Tanah Boyd knows the Titans' number one threat they need to minimise up against the Dragons is his opposite number.
A player he idolised growing up alongside his current halves partner Kieran Foran, Ben Hunt is the man who has the keys to the Red V, as the Gold Coast are fully aware of firsthand after the International star single-handedly won last year's Round 21 showdown against them in the final 20 minutes despite only having 12 men.
Coming into the contest fresh after drawing the bye in Round 1, the Titans No. 7 knows targeting and shutting down the experienced playmaker will go along way to securing back-to-back wins away from home to start the season.
Match: Dragons v Titans
Round 2 -
home Team
Dragons
4th Position
away Team
Titans
8th Position
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
"It's a weird one that they had the bye to start, so we don't get to watch footage on them. That's going to be different, but they are a classy team," Boyd said.
"Any team with Ben Hunt in it is going to be good and he's the main key for us.
"He was [at the Broncos] early on when I was there and he's always been good to me. He's a pretty good fella and I kind of always idolised him as well.
"He's a great player, so if we can shut him down and then a couple of other players, I think we'll be right."
Relishing the challenge against his former mentor, another key half who has helped Boyd grow in confidence is Foran, who has added a real heir of confidence to the 23-year-old's game since coming to the Coast.
"He's been massive for me... just little things in the game and he even helps with my mindset," he said.
"He's done so much in our game and I've been pretty vocal about it that I've idolised him growing up. He's been so good for me in all areas of the game and outside of footy as well.
"We're pretty close outside... we do a lot of things together, and the two girls (the boys' partners) get along pretty good as well, so that always helps and we've just got to keep that connection going."
'I just want to evolve and get better': Boyd
Another bond he's more than happy to continue is the one with his high-school buddy David Fifita, who inked a three-year contract extension with the Titans through the week to remain on the Coast until the end of 2026.
The highly-anticipated decision to stay has given the entire squad an added boost with the playing group elated for the skilful Origin and International edge forward.
"I was stoked. I messaged him straightaway and all the boys were so happy... it's so good to have him stay," Boyd said.
"We didn't worry about [his pending decision] too much, but you can definitely see in Davey's mindset now and how he's going about it. He's flipped the switch a bit and we saw that on the weekend... he was unreal.
"It's good for us. If he's going well, we're going well I think and I just can't wait for him to keep getting better and playing good footy."
