Gold Coast‘s horror loss against the Broncos in their first trial has raised alarm bells for the club, with question marks surrounding AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell.
Despite having a large chunk of their top-line stars in action, the Titans were obliterated by their Queensland rivals, going down 50-12 on Sunday afternoon.
Brisbane trotted out very few regular first graders for the clash, but looked to hit the ground running under new coach Michael Maguire.
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The same couldn’t be said for Des Hasler’s side, who missed 42 tackles and were blown off the park in a worrying sign heading into the start of the campaign.
Speaking on SEN Radio, Corey Parker questioned how the Titans can bounce back after having a “stacked” team cop a heavy defeat.
“If you’re on the receiving end of 50 [points], where do you go? You’ve just spent all summer working on something,” the former Broncos star said.
“From the Titans’ perspective, they had a pretty strong lineup and had four out of their top 17 not available. It was a pretty stacked team and they got 50 points put on them.”
Greg Alexander was also quick to criticise the Titans after a dismal effort.
“They had 10 first graders and they didn’t stay on the field all game, they ran them on and off and Des would have that as a bit of an excuse in the back pocket,” he said.
“How would Des Hasler be feeling this morning? Marty Taupau looked like the best front-rower ever yesterday, he was just marching up the field.”
There has been plenty of conjecture over the make-up of the Gold Coast spine during the off-season, with a number of players vying for limited spots.
Kieran Foran has been rumoured to miss out on a starting role, with Brimson expected to partner livewire Jayden Campbell in the halves for round one.
However, according to Parker, there are still doubts over Campbell’s ability to wear the No.7 jumper for an entire season and where others fit into the equation.
“I don’t think at this point in his career, playing seven is the right move for him,” he said.
“He’s a brilliant player, but his best asset is the fact he can play that instinctive, off-the-cuff type of football. If you give him the seven, he needs to think about a lot of things.
“Does that take away from his ability to being an X-factor style of player? I think it does.
“Keano Kini had an exceptional season last year and he will be their No.1 and Kieran Foran has that ability to steer the team around, so it’s going to be interesting.
“It also poses the question for AJ Brimson. Where is his best position? I’m not sure.”
Campbell played in the halves for the Indigenous All Stars in their loss against the Maori, but should be back on deck for the Titans in their second pre-season game.