Kieran Foran has vowed the Titans will be doing everything they can to kickstart the season in the best possible way against the Dragons at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday night.
After months of blood, sweat and tears during one of the most demanding pre-seasons in club history under new mentor Des Hasler, the 282-game playmaker knows it's now up to his squad to bear the fruits of their hard work over the summer in order to get their year off to a winning start - something the playing group will accept nothing less of in their quest to challenge the competition favourites for the club's maiden premiership.
"We want to put in a really good performance," Foran said.
"We’ll be going out there and doing absolutely everything to start the season off with a win and that’s the expectation that we’ll be putting on ourselves internally.
"We’ve done the work. We’ve had a great pre-season. We’ve put in the reps and now it’s a matter of going out there and delivering.
"That’s the expectation that’s on us this weekend."
Match: Titans v Dragons
Round 1 -
home Team
Titans
16th Position
away Team
Dragons
2nd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
In what will be a memorable night for several Titans - most notably AJ Brimson who plays his 100th NRL match, Isaac Liu making his 250th appearance Brian Kelly reaching a century of games for the Gold Coast - it will also be a special occasion for Foran's first coach Hasler, who will commence his 19th season coaching in the NRL when the pair link up again after five years together previously at the Sea Eagles.
"Des has just got a wonderful ability to get players up for footy games and I’m really excited to see the way we prepare this week and the excitement around the boys heading into this game," he said.
"They’re really excited to have Dessie’s approach heading into this week and to see what it’s like.
"He’s very passionate and wants to see this club do well. It’ll be very important for him for us to start off really well this weekend.
"There’s no excuses and no reason why we shouldn’t go out there and put on a really good performance.
"We’ve just got to not get overawed by the occasion and just back what we’ve done over the last four and a half months.
"I’ve got great confidence and belief in where we’re heading this year and it’s just a matter of backing ourselves."
The experienced playmaker is urging his side to be ready for a tough challenge in this weekend's opener with their first task against the Red V set to be no easy feat after an impressive display in their most recent trial.
"They’ll be good… judging by their trial, I thought they looked physically in really good shape and across the board, they looked physically fit and strong," he said.
"They looked like they competed really hard in every play. They’re a side with big outside backs and they’ve got strong carriers across the park.
"They’ve got a really crafty spine, none other than Ben Hunt who gets them around the field really well.
"They’re a dangerous footy team and we’ve got to make sure we’re performing at our best to beat them."
