FIGHT CLUB

McQueen reveals Titans’ pact spurring battle for finals

@EmmaGreenwood12 A VOW made in the shadows of their worst loss of the season has led to arguably the best win in club history as the Titans’ comeback miracle against Melbourne showed the Gold Coast NRL outfit are genuine top-eight contenders.

In the moments after the most devastating loss of 2017 to date, Titans players made a decision not to simply write off the year and let their finals chances slip away but to fight for the right to reclaim their season.

While the return of players from injury has also helped their cause, senior forward Chris McQueen says the Titans’ turning point came after their 42-16 home loss to Canberra last month.

Drowning under injury pressure and with several players early in their careers taking the field, an embarrassed playing group vowed every man that took the field would do a job regardless of their level of experience. McQueen had been a bystander that night, forced to miss the game with a back injury.

But he said the players’ vow to each other had sparked the recent run of wins that has put the club firmly back in the case for a top-eight spot.

“We had a lot of players out that game – myself, Peatsy (Nathan Peats), Kevin Proctor – we were all out and we had a talk about letting our season slip away or starting to dig deep,” McQueen said.

“As a playing group we talked about (everyone doing their bit). It’s easy when you’re a young guy to come into the team and think: ‘I just need to go out there and play footy. I’m young and I’m new, there’s no pressure on’.

“We addressed that and said that everyone has to do their job.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 28, if you’re out on the field, you have to do the job.

“And since then we’ve had three really good games.” so ...

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