Titans out to bury memories of 2009 flop - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Titans out to bury memories of 2009 flop

By Ian McCullough 27/08/2010 04:20:55 PM Comments (0)

Gold Coast skipper Scott Prince says the Titans' 2009 finals flop has made them all the more determined to secure a top-two finish this season.

After finishing fourth and securing a first-ever finals appearance last year, the Titans were beaten 40-32 by Brisbane in a thrilling clash at Skilled Park, before succumbing meekly 27-2 to Parramatta at the Sydney Football Stadium a week later.

Victory over lowly Cronulla on Saturday will give the Titans a club record sixth successive win and consolidate second spot on the ladder before facing third-placed Wests Tigers in the final round of the season.

Prince, who won a premiership in 2005 with the Tigers, says his side is wiser 12 months on and happy to keep being written off.

"It doesn't bother me at all not being rated, we weren't given a chance at the start of the season, what concerns me is between the four walls in the dressing room," Prince said.

"We've got a confidence and self-belief at the moment and we just don't want to lose it.

"We learnt a lot last year in terms of how we finished the regular season. It's all about momentum and we have got that now and we don't want to lose it."

Titans coach John Cartwright is more than happy with the way his side have performed over the last month, and credited the roles played by veteran back Clinton Toopi and former Brisbane centre Steve Michaels.

Former New Zealand international Toopi, who was talked out of retiring to join the Titans at the start of the season by Kiwi teammate Benji Marshall, scored twice in the Titans' win over the Sydney Roosters on Monday.

Michaels, who was offloaded by the Broncos in May following an injury-plagued two years, has been outstanding since moving south, scoring four tries in just six games.

"Steve Michaels has been great for us and getting better with each game," Cartwright said.

"We hoped with Clinton that we had a bit of a smoky there and so it has proved, those two have been tremendous over the last five weeks."

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news