Titans embark on Origin-style bonding camp in bid to break 3654 day Suncorp win drought

THE Titans will embark on an Origin-style bonding camp in a desperate bid to end a 10-year Suncorp curse and save their season against Brisbane Good Friday.

THE Titans will embark on an Origin-style bonding camp in a desperate bid to end a 10-year Suncorp curse and save their season against Brisbane Good Friday.

Gold Coast players will gather at a Brisbane hotel on Thursday as they attempt to snap a woeful 10-match losing streak at the Broncos’ home ground spanning 3654 days.

The Suncorp site was once a cemetery and it has become a sporting graveyard for a Titans side mired in a form slump that threatens to bury their season.

Rated a top-six chance, the injury-ravaged Titans are equal last with Newcastle and will suffer their sixth loss in seven games if beaten by the Broncos.

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Titans players traditionally travel up on the M1 on game day to face the Broncos, but their decision to opt for a mini-camp underlines the gravity of this Queensland derby.

The Titans haven’t won at Suncorp since the first meeting of the sides in April 2007 and co-captain Ryan James hopes the camp can inspire a Broncos boilover.

“This is the game we put in the calendar,” James said.

“We’ve decided to travel up to Brisbane the night before so it will be good to get together as a group.

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“Usually we go up to Suncorp on the day of the game, but for our finals game last year, we stayed at a hotel the night before and it built the vibe among the guys that it was a big game.

“We’re trying to do the same thing this year.

Gold Coast hasn’t won at Suncorp Stadium in ten years. Picture: Darren England.

“It’s going to be a tough road trip ... it’s important we get our heads in the game early.”

The Titans have had a series of horrendous starts, conceding the first try in six consecutive games this season.

But the Gold Coast have added motivation entering Friday’s clash, with Titans trio Ash Taylor, Dale Copley and Jarrod Wallace coming up against their former Broncos teammates.

Rocked by $4 million of talent on the sidelines, the Titans’ cavalry is returning.

Key forward duo Chris McQueen and Nathan Peats are back from injury and James admits he needs to lead from the front after lashing his early-season form.

“I get paid to lead the team, I am the captain along with Kevvy Proctor and I’m letting the guys down,” James said.

The Broncos won’t be taking the Titans lightly despite the impressive record.

“I was weak defensively (in last week’s 42-16 loss to the Raiders) and I need to learn from that.

“There are guys in our team who do inspirational things that there isn’t a statistic on and I need to get the little things like that in my game.

“I made 30-odd tackles last week and I reckon 29 of them were bad.

“The way I’m playing at the moment, it’s going to make it hard to get an Origin jumper. I need to make sure I go out there and improve, I have to be better against the Broncos.”

Broncos skipper Darius Boyd said Brisbane’s decade of dominance over the Titans at Suncorp would count for nothing if their attitude is poor.

“We are expecting a tough and physical game, the last few years they have gotten better and better,” Boyd said. “It will do their confidence the world of good getting a few senior players back.”