'We love playing here': Murphy relishing home advantage in must-win GF rematch quest
Karyn Murphy has called on the Gold Coast community to rally behind their team as they seek revenge against the Knights in Saturday's grand final rematch at Cbus Super Stadium.
Having not faced Newcastle since that heart-breaking loss in the decider last season, there's expected to be no love for the defending premiers who have to face the Titans at their fortress, which has become a stronghold with the home side winning four of their last five games and six of their nine games at the Robina venue.
"We love playing here and we make it known that we want to play our best footy here," Murphy said.
"To get our family and our friends and the support here, it just really lifts all the girls and we want it to be a place where we make it hard for any team to come here and get two points off us.
"We have a really good record here, so I'm looking forward to the Knights coming up to our territory and having a really good game here."
The strong local crowd with be a much-needed boost for Gold Coast who are in the midst of an injury crisis - now a third of the 24-player squad ruled out for the remainder of the season after losing Lauren Brown, Niall Williams-Guthrie and Matekino Gray against the Eels.
Match: Titans v Knights
Round 8 -
home Team
Titans
7th Position
away Team
Knights
4th Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
But despite this, the Titans coach has full faith in the department of youth coming in to fill key roles - alongside the welcomed return of Jaime Chapman (injury) and Taliah Fuimaono (suspension) for this weekend's must-win clash.
"It's been one of those years where we've been cursed with injuries and picking up another three season-ending injuries in the one game last week is definitely tough," Murphy said.
"With that though, there's definitely an opportunity for some other players to step up with some young girls getting an opportunity.
"You saw Sarina [Masaga] last week, I thought she had a really good game for us and Lailani [Montgomery] comes back into the halves this week.
"It's a good opportunity for our younger players and our squad in general.
"We've still got some good experience in our team, so we're still confident with the squad we've got that we can go out there and get the job done."
Murphy has refused to give up and has full belief of defying the odds to make consecutive finals appearances, backing in her young squad to win both their remaining games and hope other results go in their favour.
"For the girls that are available to play, our goal hasn't changed. We are still going for the premiership," she said.
"The first step is to get the win this week and then anything can happen in the last round.
"We've got a big job ahead of us against the Knights who are in similar position to us fighting for that final four, so weknow how important it is.
"To get the girls up isn't hard, they've got plenty to play for."
