DON’T TAKE JAI OFF FIELD. EVER
FORMER FOOTY MANAGER’S PLEA
SCOTT Sattler believes Gold Coast cannot afford to take Jai Arrow off the field at any stage after the Titans sunk to rock bottom in a 22-16 defeat to Canterbury.
It looked as if Garth Brennan’s spray following their Magic Round loss to Cronulla had worked a treat as the Titans raced to a 16-0 lead inside 17 minutes on Saturday before the wheels gradually fell off.
Second-half tries to Bulldogs duo Jayden Okunbor and Jack Cogger sealed Gold Coast’s fourth straight loss – and this one may just hurt the most, given it was on a nine-day turnaround at home against arguably the competition’s worst roster.
Sattler felt the Titans once against lost their way during the 22 minutes that lock forward Jai Arrow spent off the field.
“Why Jai Arrow is replaced, I don’t know – sports science controls a lot of our game these days unfortunately – but if you asked Jai Arrow to play for a week for some crackers and cheese, he’d do it because he’s a competitor,” Sattler said.
“To take him off the field, as a spiritual leader, you lose your sense of aggression, you lose a player that is probably one of the most competitive on the field at any given time and you lose those energy levels and that variation to your game that he brings.
“First and foremost, they’re losing a lot of their momentum when they are taking Jai Arrow off the field.”
Arrow has not played a full game this year, instead ranging between 47 and 74 minutes.
He still managed to run a game-high 180m against the Dogs, with four tackle busts, and made 22 tackles without missing one.
“Blokes like Arrow, he makes you actually feel better when he is around you. You feel safer defensively, you feel as though he is going to create something for you with an offload,” Sattler added.
The former Titans football manager went further by saying Arrow should be selected at lock, not prop, for Queensland.
“I hope they don’t pick him in the front-row for Origin … you’re doing him a disservice by not allowing him to do what he wants and drift around the field,” Sattler said.
Winger Dale Copley was among Gold Coast’s other leading players on Saturday, scoring both of his side’s tries.
The Titans, who visit Manly on Friday night, are equal last with Penrith.
TITANS million-dollar man Ash Taylor admits he has no excuses for his poor form as Gold Coast suffer their worst start to a season in club history.
For the second consecutive week, the Titans failed to close out a match when they had the lead.
The home side led by 16 points over the previously 15th-placed Bulldogs on Saturday before costly errors and illdiscipline allowed the visitors to come back and score 22 unanswered points to seal the win.
At 16-12, Taylor had the chance to extend their position with a penalty kick in the 55th minute but missed, which turned the tide in the favour of the Bulldogs, who scored five minutes later.
The Titans then had a chance to even the scores with a minute to go and again it fell to their halfback to deliver.
But the 24-year-old hesitated and was caught with the ball on the last tackle, just metres out from the tryline, denying his side a chance to take the game to extra time.
Taylor admitted he wasn’t aware it was the last tackle in the dying moments of the game and said he had to improve those parts of his game.
“It’s just a hard one,” he said. “I could have thrown the ball to someone or just take the tackle.
“I didn’t realise it was the last tackle at the last point of the game, which I should have.
“It was just in the heat of the moment where I tried to come up with something and it didn’t work. I just have to be harder on myself.
“Obviously I didn’t have the greatest start to the year with injuries but I’m not using that as an excuse. I need to stand up and own it and just get better.”
Coach Garth Brennan defended Taylor’s form, saying the entire team had to improve.
“I don’t think it sits solely on Ash,” Brennan said.