Having slumped to the bottom of the ladder on the back of their loss to the Tigers, Des Hasler's Titans must find a way to regroup on home soil against a Warriors side sure to be smarting after giving up a 14-0 lead against the Storm.
Hasler could scarcely believe his team had failed to turn nine line breaks into a victory at Leichhardt Oval, succumbing 18-10 to a desperate Tigers outfit that had lost nine games in a row.
The Warriors exploded out of the blocks in front of a raucous home crowd in Auckland but offered little in attack in the second half as their losing streak against Melbourne stretched to 16 matches.
With Kurt Capewell called into the Maroons side for Origin Two and Mitch Barnett listed as 18th man for NSW, the Warriors are down a couple of experienced forwards, while the Titans will be without Maroons prop Moeaki Fotuaika.
The Titans have won just one game at Cbus Super Stadium in 2024 but they did knock off the Warriors in Auckland in Round 8 to give them hope of climbing out of the cellar with a victory on Saturday.
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Team News
Titans: David Fifita returns from a minor ankle injury and is part of a re-jigged forward pack that has Erin Clark at prop, Jacob Alick-Wiencke in the second row and Chris Randall at lock, after a flurry of late changes from Des Hasler. Sam Verrills now starts at hooker, with Beau Fermor shifting out to the centres. Moeaki Fotuaika is their lone Origin representative.
Warriors: No late changes, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck returning from a hamstring injury at centre. Dylan Walker starts in the second row with Kurt Capewell returning to the Origin arena, and Tohu Harris comes in at lock. Bunty Afoa is the replacement player.
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Stat Attack
- The Titans have won four of their past five games against the Warriors.
- Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson has won 18 of his 21 games against the Titans.
- The Titans have won only one of six games at Cbus Super Stadium this season.
- The Warriors have lost three of their past four away games.
- Titans winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira has scored 12 tries in 15 games at Cbus Super Stadium.
This article contains content that is only available on NRL.com
Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.