Matt Gillett would love more State of Origin minutes, while his Broncos coach wants better defence from the skilful Queensland back-rower.

Gillett has the chance to satisfy mentor Anthony Griffin and push his own Maroons claims when he faces NRL pace-setters Gold Coast on Friday night.

The Titans are surprise competition leaders – the only club with four wins from five games – thanks to a big improvement from their big, experienced forward pack.

They boast a star-studded back-row with Greg Bird, Dave Taylor and Ashley Harrison, plus captain Nate Myles, who switches in between the front and second-row.

“They’re a good forward pack and they will be hard to stop,” Gillett admitted.

“Coal Train” Taylor, who has returned to form to terrorise right-edge defenders, stands as the biggest challenge for the left-sided Gillett – called on to muscle up more in his tackling by Griffin last week.

“I’ll have to get the shoulders warm for Friday night and do my best,” he said. “Dave’s had a good off-season by the looks of things.

“He’s a pretty big boy but he has a lot of skills with the ball as well.

“If we can do the job on both their big back-rowers, then it will help us out a lot.”

Gillett has played all six of his Origin games off the bench as Maroons coach Mal Meninga has preferred to start with the likes of Myles, Sam Thaiday, Taylor, Harrison and Corey Parker in that time.

“Of course you want to be out there longer,” he said, noting the competition for selection.

“It’s coming up soon, so a lot of players want to be there and it puts pressure on players every week.”

Third-placed Brisbane have vowed to be more switched on in the Robina local derby on Friday night after a surprise 25-18 loss to the Eels.

Gillett made the frank admission the Broncos displayed a poor attitude in their upset to Parramatta that prompted stern words in a post-match address by captain Parker.

“You could just feel it before the game,” he said. “We were a bit flat and all the boys were a bit quiet.

“But that’s no excuse. We turned up with a bad attitude.

“It showed on the field and it was pretty disappointing.”