Better than average
Bird demands effort as Titans switch to Henry’s set-ups
GOLD Coast co-captain Greg Bird says new coach Neil Henry is “not trying to reinvent the wheel” as he attempts to restore some pride into the “average” Titans.
Henry conducted his first training session yesterday since taking over from John Cartwright, who resigned last week and is now holidaying in Tahiti with club founder Michael Searle.
Henry’s first challenge as Titans mentor is daunting with the club hosting premiership fancies Manly at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday.
Bird said the Titans had been “awful” as they let their promising season vanish with 10 losses from 12 games. They have lost their past seven games at home. With four rounds to go and the Titans out of finals contention, Bird said Henry was only making some minor adjustments.
“He’s not trying to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
“He’s tinkered (with) a few things with some of our setups.
“I’d like a few of the things that have been going wrong for the year to be corrected.
“It gets a bit monotonous. Everyone’s all over the place.
“You can see it on the video and feel it on the field, the frustration amongst the team.
“Composure and consistency are the two things I want to see in the next few games. It’s been no secret we’ve been average.”
The statistics back up Bird’s assessment.
The Titans are averaging the most errors (12.8 per game), missed tackles (34) and penalties conceded (8) of any team this season.
They make the least linebreaks (3.2 per game) and score the second least tries (2.9).
Their strong start to the season – when they won six of their opening eight games – was marred with patchy play which was offset by effort and commitment.
Bird said he wanted to see better discipline and attitude in the final four games of the season.
“We were in a position to win (on Monday against Sydney Roosters) but ill-discipline let us down,” he said.
“Penalties, trying to go for the big play on early tackles, dropped balls.
“Attitude probably comes from leadership. It’s something Nate (Myles) and I have got to take upon ourselves to turn around.”
Vice-captain William Zillman said there hadn’t been much of a change since Cartwright’s departure.
“Everyone’s mood is uptempo and we’re ready to go on the weekend,” he said.
“Neil has been here all this year anyway and has had an influence in a lot of what Carty’s done anyway.
“It hasn’t been too big of a change yet.”
Dave Taylor (neck) missed yesterday’s session while Albert Kelly (leg) ran strongly and could push his way on to the bench.