James’ job to avoid whistle
TITANS coach Neil Henry has challenged firebrand forward Ryan James to be more disciplined as the Gold Coast seek every advantage in their push towards the finals.
James enters Round 24 as the most penalised player in the NRL and while Henry will cop the occasional whistle for a mistimed tackle, he wants all his players to eradicate sloppy errors that could cost the Gold Coast crucial competition points.
The Titans must win their match against cellar dwellers Newcastle today to keep their place in the top eight. Henry said they could not afford to give away cheap penalties.
James escaped a one-match ban for his careless high tackle on Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco this week – an action Henry did not criticise, recognising it was an accidental hit on a falling player.
But if the front-rower concedes preventable penalties, he is likely to get stern words from the coach.
“He knows he needs to have a bit more discipline about what he does,’’ Henry said.
“He gets a few attributed to him, too, because if there’s two or three offside it tends to be Ryan James that gets called out. But his name’s getting called out for a reason, so he needs to talk to the referees and make sure he’s got a bit of discipline about that.’’
James led Dally M voting before the count went behind closed doors and his tempered aggression is part of what makes him one of the most feared players in the game.
The 25-year-old had managed to cut the penalties out of his game early in the season but has recently become a target of the referees again – and Henry said it was his own indiscipline that was the issue.
“If it’s an offside penalty, that’s discipline around being behind the line; if it’s a hand on the ball penalty, again that’s discipline in the tackle.
“If you’re going in to whack someone and you click them high, then that’s a timing thing – you don’t want to curb any aggression. But what you want to do is make sure you take the leg pulls, the hand on ball, the offside penalties out of the equation.’’
Needing two wins from their last three games to put them safely in the eight, the Titans cannot afford to repeat the disciplinary lapses that cost them against the Sharks and Wests Tigers.
“We don’t (want to lose a game because of penalties),’’ Henry said.
“We were on the wrong side against Cronulla, 11-6, we won the penalty count against the Warriors and then we lost it again (against the Tigers) 9-5. We can’t afford to be like that.’’
The Knights are desperate to notch a win in front of their home crowd today after 15 consecutive losses.