Greg Bird can’t be serious. The Gold Coast backrower says that out of the four teams left in contention for the NRL premiership, the Titans are the underdogs. I’m not sure what is in the water in Queensland, but it must contain a not so healthy dose of self-doubt.
The ploy is a favourite of those north of the Tweed, but now it seems you don’t need to have been born in the sunshine state to regurgitate the propaganda.
The Titans being the underdogs against the Sydney Roosters tomorrow night is just as laughable as Queensland somehow claiming underdog status during the State of Origin series this year.
Bird, it seems, has been brainwashed.
Being the underdog implies that you have little to no chance of winning, but their team-sheet and the bookmakers tell us a different story. The Gold Coast Titans are the favourites and so they should be given the game is at Suncorp Stadium.
Any side containing Preston Campbell, Mat Rogers, Scott Prince, Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi, Mark Minichiello, Ashley Harrison, Brad Meyers and Bird himself will never be considered second best to their opponent.
Rogers, who has been in great form since moving to five-eighth, provided a more accurate reflection of the mood in the Titans camp on NRL on Fox last night.
“The skill was always there, but it’s probably the belief side of things that’s half the battle in this game,” Rogers said.
“Every side has enormous amounts of talent in the competition, but the rare ones take it to that next level and I think we’ve gone to that through working closely and becoming a lot tighter.”
Rogers went on to say that sometimes he sits back and looks at the clubs forward pack and laughs because they’re so good.
That doesn’t sound like an underdog to me.
I’m not for a minute saying that the Roosters will be steamrolled by the boys from the glitter strip, but Bird can’t expect us to believe that it will be a miracle if the Titans make the grand final.
The Roosters side contains an enormous amount of potential, but is lacking one or two more players with big game experience.
Anthony Minichiello, Braith Anasta, Nate Myles and Jason Ryles are the older heads, but can Mitchell Pearce and Todd Carney perform when the stakes are high? Will a bench containing Daniel Conn, Lopini Paea, Ben Jones and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or Martin Kennedy be good enough when called upon?
Several questions remain unanswered, but the one certainty is that the Titans deserve to start favourites, regardless or whether Bird wants to believe it.
You can follow Luke on twitter @luke_doherty and on Sky News Australia.
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