Veteran forward Mark Minichiello declared gutted youngster Jordan Rankin was part of the future of a Gold Coast club that would move on after Saturday night’s shattering golden point loss to the Wests Tigers.
Minichiello and his teammates rallied behind a crestfallen Rankin assuring him he was not to blame for the side’s demoralising 15-14 loss to the Tigers at Skilled Park after leading 14-0 until late in the first half.
The 20 year-old, whose fumble in the second minute of extra time allowed Tigers captain Robbie Farah to win the game with a field goal, cut a glum figure after the game as teammates did their best to console him.
It was the Titans’ 12th home loss in their past 14 games.
Injuries to Scott Prince (biceps) and William Zillman (hamstring) forced the Titans to field Rankin and inexperienced 21 year-old Aidan Sezer in the halves against the Tigers pairing of Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence who’ve both played at representative level.
“It wasn’t his fault at all … he made one mistake at a crucial time but it could have been any one of us,” said Minichiello.
“We got in that position as a team and we should have won the game well before that.
“He made the mistake but we should have had a lot more pressure on Robbie Farah.
“You’re in extra time and you don’t give someone like him so much time to kick the ball, that was pretty lazy on our behalf.”
“Jordan will be a better player for the experience and Aidan will definitely be better for playing in a game like that.
“Those two guys are probably going to be the future halves taking this club forward so it’s a good character building experience for them both.”
Coach John Cartwright and captain Luke Bailey refused to put the loss down to Rankin’s dropped ball or the charge down of his kick which resulted in the penalty in front of the posts by Benji Marshal to tie the game up 14-all.
“I told him just to remember the things he did well,” said Bailey.
“He didn’t lose us the game. We didn’t put enough pressure on Robbie Farah under the posts.”
Cartwright also lamented the amount of time Farah had to pot the match winner after executing coach Tim Sheens’s two pass tactic the pair rehearsed at training all week in case of such a scenario.
“We had three 20 year-olds out there in key positions and it didn’t come down to one thing,” said Cartwright.
Cartwright meanwhile backed lock Ashley Harrison to retain his Queensland Origin jumper as “the best player on the field”.