Copley out to flip Bird
TITANS centre Dale Copley says he is relishing the chance to go head to head with Cronulla’s State of Origin representative Jack Bird on Saturday as the Gold Coast try to keep their season alive with an upset of the premiers.
Copley and William Zillman will reunite on the left side for the Titans in a partnership that is starting to bear fruit with the pair now playing together for more than a month.
And while Copley knows he faces a big challenge at Cbus Super Stadium, he is looking forward to it.
“(Bird) is obviously a State of Origin player and a really emerging star in our game,” Copley said.
“He presents a lot of challenges because of his unpredictability, I guess, so it’s going to be a good one for myself and I’m looking forward to it.
“That’s what you want to
do, you want to test yourself against the best and he’s certainly one of them, so it should be good.”
Copley joined the Titans after the start of the season following injuries to several players and like many players, has struggled to form a consistent combination given the regular changes to the team.
“Obviously this year’s been pretty chaotic for the Titans before I got here and even after I got here. It’s been pretty unprecedented, I haven’t seen anything like it,” he said of the injury run.
“We’ve managed to play a couple of weeks together now so I think with every week that goes by we’re getting better and more comfortable and those combinations are definitely building.
“Unfortunately it couldn’t happen earlier but we’re really excited by the progress we’ve made in the last couple of weeks and hopefully that keeps continuing.”
Despite a couple of frustrating seasons battling injury and switching clubs, Copley said his move to the Gold Coast had been everything he hoped for and he was confident his best football was yet to come.
“It’s been good to play first grade here and given an opportunity to play first grade every week,” he said.
“It’s been a great move and one I’m really glad I made. I’m pretty confident with where I’m at and happy with where my career’s going.”
The Titans beat the Sharks early in the year to show their potential and Copley said there was a genuine belief they could make a late run to the finals if they could stay injury free.