The Titans spine is ready to strike back with a strong performance against the Dolphins after being held to nil by the Bulldogs in Belmore.
Hooker Sam Verrills is eager to push forward after the unexpected start to the season, acknowledging the boys need to improve in all areas of their gameplay.
"We have to turn it around, there’s no other way around it," he said.
"We need to play good, and we know we haven’t been at our best and it’s been pretty embarrassing if I'm completely honest.
"It’s not going right anywhere at the moment, and we’ve got to be pretty honest with ourselves.
"Our attack hasn’t been good, but our defence has to complement our attack, and our attack has to complement our defence… we're making it really hard on ourselves so we need to get back to playing what suits us.
“We’ve had some honest reviews, and playing footy like our last two games is unacceptable. The reviews have been tough, but it has been exactly what we need."
The Gold Coast spine has been under the watchful eye of fans after a second loss to start the season - especially within the halves - but the 61-game rake has thrown his support behind his teammate Tanah Boyd after a tough outing against Viliame Kikau in the side's most recent clash.
"It’s not just Tanah, it’s the whole team and were not playing the ball fast enough for him... we’ve had our meetings and we’ve addressed it," Verrills said.
“We’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Our errors have been really bad, and we don’t have much possession of the ball. It’s hard to get down to the end of the field and put attacking sets on when you’re not there.
“We need to work on our defence and attack to get points on the board... we’re very confident in the team that we can deliver and get the win on this weekend.”
Match: Titans v Dolphins
Round 4 -
home Team
Titans
17th Position
away Team
Dolphins
5th Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
With the season-ending injury to Titans captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Verrills insists their next-man up mentality and opportunities in his absence will light a fire under the squad against the Dolphins.
"It’s tough when you lose a player like Tino, but it brings another opportunity for one of our players to come in and do a job," he said.
"We actually played good last year without Tino, so hopefully it steps everyone up and steps the game up and puts a lot of ownership on the individuals out there to do their job.
“Footy is a pretty tough sport and it takes 13-men on the field.
"We’re pretty keen to play on Saturday against another rival in the Dolphins and hopefully we get a big crowd out to Cbus on Easter weekend."
