The Titans are Stuck in Act 2

Coach Gordon Bombay has transformed this down on its luck hockey team but just as everything starts going The Mighty Ducks way disaster strikes as the team mishears Bombay and thinks he doesn’t believe in them, resulting in the team quitting on Bombay and them losing a game, ending Act 2 of the Mighty Ducks, paving the way for Bombay to regain their trust in Act 3 and win again. The Gold Coast Titans are stuck in Act 2.

In 2023 the Titans have led in every single game they have played in. In the 4 games they have lost they at one stage led by at least 8 points. The big problem is that this has become a habit and one they have had for multiple years.

In Round 8 2021, the Titan’s led the Brisbane Broncos 22-nil after 15 minutes. By half time the score was 22 all and once the final siren sounded the Brisbane that had only won a single game before this round would be ahead 36-28. In Round 15 of that same year the Titans led eventual top 4 team Manly 24 to 8 at half-time, they wouldn’t score another point and lost the game by 32 points. You’re thinking to yourself damn that’s crazy, no way that can happen again.

You might remember the Round 12 match between Brisbane and the Titans famous for a short kick off that led to a try, a game where the Titans led 18-0 25 minutes into the game then capitulated to 35-24, but that wasn’t even the biggest lead the Titans gave up in 2022, that illustrious stat belongs to the Round 3 game against the Raiders where the team led 22-nil before a Raiders try in the 39^th minute started a comeback that ended with the Raiders up 24-22.

That’s a lot of history but what is causing this to happen. Initially you would blame the defence, which is wise because the Titans defence is made of cling wrap that is designed to dissolve in breathable air. The Titans are currently conceding 26 points per game, the highest amount in the league tied with the Bankstown Hospital Bulldogs and the Western Tyre Fire Tigers. This is nothing new for the Titans, last year the team was conceding 27.5 points per game but is extremely concerning as it is the 4^th year in a row where the team’s number one weakness has been glaringly obvious.

Have the Titans tried to fix this weakness? They have, letting go of Assistant Coach Jim Dymock last year and bringing in Brett White from the Canberra Raiders. Has it worked? Not at all. Last year on average the Titans conceded 1784 run metres a game. In their first 7 games this year, 1823 metres.

I ran a comparison with 4 other teams to see what their conceded run metres were, Broncos (top of the ladder currently), Panthers (defending premiers), Tigers (Bottom of the ladder) and the Knights (a team that’s been roughly at the same ladder position since 2020). Titans were second last with only the Knights behind (1856 metres).

These are just numbers though, and they explain why the Titans are conceding a lot of points but not why they failing to hold such sizeable leads. Last year after the Broncos loss much finger pointing was done regarding the offseason decision to let Jamal Fogarty go to the Raiders, conveniently ignoring that IT HAPPENED TWICE WITH HIM IN THE TEAM. Fine, whatever it was the lack of an experienced half that led to these issues, except with Kieran Foran in the side it has happened every single game. In fact, the two games in which the Titans had the smallest leads (against the Storm and the home game against the Dragons), Foran either didn’t play or wasn’t on the field his normal amount of minutes.

So, what the hell is causing this issue? Sadly, I think there is only one possible malady, and it’s coach Justin Holbrook. I was among the Titans fans last year defending Holbrook, but after watching another historic comeback against the Titans with him in the box I’m running out of excuses. For a team that has multiple players apparently sticking their hand up for Origin selection the Titans seem unable to produce the needed results, and frankly I want to see the end of this goddamned movie.