Gold Coast will likely be calling on their new-found depth much sooner than hoped after the side lost both their starting halves in a forgettable NRL opener on Sunday.
The Titans were beaten 21-0 by Canberra on a wet night in Robina, where Ashley Taylor (quadriceps) was a late scratching and Tyrone Roberts (Achilles) lasted less than 15 minutes.
Neither are certain of returning for next week’s trip to Cronulla, with Taylor to have scans and Roberts likely to miss multiple weeks even if the ligament isn’t ruptured.
Coach Garth Brennan admitted they had no answer to the injuries on the night in a “rudderless” display riddled with errors as AJ Brimson and Tyrone Peachey were hastily slotted into the vacancies.
But with Melbourne recruit Ryley Jacks on the books, and playing well in the Queensland Cup for Tweed Heads, Brennan does have options.
Mitch Rein was a strong performer at NRL level off the bench last year but has also been squeezed out of the Titans’ best side this year along with regular on the wing Anthony Don.
“Absolutely, Ryley will come into the equation if Ash and Tyrone are no good next week,” Brennan said.
“I thought he did a decent job there at Tweed and played well there last week too.
“On the bright side we do have a little bit of depth there in that position and I’ve faith in Ryley if he gets his call next week he’ll do a good job.”
The Titans made 14 errors to the Raiders’ 13 but the visitors made better use of the opportunities as new No.6 Jack Wighton showed poise alongside Aidan Sezer and hooker Josh Hodgson.
Brennan was still happy with the side’s defence through the middle of the park though, with two of three tries from kicks.
There inability to hang onto the ball meant it mattered little, though.
“We probably do have to cut them some slack there (due to the pair of injuries, but we need to be better than that,” Brennan said.
“But it’s round one isn’t it; we can dust ourselves and move on from that.”