Cowboys v Titans preview

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North Queensland Cowboys v Gold Coast Titans Sunday 4:05pm at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville / Wulgurukaba

Olivia gives her thoughts on the upcoming clash between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Gold Coast Titans.

Both coming off losses, the Cowboys and Titans battle it out in another all-Queensland derby.

The North Queensland Cowboys come out of Round 4 as the losers of the XXXX Derby. After a few, very strong opening games, the Cowboys were 3-0 to start the year; a mixed Scott Drinkwater game, where he made five out of the team's sixteen errors, saw the Cowboys handed their first loss of the season 38-12 at Suncorp Stadium to the Broncos.

For the Gold Coast Titans, it is quite the opposite. After Round 3, the Titans were 0-2 and their loss to the Dolphins 14-30, leaves them 0-3 after four rounds. This could be attributed to many factors, the main being the exclusion of captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui due to a torn ACL. Although the Titans scored 14 out of their 18 points for the season last week, even a 12-man Dolphins' side for 10 minutes couldn't help the Titans point differential, so they will be hard pressed to find their first win this season against the Cowboys.

The exclusions of Phillip Sami and Issac Liu to an ankle injury and failed HIA post-match respectively, make a Titans triumph even more unlikely. Josiah Pahulu has been named on the bench to make his NRL debut, joining new recruit Harley Smith-Shields and Jojo Fifita as the three changes made to last week's squad. Fifita replaces Sami and Smith-Shields replaces Alofiana Khan-Pereira who wasn't named. Jaimin Jolliffe moves to prop to cover Liu and Erin Clark starts at lock as a result. In more positive news for the team, Brian Kelly plays his 150th NRL game and Beau Fermor plays his 50th.

There is also a milestone man for the Cowboys as Jake Granville plays his 200th game for the club off the bench. Otherwise, it is an unchanged 17 from last week.

Last meeting: Round 22 2023 - Titans 22 Cowboys 13

Who to watch: After what was a mediocre game for fullback Scott Drinkwater, he will be wanting to play a big part for his team at home, so he can be the attacking threat we all know he is. With the aforementioned five errors, compared to the week before with three, Scott will want to get his handling under high balls better, but with Tanah Boyd's kicking ability, his skills will likely be satisfactory. We saw aspects of his attack with one try and nine tackle breaks, but to have a strong win, he will have to combine with his spine.

Jeremiah Nanai has been a quiet 2nd rower as of late but has heaps of potential that isn't shining through like it used to despite the Cowboys' dominant wins. He will want to get involved in non-red-zone attack and make more than last week's 41 run metres from 7 runs. Whilst he was big in defence with a 95% tackle efficiency, that does not offset his poor performance when carrying the ball outside of his own half. Nanai should be looking to combine with his outside men in order to put points on this weekend.

Points aren't coming easy this season for the Titans, but with the inclusion of Jayden Campbell, they might just be. According to coach Des Hasler, the team is ‘still growing' - which makes sense given they are one of the youngest teams age wise in the competition - despite this, Campbell's individual performance in his first game of the year will certainly inspire the Titans. He made one line break and four tackle breaks, along with 188 metres which was the second most of the team, only placing behind Phillip Sami.

Also making his first appearance for the season last week after injury is David Fifita, who played 55 minutes off the bench. His performance was mediocre at times, but considering he made 22 tackles with an 85% tackle efficiency and 12 runs for 129 metres in his first game back, it was a solid effort. Fifita will once again line up on the bench and will be looking to play a more prominent role in guiding the Titans in both defence and attack.

Favourite: The Cowboys by the biggest margin of the round.

My tip:  I really do hope the Titans win, but the Cowboys have been too powerful and at home they should be unstoppable. Cowboys by 24.

1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Zac Laybutt 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Tom Dearden 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter 14. Jake Granville 15. Griffin Neame 16. Sam McIntyre 17. Jack Gosiewski 19. Thomas Mikaele

1. Jayden Campbell 2. Harley Smith-Shields 3. Brian Kelly 4. AJ Brimson 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Kieran Foran 7. Tanah Boyd 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Chris Randall 10. Jaimin Jolliffe 15. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 11. Klese Haas 13. Erin Clark 14. Sam Verrills 16. Joe Stimson 17. Josiah Pahulu 19. Tony Francis

Referees: Chris Butler; Sideline Officials: Nick Pelgrave, Tyson Brough; Video Referees: Liam Kennedy;