Bulldogs vs Titans, Saturday April 23, 10:40am @ANZ Stadium
The Gold TrainingTitans under-20s have lost lock Morgan Boyle for tomorrow’s clash with the Bulldogs at ANZ stadium (10:40am).
That means coach Ben Woolf will have to wait for at least another week to have all six players who trained with the Titans NRL squad during the pre-season together on the field.
Brian Kelly is also in doubt and will undergo a fitness test today for this ankle injury.
Nathan Watts (pictured) will come into the side, playing in the front row, pushing Max King back to lock against the big and physical Bulldogs.
“We want to see a similar performance in attack that we showed against the Dragons last week but obviously improved performance in defence this week” says coach Woolf.
“We’re fine when we are in the grind but when we seem to drop off it that’s not the case.
“They are a big side but we’re obviously going to have to get off our line a bit better and put more pressure on that defence so they can’t just stroll down the field.
“We have to be better defending after a try and not let it become two or three tries in a row.”
In the past two games the young Titans have surrendered big leads against the Sharks and Dragons and Woolf knows they must rectify that tomorrow. Against the Sharks they led 20-6 early in the second half only to go down 32-20 and against the Dragons they rushed to a 22-0 only to be level 22-all at half-time before winning 39-32.
The Bulldogs are 15th on the ladder after winning two of their seven games while the Titans sit just outside the eight after four wins. Victory tomorrow could put them back into the eight but the Dogs are always a big and mobile side and Woolf says they must contain their go-forward in the middle to get the points.
The team is:
Tyronne Roberts-Davis, Brayden McGrady, Brian Kelly, Greg Leleisiuao, Phillip Sami, Josh Rogers, Tye Barry, Kurt Bernard, Corey Manicaros, Nathan Watts, Max King, Shane Wright, Jed Cartwright, Max King. Interchange: Ethan Roberts, Sam Swift, Simione Fatafahi, Justin Fai.
