Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has lit the fuse ahead of Friday's clash with the Gold Coast, labelling the Titans as "deceitful" and "jealous" over their treatment of Titan-turned-Bronco James Roberts.
The comments came after Gold Coast coach Neil Henry condemned Roberts for criticising his former club.
The Titans and Roberts have a turbulent history, with it emerging last November that a senior Titans staff member had forged Roberts' signature on a re-worked clause in his contract.
That bungle infuriated Roberts and opened the door for him to listen to offers from rival clubs, with the 23-year-old signing with Brisbane not long after the incident.
Bennett said none of what's happened was Roberts' fault, instead shifting the blame to the Titans and their management.
"I suppose it hurts Neil Henry a bit. You bring a guy through and get them to where they are," Bennett said.
"At the end of the day, their administration was to blame. It wasn't James's fault what happened and no one should be blaming James.
"If you had the situation he had then we'd all walk away from our contracts. You'd take the opportunity to look somewhere else because it was pretty deceitful what happened and that affected him.
"I can understand Neil's position a little bit and the envy and jealousy of it all. James isn't there anymore and he's jealous of what Roberts can bring, he'd like to have him in his team."
The pre-match talk has only added to the build up of the local derby to be played at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
