Rogers ruled out

Gold Coast has been dealt a blow ahead of its tricky clash against Canberra on Sunday with veteran five-eighth Mat Rogers failing to overcome his rib injury.

Rogers, who hasn't played since Round 13, and interchange prop Aaron Cannings (hamstring) will both miss the match after succumbing to their respective injuries on Thursday.

The Titans will now be without several first-team regulars, but coach John Cartwright sees the match as a perfect chance for his young side to prove its toughness.

"You can go down to Canberra and have your best possible side and come back black and blue with a bad result," said Cartwright.

"So I'm looking forward to these fellas going down there and the squad is too."

"They see it as test to see where we’re at with a lot of big games coming up in front of us – we've got the Dogs, Broncos and Cowboys all too play."

"I think it's going to be a real benefit to us to go down there in tough conditions and come back with a result."

With Rogers out of the side, Preston Campbell will line-up at five-eighth, while William Zillman will switch to full-back for the third consecutive match.

In the absence of Cannings, rookie forward Bodene Thompson has been promoted into an 18-man squad to take on the Raiders, who upset the Storm last week.