Three weeks ago was the dress rehearsal... it's now lights, camera, action for the Gold Coast Titans.
Set to make history with the birth of Queensland's newest NRLW rivalry against the Cowboys at Cbus Super Stadium, the home side will be hoping to kick-start the 2023 campaign with a bang after strong trial form against their fellow rivals at the start of the month... but the 30-6 result means nothing now with the arrival of the season proper.
Even with getting a glimpse of the new side in the pre-season match, senior leader Shannon Mato knows North Queensland comes with a level of uncertainty, and has called on her side to just focus on themselves in this weekend's first battle against the combatants.
"We probably just need to stick to our game plan and just trust the process. It's only Round 1, so we're not looking too far ahead from this game," she said.
"We need to trust each other to do our job and that will allow us to have a feel for how we can move forward in the season."
Match: Titans v Cowboys
Round 1 -
home Team
Titans
5th Position
away Team
Cowboys
6th Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Back for her third season in Gold Coast colours with an added desire to improve on the club's 2022 season - even despite her personal success as the incumbent player of the year - the Origin and International prop has been excited with the number of new additions to the squad, which has gelled together in time for the first game of the year.
"I feel really comfortable with the roster that Murph (Karyn Murphy) has put together," Mato said.
"We've really been working well to gel together and find our connection and we were very lucky to have that trial game a couple of weeks ago to help us find combinations and connections between us.
"I think we're just really pumped to get out this weekend and show what we've got and just keep building from the opening whistle."
Another aspect of 2023 really exciting Mato is having four home games at Cbus Super Stadium - including this weekend's Super Hero Saturday - relishing the chance to play in front of those that mean most to her and the Titans.
"I actually love that our family gets to be more involved within our season and understand all the hard work that we're doing behind the scenes," she said.
"To share that with them after the game is going to be pretty special, and for those girls like Niall who has family coming over to watch her play (her debut) at her team's home stadium, that's pretty awesome itself.
"Just being able to share everyone's happiness amongst the crowd and the community is what makes me most excited."
