This weekend's clash in Coffs Harbour may be an away game for the Gold Coast Titans, but not for Sam McIntyre.
Growing up in Port Macquarie - 160 kilometres south of the venue for the Round 15 clash - the barnstorming back-rower was a frequent visitor when he was a kid, playing plenty of sports including footy at C.ex Coffs International Stadium.
"I played a lot of footy in Coffs growing up. I'm a Port Macquarie man, so it'll be good to be close to home. I've got a lot of family and friends coming to the game.
"I'm excited... I played a lot of footy and athletics and every other sport I could do as a kid as that stadium, so I'm keen to go back."
'I'm keen to go back' - McIntyre
With plenty of familiar faces expected in the crowd and being no stranger to the conditions at Coffs, McIntyre is upbeat about a Titans victory at one of his old stomping grounds, especially with the representative bye next weekend.
"We're confident, obviously we need to get a win. It's been a little while since we've got a win, but we're definitely going into this weekend positive," McIntyre said.
"Hopefully we get on the front this weekend getting the two points going into the bye, so we're really looking forward to it."
Match: Sharks v Titans
Round 15 -
home Team
Sharks
4th Position
away Team
Titans
15th Position
Venue: C.ex Coffs International Stadium, Coffs Harbour
There's no denying it will be a tough task against the Sharks - especially with the black, white and blue getting the spoils against the Titans just under a month ago - with the most important task limiting their strike power across the park.
"We've done lots of reviews. They've got strike everywhere," McIntyre said.
"They throw the ball around just as much as everyone so they're going to ask us a lot of questions of us, so we've got to be on straight from the start.
If we want to turn our season around, we've got to start now. We've got to go at the Sharks and go get a win."
