Gold Coast Titans will be without Greg Bird on Saturday at CBUS Super Stadium when they host St George-Illawarra who are at the end of their three week Queensland trip and still looking for points.
LAST TIME OUT
St George-Illawarra Dragons for a second week running failed to trouble the scorers in going down 26-0 against Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. ย They went into the game without Benji Marshall, forcing Josh McCrone to come into the starting line-up. ย Despite holding the hosts out for a large part of the game, Brisbane kicked away with two late tries to finish off the hapless Dragons who had very few opportunities to score.
Gold Coast Titans with debutante five-eighth Cameron Cullen gave premiership heavyweights Cronulla Sharks a run for their money at Southern Cross Group Stadium last Sunday. ย Greg Bird with his late hit on James Maloney shifted the momentum away from Cronulla as they went out to a fourteen point lead. ย The Titans hit the lead just after half time but were unable to hold on with Andrew Fifita and Valentine Holmes crossing to give the Sharks a slender five point win.
KEY BATTLES
Josh Dugan and Will Zillman will both play pivotal roles in determining the result of the game. ย Dugan has been trying so hard over the last fortnight to be involved and make a difference in attack to no avail. ย Zillman is just back from injury and with the inexperience of Ashley Taylor and Cameron Cullen in the halves, the Titans fullback needs to play up in the line in attack and become the third play maker.
On the Titans halves Cullen and Taylor, they did an extremely good job last week matching up against Maloney and Townsend. ย Taylor’s kicking game was superb for the lack of NRL experience. ย Cullen crossed on debut in his first game at the top level but looks like he has the goods to become a valuable player for the Titans. ย A fit Benji Marshall and experienced Gareth Widdop will be a tough challenge for the Titans rookies.
PREDICTION
Since 2005 the Gold Coast Titans have only won on five occasions against St George-Illawarra Dragons. ย One of those wins was in late 2015 at CBUS Super Stadium with the scoreline 28-26. ย The question will be, how long will the Dragons go without scoring points? ย It’s been 162 minutes since Gareth Widdop added the extras to give his side a two point victory over Penrith.
Gold Coast Titans by 14.
SQUADS
Titans: 1 William Zillman, 2 Anthony Don, 3 Josh Hoffman, 4 Nene MacDonald, 5 David Mead, 6 Cameron Cullen, 7 Ashley Taylor, 8 David Shillington, 9 Nathan Friend, 10 Ryan James, 11 John Zebelon Taia, 12 Chris McQueen, 13 Greg Bird. Interchange: 14 Luke Douglas, 15 Leivaha Pulu, 16 Agnatius Paasi, 17 Daniel Mortimer, 18 Eddy Pettybourne
Dragons: 1 Josh Dugan, 2 Kalifa Faifai Loa, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Timoteo Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop, 7 Benji Marshall, 8 Ah Mau, 9 Mitch Rein, 10 Russell Packer, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Joel Thompson, 13 Jack De Belin. Interchange: 14 Michael Cooper, 15 Will Matthews, 16 Dunamis Lui, 17 Siliva Havili, 19 Josh McCrone
