2019 Preview: Gold Coast Titans

A year on from taking over the reigns on the glitter strip, Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan will be looking for further improvement from his side after bringing in several representative players in an effort to amend the shortcomings that plagued the Titans throughout 2018.

Unable to find consistency during the home-and-away season, the Titans thrived in matches that played to their attacking strengths with all eight of their wins featuring a minimum of five tries, yet against opponents that placed defence at the forefront, the NRL's most recent franchise routinely came up short to finish the year ahead of only Parramatta and Manly in 14th position.

Taking a proactive approach towards returning to the finals for the first time since 2016, there is sure to be plenty of competition in the halves with Melbourne back-up Ryley Jacks and former Titan Tyrone Roberts joining the fray, while representative pair Shannon Boyd and Tyrone Peachey will have high hopes about moving to the sunshine state in an effort to consolidate their standing as starting players.

Kicking off proceedings as they did last year with a Sunday night clash opposite the Raiders at Cbus Super Stadium, the deck would appear to be stacked over the opening month with a horror away run against incumbent top eight finalists Cronulla, South Sydney and New Zealand. Set to have their depth tested during the representative period with a number of players in contention for both states, the Titans will need to be at their best on the road in order to qualify for the play-offs having been scheduled just two home matches over the final six rounds.

Why They'll Win It

For all the issues present throughout the Titans' ranks, the squad assembled by Garth Brennan boasts a number of seasoned campaigners with proven track records, along with a promising group of young players destined for higher honours.

With healthy competition among the outside backs to the extent that veteran fullback Michael Gordon looks set for a stint in reserve grade, the best possible Gold Coast roster has the potential to challenge for the play-offs, but whether the side can remain injury-free and win matches based on defence will have a large say in where they stand at the end of 25 home-and-away rounds.

Why They Won't

In the three separate years the Titans qualified for the finals previously, a fundamental aspect of their success was the ability to close out tight, defence-oriented matches. Winning an average of six matches by less than a converted try when finishing in the top eight, including several decided in the final moments of regular time and into golden point, recent history paints a bleak portrait of the side in low-scoring affairs, highlighted by four occasions in 2018 where top eight finalists finished ahead of them by two points or less.

Capable of getting the best of opponents with free-flowing attacking football, rival teams are fully aware of the Titans' ability to post points, but whether they can pull off single-digit victories remains a sticking point in their aspirations to be taken seriously as premiership threats.

2019 Draw

Key Player - Tyrone Peachey

Having established a reputation as the best versatile player in the game today, Tyrone Peachey will be out to establish a permanent position at his new club. Moving between the forward pack, halves, centres and even fullback during his five year stint at Penrith, the 27-year-old Indigenous representative shapes as a pivotal figure in Garth Brennan's plans to turn the Titans into a competitive force. Most likely to start in the centres having enjoyed his best football in the position previously, the highly coveted recruit is sure to have opponents on high alert due to his match winning skillset and uncanny ability to find the line where lesser players would fall short.

Rookie to watch - Jesse Arthars

With competition for backline spots set to see a number of last season's regular first graders relegated to second-tier duties, 20-year-old recruit Jesse Arthars looms as a genuine chance to take the place of more experienced players. Born in New Zealand before shifting to the Gold Coast in his youth, the former Melbourne and South Sydney lower grader boasts the ability to cover multiple positions in the outside backs along with kicking goals to boot. Given the chance to back himself on a twelve month deal after plying away with North Sydney in the Intrust Super Premiership last year, look for Arthars to come into contention for a debut at some stage in 2019.

Player Movements

Gains: Ryley Jacks (Storm), Jesse Arthars (Rabbitohs), Tyrone Peachey (Panthers), Shannon Boyd (Raiders), Brian Kelly (Titans), Tyrone Roberts (Warrington).

Losses: Kane Elgey, Brendan Elliot (Sea Eagles), Konrad Hurrell (Leeds), Ryan Simpkins (retired)

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