Preview: Gold Coast Titans vs Canterbury Bulldogs

All eyes will be on the Titans and Jarryd Hayne on Saturday, as the rugby league world watches eagerly to see how the Titans react to coach Neil Henry’s sacking on Monday.

Last Time Out

The Titans showed a bit more effort compared to their performances in recent weeks, however they were still unable to stop the red hot Eels from claiming a dominant 30-8 victory. Hayne missed the game through injury, while young centre John Olive left the field in the early stages of the game with a gruesome elbow injury. The sides reshuffle saw Tyrone Roberts at fullback and Kane Elgey at five-eight, which resulted in the Titans attack looking clunky.

The Bulldogs claimed a shock victory in a season of disappointment, as they upset Manly 30-16 last Sunday afternoon. Des Hasler’s late team changes paid dividends, with Moses Mbye playing well at halfback and Michael Lichaa returning to hooker. Will Hopoate had a starring role for the Bulldogs, setting up 3 tries with smart cut-out passes on the right edge.

Key Battle

He has copped an absolute hiding from the media in the past few weeks, so Titans fullback Jarryd Hayne must know that the only way to stop all of the negative headlines is to put in a starring performance. Hayne’s relationship with Henry has been highlighted as the major reason for the coaches sacking, and it is now time for Hayne to prove that it was the coach who was holding him back.

Coming up against him is Will Hopoate, who put in a season-best performance against Manly last week. The Bulldogs fullback has had a quiet season, but he showed last week that he has the ball skills and vision to pick opposition defences apart.

Prediction

Both teams have endured seasons from hell, and will be looking to restore some pride and passion in the final 2 rounds of the season. How a team plays after having their coach sacked is always unpredictable, giving the Bulldogs the slight upper-hand in this one.

Bulldogs by 4