Bulldogs v Titans preview

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Inconsistent 'Dogs face patchy understrength Titans.

How do you explain the blue-and-whites at the moment? Their formline is consistently inconsistent - L W L W L W W so far in 2016 - and they've been beating the big guns like Melbourne, but falling away badly against teams they would've pencilled in wins against, like against the Warriors last weekend. Coach Des Hasler and his players have been at a loss to explain the reasons for such unusual form in the media this week, but are vowing to "put together a string of wins" as the competition hits its straps over the month leading up to Origin. So the only question that really remains is which 'Dogs side is going to stand up here?

The Gold Coast - well, it's much the same. They started with plenty of promise and that promise still seems to be there, but the men in 'aqua and sand' just can't seem to keep it on an even keel. Hampered by injury and suspension all season, the Titans have struggled to field a consistent halves pairing - with Greg Bird, Cameron Cullen, Ashley Taylor and Tyrone Roberts all managing spells in the halves over the first seven weeks of the competition. The latter two have been named for Saturday's clash but Taylor has already been ruled out after suffering a heavy concussion in last week's shock loss to the Dragons at home. Cullen will deputise in yet another halves change for the visitors.

Last meeting: Round 23 2015 - Bulldogs 36 Titans 14

Canterbury won the last meeting between these sides comfortable in Gosford last year as the 'Dogs took a game on the road. Amazingly this is only the third time in fourteen meetings the clubs will play at ANZ Stadium, with the Bulldogs opting to take a range of home games against the Titans to neutral venues including Gosford's Central Coast Stadium and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. Overall the Titans are ahead on the ledger by one - 7 wins to 6 out of the thirteen matches played between the pair since 2007. At ANZ, it's one a-piece.

Who to watch: He hasn't yet made his way back to full fitness but Michael Lichaa is crucial to Canterbury's success in 2016. Suffering an injury in Round 2, his absence saw the 'Dogs struggle around the ruck for several weeks, despite the solid quality of replacement hooker Craig Garvey. Assuming Lichaa takes the field (Garvey has been named on an extended bench as cover), his confidence and ability need to be on-song for the home side to go the distance against the Gold Coast.

The player to watch for the Titans was going to be Ashley Taylor, but he'll need to be content with sitting next to the ANZ Stadium tunnel for this one. Josh Hoffman has had a quiet year thus far for the Titans - after moving down the M1 to much fanfare a couple of seasons back, he hasn't really set the world on fire despite his great potential. If he gets plenty of ball he's fantastic to watch - so it's over to the Gold Coast halves to deliver him just that. Whoever they might be...

The favourite: Despite failing to win a designated home game out of three attempts this year, Canterbury have the backing in this one.

My tip: It's hard to look past the Bulldogs here purely on the fact that the Titans seemed to offer so little against the Dragons last week. And we're going with the whole "the Dogs can't be that bad two weeks in a row" saying. Bulldogs by 4.

1. William Hopoate 2. Curtis Rona 3. Josh Morris 4. Kerrod Holland 5. Sam Perrett 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Moses Mbye 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Michael Lichaa 10. James Graham 11. Josh Jackson 12. Tony Williams 13. Greg Eastwood
Interchange: 14. Sam Kasiano 15. Tim Browne 16. David Klemmer 21. Craig Garvey

1. William Zillman 2. Anthony Don 3. Josh Hoffman 4. Nene Macdonald 5. David Mead 6. Tyrone Roberts 19. Cameron Cullen 8. David Shillington 9. Nathan Friend 10. Ryan James 11. Zeb Taia 12. Chris McQueen 13. Greg Bird
Interchange: 14. Luke Douglas 15. Leivaha Pulu 16. Agnatius Paasi 17. Kierran Moseley

Referees: Ashley Klein, Chris James; Sideline Officials: Ricky MacFarlane, Anthony Elliott; Video Referees: Jason Robinson, Ben Galea, Bernard Sutton;