NRL: Jamal Fogarty believes Titans have perfect plan to stop Eels

Despite their struggles against rampant attacks this season, the Titans believe they have the perfect blueprint to shackle the Parramatta offence.

The Titans celebrate a try in their emphatic win over the Raiders. Picture: Mike Owen/Getty Images

After conceding 48 unanswered points to the Manly Sea Eagles, the Gold Coast Titans needed a serious defensive improvement if they had any hopes of a late-season finals push.

They got exactly what the doctor ordered, as the Canberra Raiders posted a measly six points against the Titans in the nation’s capital in round 16 as Justin Holbrook’s side crashed over for 44 points.

With a bye week under their belts, the Titans will need another standout performance without the ball against a strong Eels attack that is brimming with talent.

Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses and Junior Paulo are set to start in Game III of Origin for the NSW Blues, while Clint Gutherson is on the reserve list for Brad Fittler’s side.

Whether they back up against the Titans or not, captain Jamal Fogarty insists they’re planning for all outcomes, especially if talisman Moses takes the park on Friday night at Cbus Super Stadium.

“We’re preparing as if he’s (Moses) playing,” Fogarty said.

Moses will make his Blues debut on Wednesday night. Picture: Che Chorley

“Him, Gutho and Junior Paulo. For us, we’re preparing to play against Parramatta’s best 17 and that won’t change.

“If those guys don’t back up from Origin, that’s still going to be our mindset.

“We want to test ourselves and we got to see where we’re at at this stage of the year, so we’re definitely planning for the best Parramatta team that’s going to run out there on Friday afternoon.”

Kevin Proctor also echoed his captain’s sentiments around Moses should he miss out on the clash.

“I don’t think it will change how we play, but it’s a massive loss for them ’cause he’s a great player and he steers their ship around,” Proctor said.

“It would be a massive out if he wasn’t to play but wouldn’t really change too much of our game plan and what we’re trying to do.”

Aside from their one-point defeat against the Penrith Panthers in round 16, Brad Arthur’s side has posted a combined 116 points in the three games before that loss.

Despite the Titans’ vast improvement in defence against the Raiders, Fogarty maintained that they’d need every player to step up again against the Eels.

Jamal Fogarty crosses over for a try against the Canberra Raiders. Picture: Mike Owen/Getty Images

“We’ve got to do it as a team and that’s probably one thing that we, to be honest, haven’t done in the past couple of weeks,” Fogarty said.

“We’ve seen that up against Canberra. We put in a team performance and did a good job there.

“So for us it’s about knowing what we’re doing as a team and as a group. We don’t want to go one-out trying to solve issues, we want to do it with 13 on the team, 13 within the team.”

As for the game plan on how they’ll limit the Eels’ potent attack, Fogarty believes his side has a strong plan.

“Obviously, they’ve (Eels) got a lot of threat as well, they play sideline to sideline, use their big boys through the middle to get a bit of a roll,” Fogarty said.

“We’ve spoken about it this week, trying to do our best to slow their play the balls down so they don’t have as much time with the football to try and limit their time within our tryline as well.”