Gold Coast attacking weapon Beau Champion has urged fans to come and watch the real Titans in action against Canterbury at Skilled Park on Sunday.
“I don’t think anyone has seen what we can really do,” said the former South Sydney and Storm NRL centre who has a great strike rate of 41 tries from 87 NRL games.
The Titans have lost three in a row since opening the 2012 season with an 18-0 win over a woeful North Queensland outfit in Townsville.
The Bulldogs are anticipating Gold Coast to attempt to shift the attention from a tough week of off-field dramas and innuendo with an NRL upset.
Champion says the players have taken their intensity and enthusiasm levels up a notch at training this week as the future of the embattled club continues to be debated.
The Titans had closed ranks following a week of media headlines speculating its owner Michael Searle could lose his NRL licence as a result of crippling debts.
However, Champion says the players have maintained their focus.
“We’ve got a very experienced squad here and they know what the papers write and what the outside world talks about is out of their control,” he told AAP after training on Saturday morning.
“It doesn’t really impact on how we play football, it doesn’t really matter.
“It doesn’t matter if people tip against us or everybody tips us to win, the outside influence doesn’t make any difference on how we perform on the field.”
The Titans have struggled for points with both Champion and marquee off-season recruit Jamal Idris missing games.
But Champion believes the Titans have the talent to cause a boilover if they do the basic things right against the Bulldogs.
Champion missed the opening two games with injury before making his debut against his old club Melbourne.
He was then a late scratching from last week’s trip to New Zealand after experiencing back spasms.
“It’s been frustrating, I’ve only been able to play one of the first four games,” he said.
“I’ve stayed positive and kept working hard. You go through good and bad patches.”
Champion urged fans to support the Titans on Sunday.
“The club has had a tough week. We would really like the community to get right behind us,” he said.
“We support the community as much as we can and the more people that turn out for the game hopefully the better we can play.”
Scott Prince is considered a chance to make an early return from injury to play against the Bulldogs.
If he doesn’t pull through, Jordan Rankin will take control at halfback and go up against another incoming No.7 in Canterbury’s Kris Keating.
