2016 NRL Preview - Gold Coast Titans

Coming off a season where the Gold Coast Titans narrowly avoided the wooden spoon and lost key personnel to other clubs, there were some positives which had fans looking forward to 2016.

Most notably was the club re-signing Kane Elgey and James Roberts, arguably their two most talented young players. The forging of Roberts' contract and his departure for their south-east Queensland big brother, the Brisbane Broncos, just two days before Christmas brought an abrupt end to that positive.

The spirits of the fan base and the organisation took another blow when Kane Elgey ruptured his ACL in the first training session of 2016.
What has been a move fans should provide a thumbs up for is the acquisition of Chris McQueen.

A quality player in any NRL side, McQueen will need to be a leader of the Titans a pack for it to compete against the many teams which are bigger and stronger than the Gold Coast. With home games against the Newcastle Knights and Wests Tigers in rounds 1 and 3, these are must win matches for the Titans to keep the fan base engaged.

WHY THEY'LL WIN IT

There's not much point focusing on why or how the Gold Coast could win a grand final this season. For a team going through a rocky offseason and preseason, the fan base should declare the Titans of having a winning season if they can win more games than they lose at home and stay within a competitive shot of the eight.

WHY THEY WON'T

After a season where the Titans finished 14th, there's been major player turnover where the talent and the quantity of players in the losses list is far greater than in the gains. For all the positive work Neil Henry is trying to provide the Titans, winning the lotto would have similar odds for the Gold Coast to win the premiership this season.

KEY PLAYERS

Tyrone Roberts
He'd always been the secondary playmaker at the Newcastle Knights. Roberts got plenty of chances to be the lead half when Jarrod Mullen was fighting injuries, however the Knights poor results in recent times show the task has been too much for him to handle. With the Titans missing Elgey for the season, Roberts must strongly lead Ashely Taylor and the Titans on most nights.

Chris McQueen
The Gold Coast became a beneficiary of the South Sydney Rabbitohs big deal for Sam Burgess, as it forced McQueen's departure for salary cap purposes. As a 28 year old and Queensland Maroons representative, his experience will be critical to creating a stronger forward pack.

ROOKIE TO WATCH

Ashley Taylor
The halfback is only 20 years of age and to date he's represented the junior Kangaroos, the Queensland U20s, the Brisbane Broncos and was selected as part of the 2015 NYC team of the year. Being one of the lone good news stories leading into this season, Taylor will have immense pressure to be a quality player from round one.

PLAYER MOVEMENT IN
Chris McQueen (Rabbitohs)
Tyrone Roberts (Knights)
Nathan Friend (Warriors)
David Shillington, Jeff Lynch (Raiders)
Ash Taylor (Broncos)
Zeb Taia (ESL - Catalans)
Leivaha Pulu (Wyong - NSW Cup)
Cameron Cullen (QRL ISC - Burleigh)

PLAYER MOVEMENT OUT
James Roberts (Broncos)
Aidan Sezer (Raiders)
Nate Myles (Sea Eagles)
Dave Taylor (ESL - Catalan)
Beau Falloon (ESL - Rhinos)
Kalifa Faifai Loa (Dragons)
Mark Ioane (UK - London)
Matt White (Storm)
Shaun Hudson (Cowboys)
Brad Tighe, Ben Ridge, Kevin Gordon (Retirement)
Chad Redman, Jamie Dowling, Caleb Binge (QRL ISC)

BEST 17
1. Josh Hoffman
2. Anthony Don
3. William Zillman
4. Nene McDonald
5. David Mead
6. Tyrone Roberts
7. Ashley Taylor
8. Luke Douglas
9. Nathan Friend
10. David Shillington
11. Ryan James
12. Chris McQueen
13. Greg Bird

14. Kieran Moseley
15. Zeb Taia
16. Agnatius Paasi
17. Eddie Pettybourne