Forward pack outline season goal to support halves pairing

Whilst there may be no definitive answer yet on who Des Hasler opts to pair together in the halves, the Titans forward pack has vowed to help create time and space for whoever fills the coveted playmaking positions in 2025.

Touted to have one of the best engine rooms in the NRL this season, Gold Coast will line-up near-full strength in the forwards - only missing Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Reagan Campbell-Gillard for their first trial against the Broncos in Toowoomba - allowing for the group to build on their collective focus to win the battle in the middle this season.

A constant advantage fuelling the success of premiership heavyweights Penrith and Melbourne, the consistent go forward is the key Beau Fermor feels will allow playmaking trio AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell and Kieran Foran to flourish and reap the rewards of.

"There’s no secret if your pack is going forward and getting quick play-the-balls, it makes it a lot easier for your halves," he said.

"If your halves are playing off the back foot all the time, there’s not a whole lot they can do.

"I think if you look at the best teams in the comp, their forward pack are the ones dominating.

"As a forward pack, that’s something we need to take ownership of… getting our team on the front foot and getting good play-the-ball speed so we can get guys like JC, AJ and Foz and our outside backs time and speed to do what they can do."

A selection headache looms for Hasler, who has many spine options up his sleeve to consider ahead of the season opener in Round 2.

Going with Brimson and Foran for this Sunday's showdown whilst Jayden Campbell follows in his father's footsteps and represents the Indigenous All Stars for the first time, the Maroons prospect believes training with countless combinations has only been positive for the squad given the unpredictable nature of the rugby league season.

"It has chopped and changed a bit this pre-season and we’ve been building combinations with a lot of people," Fermor said.

"As you know through the year, you play with all different types of people with injuries, Origin and all that type of stuff and I’ve done a lot of work with a number of different halves this year.

"We’ll see who stands out in the trials and we’ll go from there."