Origin ideal chance for Titans to capitalise
IT’S now or never. If the Titans are to relaunch their NRL campaign in similar fashion to what Newcastle have, there is no better time than State of Origin season to make their move.
Jarrod Wallace and Tyrone Peachey’s axings from Queensland and NSW, respectively, leaves Jai Arrow as Gold Coast’s sole Origin representative.
That means the club will face minimal disruption in the middle part of the year at a time when their rivals are busily reshuffling their squads.
The first of their five games during the Origin period – four of which are to be played in southeast Queensland – will see the Titans host North Queensland tomorrow.
The Cowboys will be without halfback Michael Morgan and enforcer Josh McGuire.
Beyond that, Gold Coast will face Brisbane (five Origin players) in Round 13 and Manly (two) in Round 15. Other games are against the lowly Warriors and Panthers.
It shapes as an ideal window to make up for their slow 3-8 start to the season.
“We only have one Origin player … we just need to make the most of this Origin period,” Bryce Cartwright said.
“We lose a fair bit with Jai Arrow but it’s nice to see someone like Jai (Whitbread) taking his chance with both hands.”
Despite being a solid contributor this season, Cartwright has been shuffled back to the bench in a bid to use him in more of an impact role.
“It worked pretty well last week so (coach Garth Brennan) has decided to stick with it. Hopefully it keeps working,” he said.