Gold Coast Titans winger Anthony Don discusses Tyrone Roberts’ leadership as he shapes as Ryan James’ replacement

Titans fan favourite Anthony Don has endorsed veteran teammate Tyrone Roberts should he be selected as the man to lead the club full-time during Ryan James’ injury lay-off.

TITANS fan favourite Anthony Don has endorsed veteran teammate Tyrone Roberts should he be selected as the man to lead the club full-time during Ryan James’ injury lay-off.

James suffered a suspected ACL tear during Gold Coast’s dominant 38-14 victory against Newcastle at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday.

Roberts was handed the reins for the rest of the encounter and is a fair chance to have the ‘c’ next to his name for the side’s Round 7 visit to Tamworth to play Wests Tigers this Saturday – unless former co-captain Kevin Proctor returns from injury and is given preference.

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Other skipper options may have included the suspended Jarrod Wallace and injured Nathan Peats, leaving Roberts as “the logical choice.”

Tyrone Roberts’ kicking game was on point against his former club Newcastle. Picture: AAP Image

“He has got some good help around him with Flash (Michael Gordon) and Anthony Don and Dale Copley and those sort of guys, and Mitch Rein,” coach Garth Brennan said.

“There’s a little bit of a leadership group out there but because Tyrone was the dominant half out there at the time, I thought he was the best man to lead the team and he showed. He did a good job.”

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Roberts was the chief architect in the Titans’ win, crossing for two tries and setting up another.

Don, who scored a try for the fourth consecutive game, spoke highly of Roberts.

“T has really stepped up in the last couple of weeks,” he said.

Anthony Don now has 71 tries to his name. Picture: Getty Images

“He is definitely loud and he’s good at team meetings and he’s good at training.

“He’s very vocal on the field and that’s something that we need. The first couple of rounds we lacked a bit of direction but I think T has really taken over in that department and is leading us well.”

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Don added the players’ worst fears about James’ injury were quickly sparked as he appeared in agony, clutching at his knee. He will undergo scans on Tuesday.

“Instantly by his reaction he knew it was pretty serious,” he said.

Ryan James (right) faces an extended stint on the sidelines. Picture: AAP Image

“He’s done an ACL before in his other knee so he knows what it feels like. It’s a tough one and our thoughts are all positive but it’s not looking great.

“It’s really sad for him because he’s our captain, our leader, and he plays a lot of minutes in the middle so he is obviously going to be a big loss and hard to fill but hopefully it is not as bad as first suspected.”