Dogs to hurt as Kelly makes amends
GOLD Coast centre Brian Kelly has vowed to bounce back from his Magic Round horror show as the Titans chase a return to the winners’ circle against Canterbury.
The 22-year-old was caught out by Cronulla on multiple occasions last week and missed six tackles all up – a surprising slump for a player whose defence coach Garth Brennan has generally raved about.
“It’s something that I have got to work on and I have got to make to become better,” Kelly said.
“I wasn’t making those oneon-ones, I was probably getting up a bit too full-on and not settled on my feet, just getting off balance.”
That performance aside, Kelly has been relatively pleased with his form through his first nine NRL matches for the club he played under-20s at before spending two years at Manly.
“I’m still finding my feet in attack on the right side but defending on the right outside Ash (Taylor) and KP (Kevin Proctor) and having (Anthony) Don there, it’s been pretty good,” he said.
He added the relaxed nature of his winger partner Don was enjoyable in the heat of the NRL spotlight and the veteran returned the favour, backing Kelly to make his mark.
“He is a really talented player and he plays above his weight,” Don said.
“He’s always breaking tackles and getting offloads. He is someone that I have known for a number of years now and I am enjoying playing with him.
“We’re just working on building that combination together so hopefully we can keep going.”
The Kelly-Don pairing on the right side will come up against a little-known combination today at Cbus Super Stadium in the form of Bulldogs centre Marcelo Montoya and seven-game winger Jayden Okunbor.