Eels aim to keep season alive

Gold Coast captain Nate Myles will be in the in the stands for Monday night’s NRL clash against Parramatta after being ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Myles was hurt during last week’s 34-0 loss to Brisbane and was officially withdrawn at Sunday’s captain’s run.

The Queensland and Australia player’s place will be taken by either David Taylor or David Hala, with coach Neil Henry to make a decision before kickoff.

The 13th-placed Eels enter the clash against the Titans with back-to-back defeats but a victory would leave them alongside Canberra and Manly on 20 points and just one win outside the top eight.

Despite a season dominated by off-field issues, Eels players insist their season isn’t over just yet.

Parramatta travel to Darwin to host Penrith next week, before then closing the year against the Sydney Roosters, Manly, Cronulla, Cronulla and Canberra.

“Six weeks is a long time,” Parramatta utility Joseph Paulo said.

“There’s still enough time for us to get some momentum from this week and grow some confidence going into this game and into the rest of the weeks to play.”

For the second straight week, Paulo will stand in at five-eighth for the injured Corey Norman, partnering Luke Kelly at the scrumbase.

“I underestimated how hard Normy works, just the way he leads us around,” Paulo said.

“Hopefully I can play that support role for Kels. He really owned the halfback position last week but I wasn’t really supporting him. This week, hopefully I can do a better job.” The Wests Tigers’ upset over Melbourne on Friday night meant the Titans dropped to last place on points differential.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Gold Coast’s 34-0 hammering at the hands of Broncos last week was the third time this season the Titans have failed to score a try – prior to this year they had been held scoreless just three times in total.

* Should Titans prop Matt White fail to score in this, his 104th match, he will pass Matt Bell on the list of players with the longest try droughts. Bryce Gibbs hold the record with 141 games.

* Since making his debut in Round 18, 2013, Eels winger Semi Radradra has scored more tries (41) and made more linebreaks (44) than any other player.

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