VENUE & TIME: Skilled Park, Sunday 7 September, 3:00pm AEST
COVERAGE: Channel Nine
LAST TIME: Wests Tigers 20-18 Titans, at Leichhardt Oval, Round 11, 2008.
WALKING WOUNDED: Gold Coast co-captain Luke Bailey (foot) has been named for a surprise early return from injury but would have to be in doubt with nothing to be gained from playing, and Nathan Friend has been suspended, while Mark Minichiello (ankle), Luke O'Dwyer (knee), Preston Campbell (jaw), Josh Graham (eye), Chris Walker (Achilles), Brenton Bowen (cheek) and Brad Meyers (ribs) are also unavailable.
Wests Tigers were unable to call on Dean Collis (knee), Keith Galloway (foot), Robbie Farah (ankle) or Danny Galea (ankle), forcing coach Tim Sheens into a reshuffle of his line-up.
FORM: For the second year in a row the Titans have fallen in a hole after a brilliant first half of the season, with eight losses in their final 10 games last year followed by nine defeats from their past 11 outings, the latest Monday's 28-10 loss to Manly.
Wests Tigers' season has come to a grinding halt as well, with their finals hopes evaporating thanks to three-successive losses, including last Friday's disappointing 32-6 thrashing from the Sharks, after they had been right in the hunt for much of the year.
WHO'S HOT: In what was a disappointing game for the Titans, Gavin Cooper turned on some magic late in the first half when he caught a Scott Prince bomb 15m from the Manly line, threw a dummy that the entire defence fell for and then spun around and danced clear for his team's opening try.
With Wests comprehensively beaten, Chris Heighington never stopped trying throughout the game, running for a game-high 174m and also rolling up his sleeves in defence with an equal best of 32 tackles.
WE THINK: Two of their three clashes have been two-point thrillers, with each team prevailing once by that margin in Sydney, but Skilled hasn't exactly been the fortress it was earlier in the season, with the Titans dropping four in a row at home after winning their first seven there. Neither team has much to play for, with injuries biting and finals out of reach, so look for the Titans to end their season on a more positive note on their own patch as they try to restore some pride for their poor recent form there. Titans by 6.
TEAMS:
Titans: 1. Ben Jeffery, 2. Jordan Atkins, 3. Gavin Cooper, 4. Brett Delaney, 5. Esi Tonga, 6. Mat Rogers, 7. Scott Prince (c), 8. Luke Bailey, 9. Clint Amos, 10. Michael Hodgson, 11. Anthony Laffranchi, 12. Daniel Conn, 13. Ashley Harrison
Interchange: 14. James Stosic, 15. Aaron Cannings, 16. Will Mathews, 17. Luke Swain
Wests Tigers: 1. Brett Hodgson (c), 2. Taniela Tuiaki, 3. Tim Moltzen, 4. Chris Lawrence, 5. Beau Ryan, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. John Morris, 8. Todd Payten, 9. Dene Halatau, 10. Bryce Gibbs, 11. Bronson Harrison, 12. Chris Heighington, 13. Liam Fulton
Interchange: 14. Rocky Trimarchi, 15. Ben Te'o, 16. Corey Payne, 17. Daine Laurie