Burning desire: Lenihan vows 2023 finish will be no slouch
Jim Lenihan has declared 2023 is no write off for his Gold Coast side as they prepare to travel south to face the Raiders on Saturday afternoon in Canberra.
Leading the team to a gutsy 18-12 victory against the Broncos at the helm of his first game since taking the interim coaching role following the departure of Justin Holbrook, the two-time Queensland Cup title-wining mentor is hoping to make it two from two in the nation's capital in a bid to continue the charge to a finals footy appearance.
But Lenihan is reluctant to focus too much on the number of wins needed in the 10-game stretch ahead, instead taking a game-by-game approach with the expectation not necessarily on the result, but rather on the performance.
"We certainly have a burning desire to keep playing good football, but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves and start talking about finals footy," he said.
"When we go to training each day, we've got a purpose of what we're trying to achieve and perform on the weekend, and then if that performance leads to a win, well that's great.
"Win, lose or draw; we're not marking ourselves on the outcome of a game, we're making ourselves on the performance up to and during the game itself.
"I think that's the important thing for the group at the moment... we're a team that is getting judged on our effort, not so much on our skill or what else each player can bring to the team other than just how much each player willing to fight for everyone else around them.
"That's what we're basing it on at the moment."
Match: Raiders v Titans
Round 18 -
home Team
Raiders
5th Position
away Team
Titans
11th Position
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Welcoming back Tino Fa'asuamaleaui who was rested from last week's win against Brisbane, the interim coach knows how important the skipper's inclusion is for this weekend's clash, and for the back-end of the season without any more byes.
"It was a risk last week not playing him, but he certainly needs the rest... he's going to have a big campaign, not just going into the next State of Origin, but for the rest of the year," Lenihan said.
"I think we've got 10 games straight now, so we need all our big guns firing, that's for sure
"We'll just keep taking it one week at a time like last week, so we'll work to this weekend and then we'll work forward to then."
Expecting a tough hit-out against the green machines given their stars right across the field, there will be one familiar face in the opposition line-up.. a man the Titans and Lenihan knows well given his premiership success with the Titans mentor during his time with the Burleigh Bears.
"We're not talking about [Jamal Fogarty's] name at the moment," he joked.
"But no, he's certainly going very well down there. We've had a great working relationship in footy and he's a great mate.
"This weekend, the Raiders are a really tough, gritty team who find a way to win and generally in hard circumstances.
"Playing at GIO Stadium, it's going to be a really big ask for us to get down to Canberra and put in a good performance against a side who's really battle-hardened at the moment."
