Titans players still chasing NRL finals

Racked with injuries, hopelessly out of form and with games running out, things are looking anything but good for Gold Coast’s 2013 NRL campaign.

The Titans go into Sunday’s second last home match against Wests Tigers on the back of a four-game losing run.

Last weekend’s 32-4 thumping by South Sydney has left them 11th on the ladder with just six rounds remaining.

Adding to their woes, Luke Bailey (ankle), Albert Kelly (sternum) and Matt Srama (ankle) have joined a lengthy injury list that already includes fullback Will Zillman and centre Jamal Idris.

It means back-rower Ashley Harrison has been moved to five-eighth against the Tigers while winger David Mead fills in at fullback.

But despite all their woes, prop Luke Douglas had one simple answer when asked if finals were still on the player’s agenda.

“Definitely – we’ve got to win five out of six. That’s going to be tough … but we’ve shown we can match it with the best,” Douglas told AAP.

“We’ve just got to get it together and start getting that winning feeling back again.”

Douglas, who has played a remarkable 188 consecutive NRL matches since his debut for Cronulla in 2006, says the playing group at the Titans should be making the top eight.

But if they are to realise that potential, they’ll need to overcome a Tigers team whose lowly 15th position on the ladder doesn’t reflect their ability in Douglas’ opinion.

“They’re one of the teams that have got a lot of strike players and, if Benji (Marshall) and the likes can fire, they’re going to be hard to handle,” he said.

“We’ve got to come out, play physical with them – try to shut down Robbie Farah.

“We’ve got the personnel to be playing finals. We just played ordinary against the Knights and Panthers. Put it together a little bit better against Manly, although the scoreboard didn’t show it.

“Last week wasn’t acceptable, getting beaten up the middle like we did. We’ve had a big week at training and hopefully we can put it together.”

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