Titans to top Queensland cohort in 2014

Broncos Have players like Barba, hoffman, vidot, hodges and Reed running around out wide, Nikorama and Hunt steering the ship and guys like Mccullough, mcguire, glenn, kennedy, gillett, thaiday and parker in the forwards. is that enough firepower for you ctar!

Please tell us about the firepower the Broncos have?

Whoever wrote this article hasn't been following the Titans over the last couple of seasons. The reason they got 2 top four finishes in a row a few years back was their defence. That has disappeared since then and their horrid attack has been exposed for what it is. I don't know how Cartwright has kept his job. Many coaches have been sacked with better recent results. They have had a team full of current and former rep players and still couldn't make the top 8 in the last 3 years. That's what happened when you sign woman bashers, drunks, fatties and unproven kids. The best thing to happen over the off season was the letting go of Jamal Idris. His time on the coast comprised of being overweight, injury prone and dropping the ball much too often. Bailey and Harrison are too old and past it. Should have been dropped completely. My guess is that they miss the finals and Carty keeps his job for the entire season and see out his contract. Because he is such a nice guy, that's seems to be all that matters to the media who always sing his praises

Seeing the financials of the Titans are back on even keel so they äint "broke.Plus they have a growing junior league,I doubt they will disappear down the ether.In anycase the ARLC would not allow it .They just need to get their act together on the field.I understand their memberships are up to date from last year.

I understand what your saying and agree but only up to a point. If Jennings or Morris get that much space on most other centres in the NRL they will be left watching them score a length of the field try. Do you think no other coaches/team makes different selections or tweaks defensive structures depending on which team they are playing and where they see their respective strengths and weakess lie? You would look at the people you have inside and outside of him to have the best combination for attack and defence. e.g. Do you think you will see Albert Kelly getting targeted by oppsition forwards in attack as much if he has Ash Harrison/Greg Bird and Dave Taylor on either side doing some of his tackling a la Tonie Carroll and Darren Lockyer- there is positive and negatives to all selections but I think the potential positives outweigh the negatives.

EJ, You hit the nail on the head here; "He would be an absolute defensive liability if he played in the centres for a full game." Imagine big Dave against Jennings or Morris if they had 5m of space or even just got the ball on his outside shoulder?

I had a chuckle reading that

Surely you jest that the Tits will be #1 Qld team. I'm not going to make grandiose predictions, but I think Paul Green is going to make a huge difference to the Cowbies this season. Who knows what the Broncos are going to do, but I doubt they will be worse than last year. So good luck with the Coast.

Got no doubt that Maurie Blair,their no. 1 signing for the new season will be in the centres with Brad Tighe..Takarangi has proven to be a very good buy and his versatility should earn him the bench..Fai Fai Loa needs to earn his stripes in reserves and Dave Taylor will stay as their prime attacking weapon in the back row...Cowboys will still finish highest of the three.

Will the AFL continue to compromise and rig their competition to allow for this?

Disagree wholeheartedly. The guy would be buggered in the centres, just the same way as he is buggered in the forwards. The difference being that you replace your forwards regularly (as you say he lasts 15-20 min spurts). He would be an absolute defensive liability if he played in the centres for a full game.

Yeah i agree that Taylor does need some help in the area of stamina, long distance speed and decision making, but he has a full array of attacking and defending weapons. he can skittle opponents like bowling pins on the edges where the smaller players tend to be situated and that is exactly how you deplete a team, having a coal train running at your halfback and wearing him out. yeah he may not be the fastest fella in the NRL but isnt that what you have players like Kevin Gordon or David Mead outside you and he could quite easily put on some footwrork and a fend and then offload it to a flyer on the outside for a break. His decision making will improve slowly with time so we just have to be patient and wait. Although players like Tighe, Blair, Likiliki and Fai Fai Loa are handy they are certainly not gamebreakers. Plus with Taylor in the backs it leaves room for an extra forward in the squad making them bigger and stronger so they can out-mucsle other teams to give their classy halves a chance to set up their backs out wide.

His fitness will be less in question in the centres than in the back row. He has the speed , yes not long distance but a lot of centres are converted back rowers so in the same boat, so this is not an issue. And the one thing he has definitely got is the passing game. He would be a perfect lock in an ideal world but he is lazy. And if Bennett couldn't ge the best out of him, Cartwright has no hope. Should you move him around to compensate for his deficiencies, no. But they're paying him a fortune they may as well play him where he best benefits the team and in the centres they can play him for the whole game not 15-20 minute spurts and he can take a few runs to take pressure off the forwards and you haven't wasted two interchanges a game and a second row position that could be better filled by someone who plays more minutes more consistently. Yes they have a plethora of centres but you could say the same thing about backrowers.

"Dude do you even watch the NRL" The same could be asked of you with your selection of Dave Taylor in the centres. He is an edge forward runner, so you already see the benefit of him running out wide. But his fitness and awareness would be found wanting in the centres fulltime. And beside have you not heard Cartwright all pre-season talking up that they finally have a plethora of centres to choose from? Maurice Blair, Brad Takairangi, Brad Tighe, Kalifa Fai Fai Loa, Siuatonga Likiliki. There is absolutely no need to take a huge gamble and put Taylor in the centres.

Dave Taylor doesn't have the long distance speed, the passing or the decision making skills to last in the centres. He reeks havoc running and that is exactly what a forward does, coincidence? I think not.

I wouldn't be surprised if the titans were broke and struggling to stay viable in ten years time. The suns winning games and making the finals will be the start of it

Bruklan, I agree on Dave Taylor in the centres. I think because he is big he is automatically thrown in the prop or second row, but I see him really making an impact out wide running over the top of halfbacks and setting up his wingers. It's not like he doesn't have the footwork.