Round 23: Titans v Sharks preview
Sharks Send Makeshift Spine to Steal Two Points From Resurgent Titans
When the Sharks "hosted" the Titans in Coffs Harbour a little over a month ago, they were in the midst of a mid-year form slump that was exacerbated when the men from the Coast caused an upset to consign them to their fifth loss in six games.
Since then, the Sharks have benefitted from a slight positive regression back to the mean, winning two out of their last three games despite star halfback Nicho Hynes going down with a medium-term injury. While the results have been a welcome change, nothing about their performances have shown that they are capable of going any further than their recent finals exits of weeks 1 and 2 respectively. With a run home against teams who will all likely be vying for the finals, their standards will need to lift if they are to remain inside the top 4.
That run home starts this week against a Titans side who, after an extremely slow start to the year, have gone 8-5 in their last 13 games and are currently on a two-match win streak against Queensland rivals the Dolphins and Broncos. What will have Gold Coast fans daring to dream of an unlikely finals berth is the fact that Des Hasler has managed to marry up the Titans flamboyant attack of seasons passed with a newfound defensive resolve; they have conceded more than 18 points just once since Round 15.
The Sharks task will be made even harder by the fact that Braydon Trindall, who has been their best player lately and arguably was even before the Hynes injury, will be missing due to a minor hamstring complaint. Coach Fitzgibbon has decided to fill the void with a reshuffle rather than a like for like replacement, with Blayke Brailey moving from hooker to halfback and Cam McInnes from lock to hooker, mirroring the spine that beat the Storm in Melbourne for the Sharks best win of the year to date.
For the Titans, Erin Clark starts at prop, pushing Jaimin Jolliffe to the bench, while Beau Fermor is out with a bruised kidney and is replaced in the back row by Klese Haas, who's bench spot is covered by Keenan Palasia.
Last meeting: Round 18 2024 - Sharks 16 Titans 20
Who to watch: He's been threatening to do so for a while now, but last week Gold Coast fullback Keano Kini finally exploded for a try double to go with his usual video game-like stat line of 24 runs for 202 metres, a line break, line break assist, two try assists, five tackle breaks and an offload as well as five tackles made without a miss. The Titans have long had big raps on Kini and he has been repaying the faith in spades ever since taking over the fullback role for Brimson, who was initially out due to injury but has since fallen behind in the pecking order, which is a good problem for the Titans to have. The Sharks have had some trouble containing similarly electric fullbacks Scott Drinkwater and Jye Gray in their last two matches, so look for Kini to cause some more headaches for Cronulla's defence.
For the Sharks, it will be interesting to see how Cam McInnes goes at hooker having had a full week to prepare for the more involved position. McInnes spent a good chunk of his St George Illawarra Dragons career wearing the number nine before making the permanent switch to lock forward upon his arrival at the Sharks in 2022. His one appearance at hooker for the Sharks this season came due to a Hynes being a late withdrawal against the Storm in Melbourne, and the direction McInnes was able to provide through the middle of the field in that game was a huge reason the Sharks were able to cause the upset.
FAVOURITE: The Titans are 4.5-point favourites at the time of writing.
MY TIP: Cronulla should be up for the fight, but I don't think they'll have enough points in them to beat a Titans side that has been on a roll of late. Titans by 12.
