NRL 2015: Titans, Cowboys, Sharks share bottom rung on NRL ladder

THEY are last among equals. The Titans, Cowboys and Sharks are the NRL teams without a win after three rounds, writes Paul Malone.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 22: Aidan Sezer of the Titans celebrates scoring a try with Dave Taylor (R) during the round three NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the Newcastle Knights at Cbus Super Stadium on March 22, 2015 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

THEY are last among equals.

The Titans, Cowboys and Sharks are the NRL teams without a win after three rounds and have injected truth serum to the lofty ambitions previously held by and for North Queensland and Cronulla.

It’s plainly not going to be a bumper year for Queensland clubs — of the seven matches against non-Queensland opposition, there’s been one win, by the Broncos over Cronulla.

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That match, just like the Broncos-Cowboys game last Friday, was a different sport to the one played, or more accurately waged, by the Rabbitohs and Roosters in Round 2.

But I was one of the accidental army of media pundits who spent a good part of late February running into colleagues and muttering, “Really? You tipped the Cowboys to win the comp as well?’’.

James Tamou of the Cowboys attempts to break free from the Broncos defence.

So I can hardly cast North Queensland as also-rans after three rounds and someone with a good memory last weekend pointed out that the Warriors lost their first three games in their 2011 grand final season.

The longer pre-season which Johnathan Thurston enjoyed was one reason why I tipped the Cowboys and that can still be a factor in a strong 20th season for the club.

But I didn’t bank on a pack with four internationals being so ineffective in the early rounds or the limitations of their outside backs after Brent Tate’s retirement being exposed to this extent.

The choices which coach Paul Green, like Titans boss Neil Henry and Sharks mentor Shane Flanagan, has this week are whether to keep tweaking a losing team’s line-up or hope that stability stimulates a better performance in Round 4.

His NSW Origin prop James Tamou is a case in point. The one-on-one miss on his own tryline by 113kg Tamou on 89kg Ben Hunt, the first of Brisbane’s eight tries, just screamed of a careless attitude in defence.

The Cowboys missed 47 tackles against Brisbane. The success of the traffic directed to halves Thurston and Michael Morgan was reflected in their personal missed-tackle counts.

But it was an out of character defensive return for the Cowboys on the evidence of their past three seasons, when they ranked fourth in the points conceded statistic last year and sixth in the previous two years.

“As soon as we get under pressure we tend to fracture rather than get together as a team. But confidence is our biggest issue,’’ Green said.

“We need to find some good combinations in the team. It wouldn’t be the best thing to make some more changes again. But we have to be accountable.’’

Titan Aidan Sezer celebrates scoring a try against the Knights with Dave Taylor.

Gold Coast, who play away against Cronulla on Saturday, went into the season with the lowest external expectations of the bottom three. But they have let home wins slip against Wests Tigers in the opening round and against Newcastle last Sunday.

“It’s shattering, after all the work we have put in,’’ Titans five-eighth Aidan Sezer said.

Sezer said the circumstances surrounding forwards Greg Bird, Dave Taylor and Beau Falloon had been a “bit of a circus lately’’, but offered that they would be better for the first match after not being considered for the first two rounds.

That’s the hope being grasped by all among the bottom three: where there is life in March, there’s still hope.

Originally published as NRL 2015: Titans, Cowboys, Sharks share bottom rung on NRL ladder