2016 NRL preview series: Gold Coast Titans

Already this week we’ve looked at the Knights and Tigers, today we look at the Gold Coast Titans.

2015 in review: Less said the better
The Titans were terrible on the field, the crowds were poor, and Daly Cherry-Evans took a jerry can of petrol and a lighter to the club’s recruitment plans.

That the team limped into 14th place on the ladder was more down to the epic fail that was the Tigers and Knights’ seasons than anything the Titans did well themselves.

Combining an anaemic attack – which scored only 439 points – with a porous defence – which conceded a league-leading (or league trailing depending on your point of view) 636 points – the team was a disaster.

The prolonged and pathetic spectacle that was the failed recruitment of Daly Cherry-Evans was just the cherry (pun intended) on top of a very unpleasant cake.

READ THE ROAR‘S FULL 2016 NRL PREVIEW SERIES HERE

Offseason story
Sadly for the Titans, the main story of their offseason was another blow to the team’s roster, with the departure of James Roberts. Regardless of the circumstances that led to his departure (more unpleasantness), he is a considerable loss for the club.

Moreover, in leaving so late, the club was robbed of the opportunity to recruit a replacement, leaving them perilously thin in the outside backs.

Offseason story (Part 2)
As if 2015 wasn’t bad enough for the Titans, 2016 decided to drop some more poo emojis on the team straight off the bat, with news early in January that rising half – and 2015 bright spot – Kane Elgey ruptured his ACL and was likely to miss the entire 2016 season.

Roster management
2016 gains: David Shillington, Nathan Friend, Chris McQueen, Zeb Taia, Tyrone Roberts and Ashley Taylor

2016 losses: Nate Myles, Aidan Sezer, Kevin Gordon, Dave Taylor and James Roberts

As above, the main story is the loss of Roberts, one of only two players to record double digits in tries last season (Anthony Don being the other).

Although losing Roberts is just one of many losses. Aidan Sezer is a very good player who has been overlooked in the relative rugby league obscurity of the Gold Coast. Meanwhile, Nate Myles may be passed his best, but he is still a legitimate first grader and Queensland representative.

The loss of Kevin Gordon, forced into early retirement by chronic injury, is another blow.

Unfortunately for Titans fans, the other side of the ledger doesn’t look much better, with little talent coming to the club. Certainly David Shillington and Nathan Friend add veteran nous, and both Tyrone Roberts and Chris McQueen will presumably be keen to redeem themselves after poor seasons in 2015. However, none of those players are better than replacement-level based on last year’s form.

Likely line-up
1. Josh Hoffman
2. Anthony Don
3. Will Zillman
4. Nene Macdonald
5. David Mead
6. Ash Taylor
7. Tyrone Roberts
8. Luke Douglas
9. Nathan Friend
10. David Shillington
11. Chris McQueen
12. Ryan James
13. Greg Bird

14. Daniel Mortimer
15. Eddy Pettybourne
16. Zeb Taia
17. Agnatius Paasi

The Titans have the worst roster in the competition. It’s so bad that if the Titans were an AFL or NBA team, you’d accuse them of deliberately tanking for draft picks.

There is some quality in the backs, even if the three best players – Josh Hoffman, David Mead and Will Zillman – all play their best football in the same position of fullback.

But the forward pack is bad news. The starting props, while both fine players in their day, have over 200 first grade games each, and countless brutal collision on their odometers. The backrow is probably the team’s strength, and even then there are probably half a dozen teams who could claim a stronger trio.

This is all the worse when you consider that the team will feature a brand new halves combination, including a young player with less than half a game of NRL experience, in Ashley Taylor. The last thing young halves need is to be playing behind a beaten pack, and it is hard to imagine this motley collection of forwards will win too many encounters.

Player to watch: Chris McQueen
After beginning his first-grade career alternating between wing, centre, backrow and bench, McQueen enjoyed a meteoric rise to State of Origin selection in 2013 and 2014 after locking down a fulltime position as the left second rower in the outstanding Bunnies team of that period.

However, like many of his teammates, McQueen’s performances fell away in 2015, as he played more minutes but did less with them. While his carries were up fractionally, his average metres gained per game were down, and he recorded fewer tries, line breaks, offloads and try assists in 2015 compared to the previous year. In fact, the only category where he substantially improved was average tackles per game.

All of which makes him an interesting case study for 2016. Can he rediscover the form that propelled him to Origin selection, or will he become the latest example of a solid player being made to look better by playing alongside exceptional teammates.

Predicted finish: Bottom four
I’m predicting the Titans to once again finish in the bottom three in 2016. Heck, with the Elgey injury on top of everything else, the Titans might actually finish 17th.

Follow Lachlan on Twitter @mrsports83