An exciting era is dawning on the Gold Coast and coach Justin Holbrook has revealed he's ready to put the next generation of Titans stars to the test.
However, with depth comes decisions, and Holbrook said the upcoming NRL Pre-Season Challenge matches against their Queensland rivals in the Broncos and Dolphins could ignite several positional shootouts, including the coveted No. 7 jersey.
With AJ Brimson likely to start at fullback in Round 1, Holbrook must decide who will play alongside star recruit Kieran Foran, with emerging playmakers Tanah Boyd and Toby Sexton set to be tested.
'They're really eager and that excites me': Foran
“We haven’t decided on it yet (halfback),” Holbrook told the media during pre-season training.
“Obviously, we finished the season really well with Tanah (Boyd) there and Toby’s (Sexton) having a terrific pre-season so that’s what we’ve got the trial games for, and we’ll see what happens from there.
“We haven’t got anything completely locked in yet, but we’re going to have options and we’re going to need them.”
Meanwhile, competition between the outside backs has heated up in recent weeks with newly signed 23-year-old Treymain Spry expecting to have Bulldogs recruit Aaron Schoupp, Jojo Fifita and Phil Sami looking over their shoulders ahead of the NRL season.
Also with Greg Marzhew’s departure to the Knights and Brian Kelly still serving a suspension, Holbrook said we are likely to see Burleigh Bears product Alofiana Khan-Pereira handed an opportunity on the wing during the pre-season challenge.
Boyd pinches it in Golden Point
“Trey (Spry) will get some good opportunities in the trial games and if he’s up to speed, he may do (get a start)," he said.
“We all know that when he’s at his best, he’s a strike player, so we’ll see where he gets to in the trials.
“We need it (depth), so it is terrific to get Trey back fully fit and competing for a spot because he’s a very valuable player to our squad and we’ve got Schouppy there as well, so there’s some good competition for the outside backs.
“Lofi (Khan-Pereira) has really knuckled down as all the boys have, but Lofi in particular has really got his professionalism up to speed now and he’ll get a great opportunity in the trials.
“With Brian Kelly missing the first couple of games with suspension, there’s going to be an opportunity there for someone that may not have been.”
Foran’s experience will be a crucial addition to the Titan's spine this season and could allow some of Holbrook's strongest attackers to shift to more ball-running positions, including the prodigious Brimson.
But Holbrook said we could expect to see 22-year-old Jayden Campbell featuring at both fullback and centre during February's trials.
Season shapers: Titans
“He’s got such a high level of skill and understanding of the game, defensively, he’s very good at reading a play well,” he said.
“He’ll get an opportunity in the outside backs as well, so we’ll sort of move him around a little bit and in particular over the next three weeks while we’ve got everyone back at training.”
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