves, they play pretty simple really and they've got some strike individual players that they rely on. So it's up to us to make sure we're well aware of that."
The Titans are buoyed by the return of experienced duo Dale Copley and Kevin Proctor. Their returns come on the back of Brian Kelly and Phillip Sami rejoining the side last week against the Storm and have the Titans ret
"It is [a big challenge] but it's great for us. KP's played for a long time and to have him and Dale Copley back – I thought we missed a few senior players last week and that was the difference," Holbrook said on Saturday.
"To get those guys back, yeah we've got a big job to do to deal with Kikau and Crichton on their left edge, but Kevin's full of experience and he's always been a great defender so I'm confident we'll be OK there."
The home match against the Panthers has been dubbed 'Sunday Family Fun Day' by the Titans, with a focus on families attending what will be just their third home match with fans since the resumption of the season in round three.
"I think it's great," Holbrook said. "The players have done a great job while there were cardboard cutouts and no fans allowed, but to now [have fans] be able to come to the games – I think it was great at our last outing against the Warriors to storm home and get a win at our home ground so it'd be great to play well again there tomorrow and get a win over the Panthers."
